For years the industry has patiently waited for Yamaha to introduce a NEW UTV, that day has finally arrived! The Yamaha Viking is Yamaha's latest entry into the SXS market and was created to give the hard working UTV enthusiast a well built, reliable and functional machine that can truly do-it-all! What you will not see is a new Rhino, unfortunately for many of us, the machine that started it all will now be discontinued. Yamaha has vowed to continue to service and make parts but no longer will we see a Yamaha Rhino be manufactured. RIP Rhino, you were always good to us......
Right away we know that many of you have skipped ahead and scanned through our 100+ images and have already all but shunned this new machine. It doesn't have the 1000cc Apex Turbo motor, it doesn't have 20" of wheel travel, and its not available in carbon fiber, BUT this is Yamaha's first entry BACK into the UTV market. So before you sport minded guys here on UTVUnderground.com begin to type up your rants on why you are so disappointed with Yamaha hear us out and give the Viking a chance.
Yamaha just shouldered the load of what has surely been the darkest period in powersports since the ATC debacle back in the 80's. The lawsuits that stemmed from ambulance chasing, irresponsible and down right nasty people and their lawyers over the Rhino not only have changed our sport, it almost ruined it! While Polaris, Arctic Cat, Kawasaki, and Can-Am enjoyed the freedom of development it was all being done at the expense of Yamaha dealing with hundreds, maybe thousands of frivolous claims agains the Rhino. Now, I am not trying to knock the other OEM's for moving forward and pushing the envelope, I am just trying to shape some reasoning behind what has taken Yamaha so long to get back in the UTV game. These lawsuits all but stopped development of new UTV's at Yamaha. I can promise you, had these lawsuits not taken place, I am sure Yamaha would still be sitting near the top of the food chain as it pertains to UTV's in sport, recreation and utility. But as they say, it is what it is. While the industry continued to ride the wave of success surrounding this new sport that Yamaha helped kick start, Yamaha was left to defend itself and thus all but stop even thinking about anything new.
With that said, Yamaha isn't looking for any sympathy. Meeting with their team, they couldn't be any more excited about the brand, their new Viking, and this industry in general. While 2007 seems like eons ago, reality is, its only a few years and so for Yamaha they feel primed and ready for a comeback into the UTV market. The Viking is Yamaha's FIRST new entry in what we hope will be many more. Its target market is the hard working utility enthusiast who enjoys a good trail ride and hunt all while getting work done with his/her machine. What the Yamaha lacks in power and suspension, they made up for in design, strength and ergonomics. They know this isn't a XP900 or Maverick killer, nope, their saving that for later!
What the Viking is however, is a creatively designed utility machine that was created to go after the 66% of SXS utility enthusiasts. Sure, the sport market is huge for us, but as a company looking to get back into the game Yamaha made the smart choice to do so by first offering the largest segment of UTV users a machine to be excited about. At a glance its easy to see that while the Viking still retains some of the Rhino's look and feel this machine is really completely different. Its the industry's first true 3 seat vehicle designed to hold large adults comfortably. The seat's have been designed for a lower CG making the Viking feel stable at speed and comfortable to drive over longer distances. The center seat is set back as to keep shoulders from bumping when having all 3 seats occupied. Wheel base rivals that of a Kawasaki T4 which in our opinion is just perfect for all sorts of riding. The dumping bed is large enough to put a full size pallet in and with a 600 lb. capacity you are able to get the big jobs done quicker.
Its with great excitement that we here at UTVUnderground.com re-introduce Yamaha back into the UTV game with the new Yamaha Viking! Embrace it, enjoy it, respect it, and prepare for the new line of Yamaha UTV's that we can only hope begin to flow off of Yamaha's American assembly lines! Thats right, we said American. Yamaha has relocated their UTV assembly to the United States giving them even more control over design and development! So while we sit back and wait to get out and enjoy the Viking out on the trails, we will also sit and wait patiently to see what else Yamaha has up their sleeve for us in the near future!!!
Words by: Joey DiGiovanni // UTVUnderground.com
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