Why doesn’t yamaha update the YZ125/250

JM485

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Davis, CA US

JM485 6/8/2018 5:30am

6/8/2018 5:30am

JM485 wrote:

Read what Zesiger and I posted, there are updates they could literally do for free that would streamline their production line and likely REDUCE cost for...

Read what Zesiger and I posted, there are updates they could literally do for free that would streamline their production line and likely REDUCE cost for them. The price of these bikes is an absolute joke anyways for what you're getting, they could stand to do a little development without a price increase pretty easily I'd venture to guess, and eat up some major KTM sales in the process. I'd imagine a lot of their tooling has worn out and been replaced over the years as well, so it isn't like they're just pumping them out at no maintenance costs.

It's like I said before, it's hard for me to justify a new one when my 15 is better than what's sitting on the showroom floor currently. With some very easy and minor updates the bike can be a KTM killer, and sway a LOT more people to buy new.

haydos25 wrote:

Your idea and my idea of "literally free" are obviously very different. Things like swingarm, triple clamps, swingarm mounts etc. would require retooling. I don't believe...

Your idea and my idea of "literally free" are obviously very different.

Things like swingarm, triple clamps, swingarm mounts etc. would require retooling. I don't believe they are just bolt on parts from the 4strokes, but i've been wrong before. Minor updates yes but still at a cost to Yamaha that will be passed onto the consumer. Would probably be cheaper to just mount the 2 stroke in the same frame as the 4 strokes. But then again that's not what it was tested and designed for.

Unless they can vastly improve it then i don't see the point in putting in the effort. And even if they do will they see a return on their investment to justify? How many more bikes are they going to sell by spending millions on developing the bike.

Personally i hope they never update. I have an 06 right now and as each year passes without a major change my bike retains its exact same resale value. I'm an airbox and a plastic kit away from a 19 bike basically.

That was our entire point, the swingarm (prior to reverse motors) is literally a bolt on mod. The entire front end is likely a bolt on as well, though I haven't personally verified this so I can't say for absolute certain. I can say for certain it absolutely would not be cheaper to just mount the two stroke motor in the four stroke frame, that would be a nightmare of an RnD process and would in all likelihood make the bike worse considering it was designed around a power plant that shares nothing with the two strokes.

We aren't asking for a different frame here, these are literally mods that would save them money and streamline their production. They can afford to do a little bit of tweaking and still hold the same price, some of you are acting like they sell these out of the goodness of their hearts and make no money off them, which could not be farther from the truth. Just in talking with people I know they won't even consider one because they have gone unchanged for so long. Even if they stood to make $500 less per bike, I'd be very comfortable betting that they would recoupe that easily in increased sales volume year after year.