Yamaha ATV Company
by Nick Harris on October 26th, 2007Yamaha Motor Company manufactures the YFZ450, Banshee, Blaster, Raptor and Warrior models of sport ATVs. Thats an impressive lineup of ATVs which is possibly the most varied lineup offered by one company.
The Yamaha Motor Company was created to be the motorized vehicle division of Yamaha Corporation, a musical instrument manufacturer. Yamaha Corporation felt that its knowledge of metalurgy would give the company an edge in creating lightweight but strong components for all terrain vehicles and motorcycles. If you’ve ridden a Yamaha ATV recently you’ll most likely agree that Yamaha Corp was right.
Yamaha Motor Company has earned numerous awards for its extremely popular lineup of ATVs over the years and the Yamaha Motor Company racing heritage is significant. ATV racing legend Bill Balance recently inspired Yamaha to create a Bill Balance edition of its YFZ450 model and Yamaha built ATVs have been extremely competitive in all levels of ATV racing for a long time. That doesn’t look like it’s going to change any time soon.
Yamaha Motor Company’s best selling ATV is currently the YFZ450 but past favorites also include the Yamaha Blaster and Yamaha Banshee models. Both of those models have now been discontinued but collectors will ensure that they live on for a very long time. There are many aftermarket parts companies who earn a living from selling YFZ450 performance parts. ATV Style will review many of those parts in upcoming articles.
Yamaha YFZ 450
Visit the official website for the latest information from Yamaha Motor Company.
Loading ...
Nick Harris said:
Check out the 2009 Yamaha YFZ450r review.
Danny Bergeron said:
I can’t believe Yamaha discontinued the Banshee… I’ve ridden almost all sport ATV’S up to now and nothing even compares to the power of a two stroke engine. The Powerband is most impressive! The sound is a killer! Going in sand dunes with a banshee is a thrill! What sucks about 4 stroke engines is the electric start… You ain’t got back ups like kick starts. I went riding with a friend that got a YFZ 450 and I had to pull him through the woods and that wasn’t easy! His electric starter had a failure… I just got on my bike kick start it and the engine always starts great. Yamaha just killed a perfectly great bike… what a shame…
Nick Harris said:
Hey Danny, Somehow I have a feeling we’ll see them around for years to come, hopefully until economic times improve and Yamaha kick-starts the brand again (pun intended)