2016 snow sneek peek-did anybody actually go?

[MrSled]

I don't know if Yamaha was caught off guard with new product but sales reps were clueless & did NOT want to engage customers...maybe looked for their customers then ignored everyone else & didn't want to talk. The presentations I heard were like this model is the Apex & it is blue & silver gets decent gas mileage & is a 4s....Duhhhhhh! I didn't want to talk to those guys after that so looked for a factory rep. Very disappointed in quailty of Yamaha show sales people & when Yamaha does release all new platforms they will need to get sales up to speed or it will be very fustrating for customers. That Yamaha needs a sales rep refersher course was not lost on me very poor sales representation at Wausau Show.

See what happens when I dont go to the shows.... I can answer all the required questions

 

[Eagle1]

Arrived at at Wausau about 4:45PM & hall was packed to my surprise so early. .

I was there at the same time. I got there 3:50 and doors were open and people were pooring in. Couldnt believe that busy so early, good to see. And they werent any smarter in Poo camp either, they didnt know why one mountain sled had a chaincase. (gearing. 3"track gets chaincase.)
few pics

 

[whitedust1]

Yeah I wanted to discuss shocks & adjustments on new single shot suspension on the Apex XTX but no one seemed to even know the single shot was new until I found the factory rep. He gave me excellent info but was no were near the sleds when we talked. So all in all all, I came, I saw but didn't really get my questions answered on suspension adjustments. Good things were going on in the Doo area lots of help there not much in Poo area either but not anything to consider for a 4s guy in the Poo area.lol

 

[TD Max]

Ahh windshield mounted mirrors. Something every DX machine should have standard not as an accessory option.

I've said it before and I'll say it again that the Yamaha snowmobile marketing dept needs to be fired and rebuilt from the ground up. There is no excuse for the piss poor web site and lack of knowledgeable support at these events.

 

[biffdotorg]

I was there at the same time. I got there 3:50 and doors were open and people were pooring in. Couldnt believe that busy so early, good to see. And they werent any smarter in Poo camp either, they didnt know why one mountain sled had a chaincase. (gearing. 3"track gets chaincase.)
few pics

Ok, got back from the Show here in Fargo last night and was not happy with two glaring things at the show. The blue Viper posted above, was looking really nice. The plastics were much better shape than the others.

What I mean is what was up with the Red/white combination colors? Are those white plastics supposed to be off-white, or have they yellowed already? Or can we just write that off as being a prototype sled? They did have prototype stickers all over them, so that's they way I left it. But even my buddies had to point out that if those off-white plastics are standard, I would hate to see what it will look like after a few years.

That and the white in the seats. Trying to match white plactic, with white seats is near impossible. And they looked like crap on the floor. The blue one above looked fine though.

The other thing that bothered me is that goofy 129" vector with the tunnel the same length as the XTX. I pointed this out from the media shoot. And someone mentioned that Yamaha had to extend the tunnel to accommodate the longer skid. And maybe they cut costs, by standardizing on one tunnel. But it looked stupid. There again, my buddies chimed in and said it may look stupid, but I bet it won't throw as much snow as my current XTX. True.

Nobody could deny, that the sleds in the doo camp were all very impressive to look at, and have some really nice features. The rotating throttle on the 4-stokes is genius. The pre-studded ice-rippers are nice too. But that acid-yellow is not my choice of color.

Good times for sure and worth checking it all out. Now, all I can wait for is Haydays in the fall.

 

[02ViperMody44]

I don't know if Yamaha was caught off guard with new product but sales reps were clueless & did NOT want to engage customers...maybe looked for their customers then ignored everyone else & didn't want to talk. The presentations I heard were like this model is the Apex & it is blue & silver gets decent gas mileage & is a 4s....Duhhhhhh! I didn't want to talk to those guys after that so looked for a factory rep. Very disappointed in quailty of Yamaha show sales people & when Yamaha does release all new platforms they will need to get sales up to speed or it will be very fustrating for customers. That Yamaha needs a sales rep refersher course was not lost on me very poor sales representation at Wausau Show.

That's been about par for the course, from most of my interactions with the Yamaha reps at the snowmobile shows. I go there to talk to them about sled related issues and they are overly rehearsed in generalities. Nothing overly useful. Most of time, just huddled together, and not interested in talking to there "faithful".

 

[whitedust1]

That's been about par for the course, from most of my interactions with the Yamaha reps at the snowmobile shows. I go there to talk to them about sled related issues and they are overly rehearsed in generalities. Nothing overly useful. Most of time, just huddled together, and not interested in talking to there "faithful".

Yep that is what I saw at Wausau the cardinal sin for sales at shows huddled together no interest in talking to the core or newbies..... Lots of peeps were interested in all the sleds a missed opportunity for sure. For me I just thought ok I saw the new sleds but will have to wait till Fall to really understand the new Single Shot at my dealer. I have been attending sneak peeks for years but only my 2nd at Wausau. Lake Geneva was full of factory reps in show area but seems they stopped the sneak peak there.

 

[TD Max]

Wausau Grass drags was more of the same. I'm telling you Yamaha you need to clean house or have a crack the whip to get your people to EARN their pay.

 

[biffdotorg]

What I have noticed from the 3-4 Sneak Peaks I have been at in Fargo is that the closest thing you got to a Yamaha rep at these shows was the guy driving the semi. They are non-existent. And I do believe they invite the local dealers to come out and "man the booth"

I'm not sure if they are just encouraged to come out and hang around and answer questions, or if it is by invite only. The doo booth had guys in logo clothing from a near by dealer, rather than local. The Polaris booth has always been manned by the local poo dealer. That being said, the Yamaha booth was empty, as the local dealer is totally pissed off by Yamaha and sits with $250K of vipers sitting in is chained lot getting dirty and sun faded. (that's a whole different thread worth talking about)

That being said, if the dealer wants to have a presence there, they should send the guys that went to the dealer shows. Then they can at least talk about what they saw and share some excitement. The guys in the doo camp from the dealer actually was digging through literature when I asked about the late color offering on the Enduro. He knew it existed, but wasn't sure where he saw it. Hey, at least he knew it was out there.

I swear, it would be worth while having sleds on display with big neon arrows pointing at the new features. Unless you talk to someone, or are like us and spend hours on the net going through each new feature, the average guy/gal walking through would not see half the new features.

 

[schmidtty]

fargo dealer sent all his sleds back . they still have them listed bis man online. tried to buy one but price was way out of line for someone who wanted to get rid of them. so one less Yamaha sled dealer in nd we don/t have many

 

[TD Max]

What I have noticed from the 3-4 Sneak Peaks I have been at in Fargo is that the closest thing you got to a Yamaha rep at these shows was the guy driving the semi. They are non-existent. And I do believe they invite the local dealers to come out and "man the booth"

I'm not sure if they are just encouraged to come out and hang around and answer questions, or if it is by invite only. The doo booth had guys in logo clothing from a near by dealer, rather than local. The Polaris booth has always been manned by the local poo dealer. That being said, the Yamaha booth was empty, as the local dealer is totally pissed off by Yamaha and sits with $250K of vipers sitting in is chained lot getting dirty and sun faded. (that's a whole different thread worth talking about)

That being said, if the dealer wants to have a presence there, they should send the guys that went to the dealer shows. Then they can at least talk about what they saw and share some excitement. The guys in the doo camp from the dealer actually was digging through literature when I asked about the late color offering on the Enduro. He knew it existed, but wasn't sure where he saw it. Hey, at least he knew it was out there.

I swear, it would be worth while having sleds on display with big neon arrows pointing at the new features. Unless you talk to someone, or are like us and spend hours on the net going through each new feature, the average guy/gal walking through would not see half the new features.

Exactly

 

[OVR4D]

The doors for the last show on the Sneek Peek tour open in couple of hours. Was thinking about going, but after reading the posts here I feel like I've already been there. Not much appears to be worth seeing. I'm more of a 60/40 on/off-trial guy and was seriously thinking about jumping ship to a Freeride 137 this year, but I'm not sure I can stomach the McDoo colors. That sled is definitely being marketed to a younger crowd. The Enduro is interesting to me, but only as a trail sled ... in the 1200 form, it's too heavy for IMO for off-trail riding. And I'm not interested in Polaris after reading about all the problems Yellowknife's buddy has had with the Axys this year.

 

[greatwhite89]

If you do go OVR4D, some more pictures of the Vector XTX would be appreciated on the forum. Wish I would've taken more at the Wausau show. Thanks!

 

[Mazz]

My dad and I are headed out the door to the sneak peek in Blaine MN right now, I'll report back tonight. Have a good day guys!

 

[greatwhite89]

My dad and I are headed out the door to the sneak peek in Blaine MN right now, I'll report back tonight. Have a good day guys!

Anymore information you can gather and share on the Vector would be appreciated! Pictures would be an added bonus!