Yamaha

-- A manual-shift Yamaha that works! By the staff of Dirt Wheels -- What do you do if you already have a high-powered Polaris RZR XP 1000 punched out to 1100cc? If you are Brian Carle, you buy a stick-shift Yamaha YXZ1000R to add to the stable. He is fortunate to live where he has plenty of room to drive. He stays with his trusty RZR for slow and technical outings and turns to the YXZ for faster, more open conditions. He lives in a rural desert area and has many opportunities to hit the trails, and he is often out on…

 -- By the staff of Dirt Wheels --  We have tested quite a few exhaust systems from Barker’s Performance, including a Raptor 700 dual exhaust. This time around we got our hands on the new single full system with a cylindrical muffler instead of their well-known oval style. We chose to have blue-and-yellow accent parts included on the system and ordered up an EHS Fuel Controller (for closed-course racing only), along with a spark arrestor. The complete setup goes for $844. CONSTRUCTION AND INSTALL This Barker’s…

-- NATIONAL HUNTING & FISHING DAY SWEEPSTAKES -- Yamaha Press Release:  Yamaha Motor Corp., USA, announces its annual National Hunting and Fishing Day (NHF Day) support this year, which includes giving away an all-new 2018 Wolverine X4 Side-by-Side (SxS) in Realtree camo through an online sweepstakes at www.YamahaOutdoors.com/NHFDay. Yamaha’s annual sponsorship of NHF Day is aimed at raising awareness and support for outdoor recreation and conservation. This year’s sweepstakes features the 2018 Wolverine with an…

-- Not everyone wants to spend 10 grand or more for a big 4x4 quad. For the more economy minded they automatically look at the lower-priced 500 - 550 4x4 quads in a manufacturer's line up. But then Yamaha said, "Hey, it costs us just about the same to make 550 engine as a 700 engine, so why not just offer a basic 700 with no bells and whistles for the price of a 550." And so, the Kodiak 700 was born. It sells for $6,999. The guys at Textron and Arctic Cat saw the logic in that approach, so they offered up a…

-- For decades American Express has used the slogan “Don’t leave home without it.” While a credit card and some cash are among the things we should always carry on UTV adventures, they will not be enough in the boonies. A satisfying UTV adventure has a beginning, some great fun and a triumphant return to your starting point. Having to walk back to camp puts a hurt on the fun factor. The answer is in that bag in the back of your machine, or it should be. If you’re going farther than you want to walk home, be prepared in…

-- Family fun for the woods, By the staff of Dirt Wheels -- Have you ever heard of shooting skeet? Two fast-moving clay targets fly across from both the left and the right. The contestants have two shots to hit both targets before they hit the ground and break. With the all-new 2018 Wolverine X4, Yamaha has set a similar task for its design team. Yamaha shot for two targets with the same machine. The first target is rigidly defined. Yamaha wanted the X4 to have the most compact trail presence of any four-seat UTV.…

--  Hold on before you go rushing down to your Yamaha dealer to see this machine there. Yamaha stopped selling their 3-wheelers back in 1986. If you want one today you have to build your own, as Richard Maestas did in Arizona. He actually built three of them in different color combos as you can see here. The basic formula is to take a YZ450F dirt bike and convert it to a 3-wheeler. If Yamaha did sell a Tri-Z for 2018 this is what it would probably look like. It would be the natural evolution from their old 250…

-- Pushing ponies through a Raptor, By the staff of Dirt Wheels -- More power is a concept that we appreciate at Dirt Wheels, even when we know we don’t realistically need more. One of our most cherished ATVs is Yamaha’s Raptor 700. It is fast, fun and powerful. Obviously, we couldn’t simply leave the engine stock when we picked up our 2018; we had to pull more ponies out of the torque-monster motor. Pro Circuit delivered a full T-6 dual exhaust system to our power-greedy hands and we tested the $895 system out!…

-- TURBO KIT ADDS 60% HORSEPOWER INCREASE -- Here's what Yamaha says about it:  GYTR is pleased to bring you the pinnacle of forced-air-induction systems available on the market today! This kit is designed for the “no-limits” driver that wants to pull more power from their YXZ. We scoured the globe, sourcing the highest quality components available – determined to build a turbo kit unlike any other. During development, no detail was overlooked. You’ll immediately feel the power as soon as you hit the gas. Here’s…

-- Yamaha YXZ1000R Claims Three of Top Ten Positions at King of the Hammers -- CJ Greaves Earns $5,000 bLU cRU Bonus as Top Finishing YXZ1000R: YAMAHA PRESS RELEASE -- Yamaha factory-supported and bLU cRU racer CJ Greaves, along with his father, veteran off-road racer Johnny Greaves, and Kyle Anderson were among the few competitors who completed the grueling King of the Hammers (KOH) UTV Race on Wednesday, piloting Yamaha’s pure sport YXZ1000R side-by-side (SxS) before time expired. As the top finishing YXZ1000R…

-- Giving a modern touch to a bulletproof UTV, By the staff of Dirt Wheels -- Yamaha has always known to look outside of the box when it comes to producing new and exciting machines. Starting with the original DT1 in the 1960s, Yamaha has consistently created performance machines that shape the future of off-road vehicles, like the Banshee, Raptor, YZ400 and the YFZ450 to name a few. They are never scared to throw knowledge, design and futuristic flair into every machine it produced. In 2003 a new class of what would…

-- Michael Konstantinidis and his brother Manny are avid ATV collectors and builders. After the last year of the Banshee's production in 2006 they decided to help preserve this classic twin-cylinder, two-stroke machine. All of the Banshees you see here in their collection are 2006 models, except for the orange one which is a 2008 model they imported from another country. While building their own collection of Banshees they began building quads for other ATV enthusiasts as well. Soon, they started their company…