the new leader of the pack! - yamaha motor company · yamaha motor co., ltd. march 1, 2004 english...

Yamaha News,ENG,No.2,2004,3月,3月,The New Leader of the Pack!,Motorcycle,YZF-R1,Up Front,Engineers' view of the new YZF-R1technologies and concepts,Akihiko Yasuhira,Returning to the R1 origins,Akira Tanaka,The engine development,Hideki Fujiwara,A Rider First policy,Tomohiro Tsuruya,A thoroughbred with MotoGP technology,Yoshikazu Koike,The attraction of the total package,Mitsuhiro Ogino,Toyoshi Nishida,International Focus - Serial 42,Quality Products for the People of Pakistan,Corporate,Dawood Yamaha Ltd.,Yunus Dawood,Pakistan,Karachi,One of the oldest Yamaha joint ventures,Jawaid Yakoob,Our Corporate Mission,Contributing to Pakistan's industry,Our dealer network and after-sale service,The final goal is Total Customer Satisfaction,This Is My Country,Country of rich history and cultural diversity,Geography and Climate,Proud people with diverse languages,Economy and Exports,Pakistan in today's world,Facing the challenges of the future,Racing Express,AMA Supercross opens with Yamaha sweep!,Racing,AMA Supercross,Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha Team,Chad Reed,YZ250,California,AnaheimStadium,Yamaha MotoGP team hits the test track,MotoGP,Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3 Team,David Vuillemin,YZR-M1,Tim Ferry,Carlos Checa,Valentino Rossi,Marco Melandri,Norifumi Abe,World Topics,Champion Crowned in 1st YAMAHA ASEAN CUP 2003,YAMAHA ASEAN CUP 2003,PT. Yamaha Motor Kencana Indonesia,Tsuyoshi Yano,T110,Indonesia,PRJ-Jakarta circuit,Doni Tata Pradita,Naoki Matsudo,Kadek Mantrajya,2-wheel-drive Yamaha is sensation of the 2004 Dakar rally, Dakar Rally,Yamaha Motor France Ipone,David Frétigné,WR450F 2-Trac,France,David Frétigné Speaks,President Olivier Speaks,YRS shows how Yamaha backs its products,CAMI,Christophe Geindreau,XJ900P,Cameroon,Vincent Cassar,New CW50 rolled out to make Yamaha/MBK No. 1 at 50cc,MBK,CW50,New Vino gets a stylish launch,Stefanie Sun,Vino,Taiwan,Leading Middle East Distributor Celebrates 50th Anniversary,AL YOUSUF MOTORS L.L.C.,Shinya Sato,UAE,Noritaka Shibata,Belgarda becomes Yamaha Motor Italia,Societa Belgarda S.P.A.,Yoshihiko Takahashi,Italy,Yamaha Motor Italia S.P.A.,Fresh start for Yamaha Motor Argentina at new premises,Yamaha Motor Argentina S.A.,Argentina,YMKI's Main Dealers Visit Japan,Japan,YMENV Web Site Wins Golden Award,2003 World Media Festival,The Netherlands,OMDO service training held in Japan,Outboard Motor,OMDO Service Training,Yamaha triumphant in Colombia once more!,Motocross National Champion,Industria Colombiana De Motocicletas Yamaha S.A.,Juan David Posada,Colombia,TeamYamaha – Pirelli,Boat production begins under technical assistance agreement,Boat,Nicaragua,Over Four Thousand Children Enter Yamaha Painting Contest,15th Annual Yamaha Childrenʼs Waterside Painting Contest,Kazuo Kudo,What's New,Yamaha Marine Technology on the Cutting Edge,Marine,43rd Tokyo International Boat Show,Makuhari Messe exhibitioncenter,Zoom In,RSVector ER, a new kind of trailbreaker,Snowmobile,RSVector ER

YAMAHA MOTOR CO., LTD.MARCH 1, 2004 ENGLISH

No.2BIMONTHLY

The New Leader of the Pack!When Yamaha's engineers set out to buildthe new 2004 YZF-R1, they didn't settle forjust fine-tuning a good thing. They started all over with an awesome newengine and a sleek, high-tech body and thentamed it into a highly controllable pack-beater.

The New Leader of the Pack!

2 YAMAHA NEWS MARCH 1, 2004

UP FRONT

that meant it had to have truly beau-tiful styling, too. Q: What did the actual developmentbegin with?Yasuhira: In order to make sure thatthe entire team would be working inthe same direction, we first went toEurope to study the real marketneeds and ride with the users thereand listen to their expectations. Wealso went to the famous Isle of Mancourse, which can be considered thebirthplace of motor sports. Q: Where else did you go in Europe ?Tanaka: We rode at Isle of Man andat Donington in Britain, on mountainroads in Spain and France and alsoon the German autobahn. We alsowent out of our way to find roadswith bad asphalt, plenty of seamsand slippery surfaces, too. Q: What are the roads like on theIsle of Man?Tanaka: There are a lot of straightsections with intermittent curves, so

Returning to the R1 originsQ: What ideas did you begin thenew R1’s development project with?Yasuhira: We set our sights high.Our aim was to use the latest tech-nologies to create a sensation like theoriginal YZF-R1 six years ago. Wewere out to create a machine thatsurpasses the expectations of theusers and brings the special excite-ment that we at Yamaha call Kando. Q: What was the initial project con-cept?Yasuhira: In Europe today, needs inthis class are expanding to include(1) users who want performance andfunctions first, (2) users who look tothe styling and (3) users who want apractical machine. So, with the newR1 we set out to take the alreadyfamous R1 cornering performance toa new level. Our guiding conceptwas a “beautiful, exciting super sportmachine that wins the title of fastestin secondary road riding.” Of course,

The 1000cc super-sport model YZF-R1 is the dream bike of motorcyclefans the world over, and it isYamaha’s flagship model in manyways. After its release in Europe andother markets in 1998, the R1quickly became the No. 1 seller inthe 1000cc class. What set it apartwas its generous helping of GPrace technologies and Yamaha’ssuper-compact engine designknow-how. Fans loved its killercombination of responsive han-dling that set a whole new stan-dard for the super-sport liter bikeclass and its character as a “supercornering machine.” The YZF-R1’s success brought simi-lar models from the other makers,and today some 20 models com-pete in this class. This competitionbrought urgency to the “evolu-tion” of the R1 in its biennialmodel changes. Yamaha Newstalked to the team of top engi-neers whose mission it was tomake a good thing even betterwith the design of the 2004 modelYZF-R1.

Engineers’ view of the newtechnologies and conceptsEngineers’ view of the newtechnologies and concepts

YAMAHA NEWS MARCH 1, 2004 3

exciting to ride. That is whatthe YZF-R1 is all about.

The engine developmentQ: Did you start from zerowith the engine develop-ment?Fujiwara: Yes. We startedfrom zero with the missionof getting definitive power.While a V-4 was one of ouroptions, we chose the in-line-4, but with a conviction to gobeyond the pattern of justtaking the predecessor to anew level of maturation. So,we chose a big-bore and aclosed-deck type cylinderhead, FS (Fracture Splitting)connecting rods and the firstforced-air induction fuelinjection system ever on aYamaha 1000cc model. Thechallenge was to build in thehighest power output ever,while also making the enginemore compact and lightweight thanever before. Q: Did you get high output from theearly prototypes? Tsuruya: The first prototype wemounted on a chassis and ran at theYamaha test course amazed me withits power. The acceleration from 200

km/h was unbeliev-able. Sometimes youhave to work hard toget power out of anew engine, but thistime there waspower to spare. Infact, we test ridersfelt there was somuch power that wecautioned the engi-neers not to ride it atfirst. If you acceler-ated too hard out ofthe turns the rearwheel would spinand you could be in

it can be quite dangerous. When youactually ride there you experiencethe way that local riders enjoy thesedifficult curves. Q: Did those experiences influencethe new machine’s direction?Koike: It helped give us a clearimage of how we should take thefamous R1 cornering performance tothe next level and develop the engineto give you as much power as youwant in every situation. We decidedto take on the challenge of achievinga big boost in engine performanceand reaching an entirely new dimen-sion in 1000cc performance. And,we had to make it look great too. Q: What specific goals did you set?Koike: One of our goals was to builda machine with the performancepotential to win at the Isle of Man.That meant an engine with the bestperformance, a chassis to handle itand the control necessary to bringout the full performance potential. Inshort, our goal was “full power andfull control.” Q: Were 172 horsepower and aweight of 172 kilograms your spe-cific goals?Koike: In part, but reaching specnumbers is not the same as reachinggoals. What’s important is that thefinal machine be fun and really

real trouble! (laughs).Q: So did you have to tame theengine some?Tsuruya: That’s right. Our missionwas not to just let this awesomepower loose, but to temper it into apower unit that provided highly con-trollable performance.

A “Rider First” policyQ: Was the sub-throttle type fuelinjection (FI) system the key to thatcontrollability?Fujiwara: The balance of the FI sys-tem is essential to highly control-lable performance. The suction pis-ton type FI system used on the 3rdgeneration YZF-R1 is basically asystem that responds to the amountof intake air the engine demands. Wechose the sub-throttle type FI thistime to develop a system thatresponds to the amount of intake airthe rider wants. It’s a “Rider First”concept.

The development project this time went far beyond a mere maturation of the existing R1

YZF-R1YZF-R1

The New R1 Project Leader and department Project Chiefs. From front left, Akihiko Yasuhira (ProductPlanning), Akira Tanaka (Test Development Dept.), Hideki Fujiwara (Engine Development Dept.,Design) Tomohiro Tsuruya (Test Development Dept.), Yoshikazu Koike (Project Leader). Second row,from left, Mitsuhiro Ogino (Body Development Dept., Component Development), Toyoshi Nishida(Body Development Dept., Design)

Q: What does that involve specifically?Ogino: As the engine revs higher theair intake passage opens up wider.But, in the high rpm range you alsodevelop a pulse and you don’talways need that much air. Webelieved that if you could adjust forthat, you could get high power that isalso very controllable. Q: How does that work in terms ofthe system mechanism?Ogino: You take the information fromthe system sensors and program the

ECU with mapping developed tooptimize the intake through two throt-tle valves for each cylinder. Wedeveloped the mapping so that we gotthe power we wanted when we want-ed it, without excessive power. Q: You increased the capacity of theECU too, didn’t you?Ogino: We upped it from a 16- to a32-bit unit, which greatly increasedthe processing speed. Until nowthere was at least a 3-second time lagfor adjustments from full-closed tofull-open throttle, but we succeededin reducing the lag to near zero. Theother makers also use ECUs to con-trol their FI systems, but at Yamahawe always place final importance onhow the system actually feels to thehuman sensibilities of the rider.

A thoroughbred with MotoGPtechnologyQ: What led to the development ofwhat you call the new “Victory”frame?

Tanaka: Up until now, we developedthe R1 models for honest, and directresponse to the rider’s actions. Thistime, with the big boost in enginepower, we wanted to develop han-dling response that is even more pre-cise in reflecting the rider’s actions,especially when entering a curve.The important thing is vertical, orlongitudinal rigidity. Generallyspeaking, when braking or entering acurve there is a good amount of lon-gitudinal stress on the frame. If youachieve good longitudinal rigiditythat translates into a sense of stabili-ty that lets you enjoy a feeling ofsharp handling. And many YZF-R1customers ride on circuits and race,so we have to take those needs intoconsideration too. That’s why wecouldn’t just make this frame anextension of our past format. Q: In other words, the frame wasnot just the next evolution of theexisting one.Nishida: Until now the frame con-cept was one of enclosing the enginein a box. With the new frame it islike the engine is held in a frame-work that is close to being twostraight lines. This is a completelynew concept that we got from talkswith the staff working on Yamaha’sYZR-M1 MotoGP racer. Q: And that gave you the rigidityyou wanted?Tsuruya: At first we didn’t know ifraising the longitudinal rigiditywould really make for a better rideon public roads, so we had two pro-

UP FRONT


totypes made, one with a bigincrease in rigidity and another withjust a small increase. The result wasa unanimous vote for the bigincrease. The performance was real-ly exciting. The final balance wechose was 2.5 times greater longitu-dinal rigidity. Q: Did any other new ideas go intothe frame?Nishida: The concept behind the firstR1 frame was a balancing of the lon-gitudinal, lateral and torsional rigidi-ty, while the 2nd generation R1frame focused on analyzing wherethe centers of stress were and the 3rdgeneration frame on what distortionsof the frame occurred in actual rid-ing. This time we added one moredimension, a kind of “joint” concept.Two bamboo poles will have thesame flexibility if they are of thesame thickness and length. But bam-boo has joints, and if the spacing of

the joints is different, the way it flex-es will also be different. Q: And has this made a significantdifference in the ride? Tsuruya: Absolutely. But this is byno means a hard-edged machine. Italso has a very comfortable ride withlow vibration and good overall bal-ance. It’s so comfortable in fact thatyou will want to go touring on it.

The attraction of the total pack-age


Q: Looking back on the develop-ment project for the new YZF-R1what stands out most?Koike: Until now the R1 was devel-oped as a total machine where theengine and chassis design staffworked closely together to get a per-fect balance. But this time I thinkyou could say that the two designteams were striving for ideal designsfor the engine and chassis, and thenwe succeeded in bringing the twotogether. Q: In the end, has the handling ofthe R1 really changed? Tanaka: Up through the third genera-tion R1 handling was the big theme.

At Yamaha we have pride in beingthe maker that builds machines withgreat handling. With this machine Ibelieve we have reached a new pin-nacle. Its new engine has vastlyimproved performance and poweryou can really enjoy. We have alsobuilt in great drivability, brakingperformance and optimum shiftfeeling and handling qualities. Q: Finally, what are this machine’sbiggest sales points? Fujiwara: Just recently I got one ofthe production machines out on thetest course for some laps and I cantell you, this is a bike that will makeyou rediscover the joy of motorcy-cling! It is really exciting. Take onefor a ride, it will be an experienceyou won’t forget!

MotoGP rider “Norick” Abe is clearly pleased with the new YZF-R1.Project Leader Koike was surprised and thrilled when Norick said,“This will be a perfect machine for practicing to ride the YZR-M1 fac-tory machine.”

The new engine adopts a closed-deckcylinder that enables an especiallyhigh compression ratio

One of the oldestYamaha jointventuresIt was in 1976 thatYamaha Motor Co.,Ltd. formed a jointventure company incollaboration with a

well reputed business and industrialgroup in Pakistan known as the DawoodGroup of Companies. Taking theDawood and Yamaha names, this newjoint venture company was namedDawood Yamaha Limited (DYL). Fromits early years, DYL has had comprehen-sive facilities for both the production andmarketing of Yamaha brand motorcyclesin Pakistan, and it has long been referredto as the oldest joint venture companythat Yamaha Motor has outside Japan.Similar to other developing countries inthe South Asian region, the lower-andmiddle-income population of Pakistan

meet the needs of the market, (2) to meetcustomer expectations regarding ourproducts by supplying proper servicesand parts facilities, (3) to produce prod-ucts that meet the international standardsof Yamaha, (4) to provide meaningfulreturns to our shareholders and (5) to be agood corporate citizen in our society.

Contributing to Pakistan’sindustry As a manufacturer of Yamaha brandmotorcycles, DYL is contributing to thePakistani economy and has won theapproval of the Pakistan Engineering

Development Board for public sectorassistance. In addition to making a hugeinvestment in plant facilities, machineryand equipment for assembling our Yama-ha motorcycles, DYL has also made large

depends heavily on affordable motorcy-cles of smaller displacement, rangingfrom 70cc up to the 100cc and 125ccclasses. These motorcycles are used pri-marily for conveyance and transportationpurposes and they are being used mainlyfor commuting to work, everyday person-al use and a variety of other business andcommercial transportation needs. Theseusers include everyone from small busi-nessmen, shopkeepers and company sales

people to farmers and students. Yamahais considered one of the favorite brandsamong the Pakistani motorcycle users,and Dawood Yamaha has been knownuntil now as the undisputed leader in the2-stroke motorcycle market in Pakistan.

Our Corporate Mission As a company, Dawood Yamaha has setfor itself the corporate mission of becom-ing a leading motorcycle manufacturer inPakistan by providing quality productsand after-sale service that wins the high-est customer satisfaction. Our corporateobjectives are (1) to provide products to


Quality Products for the People of

INTERNATIONAL FOCUS SERIAL 42

Dawood Yamaha Ltd. (DYL)

Location: Karachi, PakistanPresident: Yunus DawoodEmployees: 496

Our contributor: JawaidYakoob, General ManagerMarketing, DYL

The DYL Assembly Plant

The CNC Flexible Machining Centre

A modern testing lab facility

Young staff at DYL

DYL staff at the head office in Karachi


Pakistaninvestments toward the manufacture ofparts and components in order to achievea high level of local supply of qualityparts. The company today boasts modernfacilities for sheet metal parts stamping,welding, die casting, heat treatment andshell mold casting as well as gear andshaft manufacturing. What’s more, all ofthese manufacturing facilities havereceived international certification underquality standards like ISO 9002.This process of large-scale investment forthe localization of parts and componentshas brought with it an important transferof technology that now enables DYL tomanufacture high value-added productswhile also helping to build our country’sengineering base. The training our engi-neers have undergone has enabled a sub-stantial absorption of mass productiontechnologies that are contributing to Pak-istani industry. DYL now has over 80outside suppliers who are supplying uswith quality parts for use in our motorcy-cles. This has further strengthened theengineering base and know-how transferto the parts industry. Besides this technology transfer, DawoodYamaha is also contributing in the impor-tant area of job creation. Our investmentsin local manufacturing have directly cre-ated a very significant number of jobopportunities for engineers, professionals,skilled and semiskilled workers, and anequal number indirectly in the form ofjobs at dealerships, local mechanics and anumber of others associated with thecompany and Yamaha motorcycle busi-ness in general. When all this is consid-ered, the number of jobs we have helpedcreate runs into the thousands.

Our dealer network and after-sale serviceDawood Yamaha Limited has set up anetwork of dealerships country-wide thatare being administered as a comprehen-sive network by our Regional Offices inorder to maintain the best relationshipwith customers and to live up to theexpectations of the Yamaha users. Atpresent this network consists of nearly

200 dealers involved in sales, 600 ser-vice dealers and around 120 spare partsdealers all over the country. In coopera-tion with this network we also conduct aseries of service campaigns to make sure

that our highly valued customers aretaken care of fully.Beginning in 1997, we launched aninnovative program of exclusive warran-ty service at select dealers called “StarShops,” and in a short span of time ourStar Shop network has been expanded to51 shops nationwide. The main objectiveof this program is to pro-vide warranty service atthe doorsteps of our val-ued Yamaha Customers.Regular training semi-nars and upgrading ofthese shops is an impor-tant feature of the DYLmarketing plan.

The final goal is Total Cus-tomer SatisfactionTo provide the utmost satisfactionthrough caring for its customers, DYLhas implemented service concepts basedon Yamaha’s “One to One Service” con-cepts. To enhance the knowledge base ofthe technicians and mechanics who work

on Yamaha motorcycles throughout Pak-istan, we arrange regular training pro-grams and technical sessions under theumbrella of YTA (Yamaha TechnicalAcademy), which is being conducted invarious cities around the country.Through these policies, we intend to sat-isfy the customers as well as the peoplearound them. Various other social service activities likea Yamaha motorcycle rally on PakistanIndependence day, various forms of user-oriented entertainment, sports and musi-cal events are also being promoted andsponsored by DYL on a regular basis.Aggressive sales promotion techniquessuch as leasing facilities and a Nation-wide Dealers Shop Renovation Projectare also being adopted with the final endof promoting sales in ways that alsoincrease customer satisfaction. Joint Pro-motions with large multinationals and

local companies likeShell Pakistan, PakistanState Oil and others arebeing carried out on aregular basis.As Dawood Yamaha isinvolved in the manu-facturing of high quali-

ty products for its customers, productquality remains one of our company’s toppriorities. And, in the future DYL intendsto build on its reputation as a socially andenvironmentally responsible companywhile continuing our efforts to providethe people of Pakistan with affordable,quality Yamaha motorcycles, both for thegrowth of the company and the nationaleconomy.

Two wheelers are now commonly seen on roads of Pakistan for commuting

Yamaha Star Shops Seminar

Yamaha Technical Academy participants

voirs such as Tarbela, Mangla and others havebeen created to meet the country’s water needs.

Proud people with diverse languagesThe people of Pakistan are ethnically diverse,tracing their roots to many different origins,largely because the country lies in an area thatwas invaded repeatedly during its long history.Migrations of Muslims from India since 1947and refugees from Afghanistan since the 1980shave significantly changed the demographics ofcertain areas of the country. The people ofPakistan come from ethnic stocks such asDravidian, Indo-Aryan, Greek, Scything, Hun,Arab, Mongol, Persian, and Afghan. The majority of Pakistan’s population lives inrural areas and the country is striving hard tostrengthen its education systems. Due to thecountry’s multifaceted cultural origins, the vari-ety of languages spoken adds to provincial diver-sity. Urdu is the national language, while Englishis the official language for legal and governmentoffices.

Economy and ExportsLike most developing countries, Pakistan is con-fronted with the problems of rapid populationgrowth, sizable budget deficits, and heavydependence on foreign aid and loans. Heading into the 21st century, Pakistani leadershave a chance to seize the moment in order tomodify and build a sound social and economicorder that may steer the nation to a more durablepath of progress. Today, a high-poweredPrivatization Commission encourages privatiza-tion in the public-sector industries. About 28% of Pakistan’s total land area is culti-vated. Agriculture and related activities, includ-ing fishing, engage 47% of the workforce andprovide 26% of the GDP. The chief cash cropsare cotton, with textile yarn and fabrics produc-ing more than one-half of export earnings, andrice.The country’s main exports in the textile indus-try include all types of raw cotton yarn, fabrics,garments, silk and synthetic textiles. Otherexports include rice, leather products, sportinggoods, carpets and wool, surgical instrumentsand petroleum products. Developing export cate-gories which show promise for the future arefisheries, fruit, vegetables and wheat, engineer-ing goods, poultry, IT software and services,gems and jewelry and chemicals.

Pakistan in today’s worldThe start of the 21st century has brought socialand political changes for Pakistan. Democracy’sgrowing prevalence has boosted the confidenceof foreign and local investors, and easier termsand scheduling of payments are now availablefor debt financing and providing funding toPakistan. Though the country still faces difficul-ties in many areas, the future looks bright as thenation’s leaders implement progressive policies.At the same time, Pakistan continues to be com-mitted as a true and sincere global citizen, partic-ipating in various international agreements inareas like biodiversity, climate change, desertifi-cation, endangered species environment modifi-cation, hazardous wastes, maritime law, marinedumping, ozone layer protection, and ship pollu-tion of wetlands.

■ Country Name: Pakistan■ Capital City: Islamabad■ Area: 803,640 sq km■ Population: 140,500,000■ GDP: $70 billions■ Currency: Pakistani Rupee

Pakistan

This Is My Country

Country of rich history and culturaldiversity The area of present-day Pakistan was the cradleof the earliest known civilization of South Asia,the Indus Valley civilization (2500 BC).Pakistan, a land of pure heritage, gained inde-pendence from British rule on 14 August 1947,when India was divided as a result of a success-ful freedom struggle by the Muslim population.In the course of its long history dating back to400 BC, only nine large and small empires hadruled in the subcontinent. Of these, four(Mauryan, Tughluk, Mughal and British) ruledvast areas. In the years preceding 1947, westernIndia made a united effort to free itself from thecentral authority of Delhi and established anindependent state under the leadership ofMohammad Ali Jinnah, the father of the Pakistannation.

Geography and ClimatePakistan covers an area of 778, 720 sq km ofland and 25, 220 sq km of water and a total landboundary of 6,774 km which borders 2,430 kmwith Afghanistan, 523 km with China, 2,912 kmwith India and 909 km with Iran. Pakistan alsohas a 1,046-km coastline on the Arabian Sea thatis rich in marine life. The north and west are mountainous land andplateaus while the remaining area is the levelIndus plain in the east. Pakistan has greatextremes of elevation, from sea level on theArabian Sea Coast to the highest point of K2 inthe Himalayas at 8611 m.The availability of water for agriculture isextremely important in Pakistan. The Jehlum,Chennab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlaj rivers are themajor tributaries of the Great Indus River, whichflows from the scenic beauty of the northwest tothe Indian Ocean, covering a long distance

through the Himalayasand out-flowing themajority of its reservesto the plains of Pakistan,where agriculture flour-ishes. Overall, Pakistan’s cli-mate is continental.Since rainfall is insuffi-cient for the country’sneeds, dam and reser-


Facing the challenges of the futurePakistan today is rapidly gearing up to face thechallenges of the future. The government hastaken steps to eliminate problems by scientificmeans. A network of highways and roads isbeing constructed and soon will extend aroundthe country. Extensive NGO work has almosteradicated diseases like polio and governmentprograms have been introduced to improveissues like literacy. To better meet the country’s needs in the areasof food and water supply, Pakistan’s govern-ment has decided to build new dams and reser-voirs, which will help in irrigating more landand generating more agriculture and jobs for therural population. Pakistan gives special empha-sis to science and technology as major concernsfor development.

Lahore Fort of the Mughalera is situated in theProvince of Punjab

Frano near Skardo Pass inthe North West Province

Karachi, the largestcity of Pakistan

The highest point, Mount K-2 (8611m)

Favorite foods: One of the most popularPakistani dishes is chicken tikka, a charcoalbaked dish with chili spices. The photos arefrom the famous “BBQ Tonight” restaurant inPakistan’s largest city, Karachi

Enjoying chicken Tikka

Favorite scenic spots: Mohenjo Daro isa prehistoric sitedeveloped around4000 B.C. The resi-dential quartersshow a remarkablyhigh level of civiliza-tion. Mohenjo Daro

Fascinating Festivals: The Eid festivalamazes many foreign visitors to Pakistan.Coming after the month-long Ramazan fast,the festival celebratesthe completion of thefast. It is the custom atEid to offer a cow orgoat as a sacrifice anddeliver the meat to rel-atives or the needy.

What is in vouge inPakistan: Recently, thingslike mobile phones, theInternet and cable TV arequickly becoming popular,especially in the urbanareas. These media givepeople information aboutforeign trends and arebringing changes in areaslike women’s fashions.

Ms. Vaniza Ahmedis one of Pakistan’sfamous fashion mod-els

A decorated goat to be soldfor sacrifice

EXPRESSRA

CIN

GEXPRESS

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The 2004 AMA Supercross season in theU.S. opened on January 3 at AnaheimStadium in California in what turned outto be a banner day for Yamaha, as ChadReed (Australia), David Vuillemin(France) and Tim Ferry (USA) of theYamaha Factory Race Team finished 1,2, 3 riding the YZ250 to the first Yamahapodium sweep in five years.The 16-round season that runs almostevery Saturday until May with breaks

only for holidays like Easter, has beencompeted on the West Coast throughround six in recent years. Again this yearthe season opener was held at theAnaheim Stadium near Los Angeles,home of the Anaheim Angels baseballteam. At round 2 in Phoenix, Arizona,Reed finished 2nd and Ferry 5th, whileVuillemin worked back from a tail-endstart to place 7th. At round 3 at Anaheimand round 4 at San Diego, Reed scored

From left, Vuillemin, Reed, Ferry at the opening round

two more brilliant wins with Vuilleminfollowing close in 3rd. As for Ferry, awrist injury sustained in practice kepthim out of rounds 3 and 4. While Ferry tended his wounds, Reedand Vuillemin carried the Yamaha flagin brilliant form. Already people aretalking about Reed as the man to beatthis year, and the fans love him. As ofthe end of round 7,Reed stands in 1stplace in the seasonranking withVuillemin in 4thplace. It may wellbe that Reedclinches the titlebefore the finalround at Las Vegason May 1. In anycase, this is goingto be a great seasonfor Yamaha fans.

Preparations are going well for the start ofthe 2004 MotoGP season on April 18, andthe Yamaha team riders began their tracktest schedule in good form. Riding forYamaha’s factory team, the GauloisesFortuna Yamaha Team, this year are CarlosCheca (Spain) and defending MotoGPchampion Valentino Rossi (Italy), whileMarco Melandri (Italy) and Norifumi“Norick” Abe (Japan) will ride for the pri-vately owned Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3Team. All four of these riders will competeon the Yamaha YZR-M1. The four Yamaha riders undertook theirfirst track tests over three days beginning onJanuary 24 at the Sepang circuit in

Malaysia. For Rossi, it was hisfirst time on the YZR-M1, andeveryone was anxious to seehow it would go. The answer

came on the third day of the tests when heset a new personal record for the Sepangcourse of 2 min. 2.75 sec., using his sameunique hang-from-the-tank style.Afterwards, Rossi commented: “We did

some good work. The time we made wasgood for a first test, but tire and chassis set-tings were the main aim here. I’ve reallyenjoyed my first three days with Yamaha.I’m very happy. There’s still work to do onthe engine and we’ll carry on with that, butoverall things have been good.” Thatsounds like good news for Yamaha fans forthe coming MotoGP season.

AMA Supercross opens with Yamaha sweep!

AMA Supercross opens with Yamaha sweep!

Chad Reed and his YZ250 at the sec-ond round

Yamaha MotoGP team hits the test track

Yamaha MotoGP team hits the test track

Rossi will ride the YZR-M1 beginning this season

From left, Checa, Rossi, Melandri, Norick


We always welcome your contributions.

Write to Chief Editor Maki Yamaguchi of the PR Division,

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

2500 Shingai, Iwata, Shizuoka 438-8501 Japan,

<[email protected]>

Champion Crowned in 1st YAMAHAASEAN CUP 2003

O n December 7, 2003, a new chapterwas opened in the nascent motorsports scene of Southeast Asia as

qualifying riders from Indonesia, Malaysiaand Thailand gathered at the PRJ-Jakarta cir-cuit outside of the Indonesian capital to compete for the title ofNo. 1 in the ASEAN region in the “YAMAHA ASEAN CUP2003.” Planned and organized under the leadership of YMC’sMr. Tsuyoshi Yano with cooperation from Yamaha’s Indone-sian partner, PT. Yamaha Motor Kencana Indonesia (YMKI),the “YAMAHA ASEAN CUP 2003” was the first ASEANregion championship race event ever. In all, 20 riders fromIndonesia and 10 each from Malaysia and Thailand, all ofwhom had won qualifying races in their own countries, battledfor the ASEAN crown in the type of hot competition that one-make races are known for. “The Yamaha T110 used in this YAMAHA ASEAN CUP is a4-stroke model sold widely throughout the ASEAN region,under the ‘Jupiter Z’ name in the Indonesian market, the‘Lagenda’ name in Malaysia and the ‘Spark Z’ name in Thai-land,” comments Mr. Yano. “For a long time, 2-stroke modelswere the core of our business here in Southeast Asia, but nowthe market is shifting rapidly and it is the 4-strokes that will bethe market leaders from now on. That means we have to movequickly to shift our focus, too. As part of the strategy for thisshift, we want to build the image of our 4-stroke models in theregion by expanding the scale of the one-make races that wehave been involved in until now in the different countries.”Of course, brand strategy is not the only motivation behind theYAMAHA ASEAN CUP. Today, the ASEAN region is oneof the largest and fastest growing motorcycle markets in the

world, and a primary mission of the CUP races is to promotethe spread of motor sports in this high-potential market. Thatis why Yamaha invited MotoGP riders Norick Abe and NaokiMatsudo to Indonesia for this event to hold coaching clinics toteach the participants the techniques of circuit racing and helpnurture a new generation of race riders. With the successful conclusion of this first YAMAHAASEAN CUP 2003, plans call for the CUP championshipevent to expand next year and beyond with the addition of par-ticipants from other ASEAN countries like the Philippines andSingapore. Yamaha’s Malaysian partner Hong Leong Yamaha

Distributors Sdn. Bhd. (HLYD) will host next year’sevent in Malaysia.

Indonesia

20,000 people gathered at the circuit near Jakarta for the grand opening of the first ASEAN CUP 2003

The winner of the Novice class was 11-year-old boy wonder Doni Tata Pradita (repre-senting Indonesia). Doni’s dream is to become a MotoGP rider like Norick

MotoGP riders Norick Abe and Naoki Matsudo appeared as guest instructors at the event’s ridingclinic

Mr. Kadek Mantrajya (#84, representing Indonesia) won the Expert classand the title of the first ASEAN Champion


France

2-wheel-drive Yamaha is sensation of the 2004 Dakar rally

Cameroon

YRS shows how Yamaha backs its products

T he West African country of Cameroonbecame the latest in the growing numberof African nations that depend on reliable

Yamaha police bikes. Late last year the localYamaha distributor, CAMI, supplied theCameroon government with an order of XJ900Ppolice-outfitted motorcycles. Then, over the twodays of November 12 and 13, that delivery wasfollowed up by a YRS (Yamaha Riding School)course in the capital, Yaounde, to instruct 67officers from the military police (GendarmarieNational), national police and the Ministry of

Transportation who will be using the new policebikes. Organized by the local Yamaha represen-tative, Mr. Christophe Geindreau, and with Mr.Vincent Cassar as the YRS instructor, thiscourse taught the participants not only the fun-damentals of safe and sound riding techniquebut also how to perform the regular machinechecks and maintenance necessary to keep themachines always ready for duty. This event was reported in the local newspapers,giving the public a high-profile example of theYamaha spirit of full after-sale service.

T he Dakar rally is known as one of the world’s toughest motorvehicle races, and this year’s 26th holding was one of the tough-est in the rally’s history, lasting 18 days and covering more than

11,000 kilometers. On Jan. 18, David Frétigné of the Yamaha Motor France Ipone team arrivedat the goal in the Senegal capital, Dakar, amidst wild cheers from the specta-tors riding the revolutionary 2-wheel-drive Yamaha WR450F 2-Trac. Despite a displacement of just 450cc, Frétigné outran other makers’ factorymachines in the larger 660cc and 950cc classes to finish an amazing 7thoverall and capture the 450cc class crown by a big margin. One of the secrets behind Frétigné’s success was the 2-wheel-drive systemof his WR450F 2-Trac machine developed jointly by Yamaha Motor Co.,Ltd. (YMC) and Ohlins. The system employs a hydraulic motor in the frontwheel hub that is activated by pressure from a hydraulic pump in response tothe degree of spin occurring at the rear wheel. This added front-wheel pullmakes a big difference in traction in conditions like deep sand and opens upnew riding potential, making it the focus of big attention. The development of the system was begun by Yamaha and Ohlins in 1985,with the first real prototype completed in 1998. The following year it made

its race debut on theTT600R at the UAEDesert Challenge. Withcontinuing develop-ment, Yamaha MotorFrance’s President Jean-Claude Olivier himselfrode along with Frétignéon machines mounting

David Frétigné SpeaksIt was my dream from childhood to some day compete in the Dakar rally.YMF’s President Olivier gave me this chance and the motivation to set atarget and overcome all obstacles on the way to the goal. The Yamahabrand image is closely tied to the Dakar rally and I am excited to now bea part of it. The WR 2-Trac may have a small engine, but it is a funmachine to ride. I learned a lot this time, and next time I want to go forthe overall win.

President Olivier SpeaksThis 2-Trac technology that has been in development since 1985 hasnow opened a big door at the Dakar rally to stand on the world stage.David has done a great job with his talent and powers of judgment, evenwhile working on the machine development. Once 40% of the machinesin the Dakar were Yamahas, and now there are only a few. But thisyear’s achievement has once again brought the Yamaha name back intothe Dakar impressively, and I am convinced that we have given the cus-tomers new dreams and expectations.

The 2-wheel-drive WR450F 2-Trac

The 2-wheel drive systemdramatically boosts tractionin deep sand and the like

this system to victories in the 2002 and 2003 Shamrock Rally in Morocco.For this year’s Dakar rally, Yamaha Motor France and Yamaha MotorEurope N.V. further developed the system’s reliability and durability, and itstechnological excellence has now been proven before a worldwide audienceon the tough Dakar course. This revolutionary 2-wheel-drive system will be available to customers inEurope as a limited-edition kit for the WR450F in 2004. By applying Yama-ha ingenuity and new technologies aimed at bringing new excitement to ourcustomers in ways that are different from any other maker, Yamaha has onceagain opened up a whole new world of 2-wheel riding excitement.From YMENV/YMF

David Frétigné and theYMF team celebratevictory at Dakar

From Hiroshi Setogawa, OMDO, YMC

France

T he gala ceremony held at the MBK factory in St.Quentin, France, on December 12, 2003 to commemo-rate the start of production for the “New CW50” scoot-

er, clearly showed the company’s big expectations for thisnew version of its popular 50cc scooter. Among the dignitariesparticipating in the tape cut was YMC’s President Hasegawafrom Japan. Ever since its release in 1989 as the MBK “Booster” and theYamaha “BW’S,” the CW50 has enjoyed exceptional popular-ity as a lifestyle item among Europe’s younger generation withits sturdy but stylish body and go-anywhere big tires. Its con-tinuing popularity has brought production to a grand total ofmore than 600,000 units. With the New CW50, Yamaha’sEuropean manufacturing base for smaller motorcycles andoutboard motors, MBK, hopes to cement its position as theNo. 1 maker of 50cc scooters in Europe. From Toshiya Kawano, MBK, France

New CW50 rolled out to makeYamaha/MBK No. 1 at 50cc

New Vino gets a stylish launch

O n January 16, a press intro-duction event was held for the“New Vino,” a new version of

Yamaha’s popular “fashion scooter”Vino that mounts for the first time anewly developed 4-stroke engine. Tobest match the product image and theprime target demographic, the venue

chosen for the event was a fashionablelive-performance club in the capitalcity, Taipei, and the staging of theproduct presentation was done in thestyle of a fashion show. On hand toliven the launch by singing the themesong from the Vino TV commercialsin which she stars was the popularsinger Stefanie Sun. The attendance at the event far exceed-ed expectations, with about 150 jour-nalists. In fact, many of the journalistspraised the great match between theimages of the New Vino and Ms. Sunand the added advertising effect itshould bring. Others commented thatthis was the best new-product launchevent they had seen. Announcementshad already been made that the NewVino will go on sale in Taiwan in lateFebruary and in Japan at the end ofMarch, and from the reactions at thislaunch event it is clear that this is themodel all eyes are on. From Katsuhiko Honmaru, YMT,Taiwan

Taiwan

YMC’s President Toru Hasegawa (third from right) was among the dignitaries at the tapecut for MBK’s New CW50

Sweet Stefanie Sun starred at the lively Vino pressevent

UAE

Leading Middle East

Distributor Celebrates 50th

Anniversary

Belgarda becomes Yamaha Motor Italia

On January 14, 2004, apress conference washeld at the Milano

Stock Exchange to announcethe official name change forthe Yamaha distributor in Italyfrom Societa Belgarda S.P.A.to Yamaha Motor Italia S.P.A.and to explain the new unifica-tion of the Yamaha brand inItaly. This move was taken tofurther consolidate Yamahabrand equity and user loyaltyaround the Yamaha name inthe increasingly competitiveItalian market. The new official company name is Yamaha Motor Italia S.P.A. (YMIT), andunder the new brand unification program, former MBK dealers will now beabsorbed into the Yamaha dealer network. This move will increase the number ofdealerships handling Yamaha brand products to roughly 350 nationwide. Meanwhile, a new marketing policy is being initiated to promote retail sales,under which the motorcycle and scooter divisions will conduct separate market-ing programs aimed at different user profiles in order to better match the actualItalian market conditions. The highly successful press conference gathered some 80 representatives notonly from the motorcycle press but also general magazine and newspaper jour-nalists in addition to TV coverage. The new company’s president, Mr. Yoshi-hiko Takahashi addressed the press and received questions in Italian, in whatturned out to be a very lively press event showing big expectations for thecompany’s future. From Masaya Watanabe, YMIT, Italy

Italy

President Takahashi speaks to the large gathering of magazine, newspaperand TV journalistsT

he Yamaha land and marine distributor for the United

Arab Emirates, AL YOUSUF MOTORS L. L. C., which

has been doing business with Yamaha for 40 years, cele-

brated its 50th anniversary on December 15 last year with a

grand ceremony attended by distinguished representatives of the

government of the Emirate of Dubai and numerous industry

affiliates. At the ceremony YMC representatives were presented

with an award of appreciation for the company’s contribution to

the local business community.

Representing Yamaha at the event were ME Company President,

Mr. Shinya Sato, OMDO Senior General Manager, Mr. Noritaka

Shibata and related staff. AL YOUSUF is the largest Yamaha

distributor in the Middle East and handles a full line of Yamaha

main products; motorcycles, ATVs,

outboard motors, WaveRunners, power

products and golf cars.

From Michiyuki Ishida, OMDO, YMC

ME Company President, Mr. Sato, receiving the award


Argentina

Fresh start for Yamaha Motor Argentina

at new premises

In November 2003, Yamaha Motor ArgentinaS.A. (YMARG) moved to new premises inBuenos Aires, as part of its restructuring in the

wake of the economic crisis that swept the countryin 2001 and 2002. The attractive new premises in abusy commercial area of the city have beendesigned to also serve as a model showroom andservice center for the “YSP” (Yamaha Sports Plazadealership) program that YMARG will now bepromoting throughout Argentina. When the severe economic crisis struck in 2001,demand dropped a devastating 90% in YMARG’smain product categories, forcing a restructuringand reorienting of the company. While some of themain competitors withdrew from certain sectors ofthe market to concentrate on the larger businessand commercial transport sectors, the determinedYMARG team quickly identified the newlyopened sectors and reoriented its product strategyto concentrate on the full Yamaha range ofmotocross models, sport models like the YZF-R1,touring models like the TDM900 and sport andutility ATVs, as well as the full range of Yamahaoutboard motors and WaveRunners. This strategyhas proved successful and the company ended2003 on a strong note. Supporting this new orienta-tion will be the YSP shop concept that YMARGwill begin implementing among its network ofsome 60 dealers nationwide.Officially opened with a ceremony on Nov. 7, themodel showroom at the company’s new premisesgreets customers with an attractive interior and dis-plays designed to convey a mix of technology andsophistication. There is also a coffee bar and a TVmonitor showing domestic and overseas Yamahapromotional videos. The reaction to the new show-room has been very positive. From Pablo Hlebszevitsch, General Manager,YMARG, Argentina

(From right) Indonesian Yamahadealer Mr. Harifin from Jakarta, Mit-sui & Co., Ltd. General Manager,Mr. Imura, YIMM President, Mr.Takahashi, YMC’s PresidentHasegawa and a dealer Mr. Herryfrom Makassar opened a keg ofsake together

The new YMARG home office includes a model YSP showroom

Japan

YMKI’s Main Dealers Visit Japan

Over a eight-day period from November 1to 8 last year, PT. Yamaha Motor Kencana Indonesia (YMKI) treated its

major dealers to a tour of Japan. Being the firstsuch trip in eleven years, it was a large tour of 59people, including representatives from 23 ofIndonesia’s leading motorcycle dealerships andYMKI staff. One of the highlights of the trip was avisit to the Tokyo Motor Show, where the dealersdeepened their understanding of Yamaha’s corpo-rate directions and state-of-the-art technologies insuch important new fields as electric vehicles. In addition to sightseeing and shopping in Tokyoand later in Hakone and Kyoto, the dealers werewelcomed by a large number of Yamaha employ-ees at YMC’s headquarters in Iwata, where theytoured the main factories and CommunicationPlaza on Nov. 4. At the welcoming party held forthem that night, YMC President Hasegawathanked the dealers for their important contribu-

tion in helping Yamaha Motor achieve consoli-dated sales of over a trillion yen wordwide for thefirst time ever. In another speech, Senior Manag-ing Director Kajikawa asked for the dealers con-tinued cooperation in building the Yamaha brandimage and promoting sales of the new automatictransmission models that are an important part ofYamaha’s marketing policy for Indonesia. Thanksgreatly to the efforts of these dealers, Yamaha’s2003 motorcycle sales in Indonesia reached570,000 units, while recovering a market share of20%. From Wataru Endo, Motorcycle Operations,YMC

In the 2003 WorldMedia Festival inHamburg, Ger-

many, the GoldenAward in the cate-gory for Best Prod-uct Presentation wasgiven to CreativeAction Holland fortheir design of thepowered two wheeler (PTW) section of theYamaha Motor Europe N.V. (YMENV) Website. Among the entries from 24 countries, theinternational panel of judges found theYMENV Web site outstanding in a numberof areas including navigation, speed, targetgroup definition, continuity and user friendli-ness. With an average 1.2 million visitors everymonth, Creative Action Holland Director, Mr.Herman van Oldenmark, commented that thesuccess of the YMENV Web site was attrib-uted to it being “refreshing, renewing and fullof the correct target group information.” Visi-tors enjoy the site because the product presen-tations go beyond the usual specifications,etc., to include image and lifestyle elementsthat create a unique world around each prod-uct. Microsites are also created for new mod-els to effectively communicate the excitementof the Yamaha world in stylish ways. From Robert Landman, PTW Marketingand Sales Div., YMENV, the Netherlands

The Netherlands

YMENV Web SiteWins Golden Award

Mr. Robert Landman (left) ofYMENV, Mr. Herman van Old-enmark, Creative Action Hol-land Director (center) and Mr.Mochizuki (right) of YMC PRholding the award plaque

Japan

OMDO service train-ing held in Japan

OMDO Service Training for 2003 washeld in Japan over a five-day periodfrom September 22 to 26.

Service staff personnel at dealerships from tencountries in Africa, the South Pacific, CentralAsia and Central America were joined for thefirst time by senior volunteers from the JapanInternational Cooperation Agency to make atotal of 17 participants who took part in thefive-day program. These participants receivedtechnical training that centered on the large-size 4-stroke F150A and F225A outboardmotors. The schedule for the five days was packedtight with technical lectures that includedpractical training, and thanks to the inclusionof hands-on training under actual use condi-tions on the water, all the participants learnedskills that can be put into practice right away. While the range of OMDO activities isfocused almost completely on developingcountries, there is significant interest every-where in these outboard motors that arefriendlier to the environment. After the partic-ipants return to their countries, they will servethe important role of instructors at dealershipswhere training clin-ics will be held forlocal mechanics. From MinoruFukuda, OMDO,YMC

The participants respond-ed enthusiastically to thetraining


Colombia

Colombia distributor Industria Colombiana DeMotocicletas Yamaha S.A. (Incolmotos) is proudto announce that its motocross team “Team

Yamaha – Pirelli” has been crowned the MotocrossNational Champion for 2003 in the 85cc, 125cc and 250ccclasses. Right from the start, the Yamaha Pirelli Team had consol-idated itself as the Colombian leader in all major cate-gories of motocross. Battling through a total of six nation-al rounds, its riders confirmed the excellent combinationbetween them and Yamaha’s racing machines. For the coming 2004 season, the Yamaha Pirelli Teamwill have all their top riders including Juan David Posada,who won his eighth consecutive national championship,competing to keep their titles. With such a formidableteam, Yamaha will once more have the winning brand inColombia.From Andres Gomez, Marketing Dept., Incolmotos,Colombia

Yamaha triumphant inColombia once more!

From right, 125cc national champion Sebastian Vélez, 250cc rider PabloSalazar, 85cc national champion Jhonny Hernández, 250cc national champi-on Juan David Posada, 125cc rider Esteban Posada

Nicaragua

On December 5 of last year,Nicaragua became the fourthLatin American country after

Colombia, Mexico and the DominicanRepublic to begin production of FRPboats under a technical assistance agree-ment with Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.(YMC). Despite having long coastlineson both the Pacific Ocean and theCaribbean Sea and the largest continentalshelf area of any Central American coun-try with excellent fishery resources, longyears of civil war and economic sanc-tions that continued until 1990 left theNicaraguan fishery industry underdevel-oped, with an estimated 3,000 un-motorized wooden boats still inuse today. And, though localmakers have begun producingFRP boats to replace these, manyare lacking in quality and design.In order to remedy this situationand contribute to the futuregrowth of fishery in Nicaragua,the local Yamaha distributor,Casa Pellas Group, entered into atechnical assistance agreementwith YMC last June to begin theproduction of quality Yamaha-design FRP boats for this smallbut growing market.

Boat production begins under technicalassistance agreement

Contribute articles to

Yamaha News!

We are always looking for interesting and timely

stories from the worldwide Yamaha family.

Write to Chief Editor (Ms.) Maki Yamaguchi of the

PR Div., Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

2500 Shingai, Iwata, Shizuoka 438-8501 Japan,

email: [email protected]

Soon after the first boat was completedunder the supervision of YMC BoatOperations staff in December, some 60industry guests and dignitaries includinggovernment ministers and top officialsand the Japanese ambassador, Mr. Mit-suhiro Kagami, gathered to celebrate thechristening at Lake Nicaragua and wit-ness a water test of the boat’s sink-proofdesign. With its abundant fisheryresources, expectations are high for thedevelopment of the fishery industry herein Nicaragua along with an outboardmotor market. From Osamu Kobayashi, OMDO, YMC

This boat was chistened Consuelo, the name of the wife of Casa Pellas presi-dent, Mr. Silvio Pellas, which means comfort and consolation in Spanish

Japan

F rom July to the end of October2003, the 15th Annual YamahaChildren’s Waterside Painting

Contest drew some 4,022 entries fromelementary and nursery school studentsaround Japan. This brought the totalnumber of paintings submitted since1989 to over 83,122. Again this year, thethemes that entrants chose from were:“The Beautiful Sea” (protection of theenvironment), “The Working Sea” (for

example fishingports) and “The Seais Fun” (marinerecreation). On November 25tha panel of ninejudges chaired bythe well respectedJapanese painter,Mr. Kazuo Kudo,gathered at the

Over Four Thousand Children EnterYamaha Painting Contest

Tokyo offices of YMC for the difficulttask of deciding the winners for the 2003contest. Afterwards, Mr. Kudo comment-ed that this year’s contest saw a lot of“original and individually rich” pieces ofwork. After first narrowing the choicesdown to 420 paintings, the panel selectedwinners in the upper elementary, lowerelementary, and nursery school cate-gories. The four top awards included theJapanese Minister of Education and Sci-ence Prize, which went to 2nd graderHarutaka Yasuda of Ehime Pref., theMinister of Land, Infrastructure andTransport Prize won by 2nd grader Aki-nari Wakita of Osaka, the Minister ofEnvironment Prize won by 5-year-oldIzumi Matsuda of Chiba Pref., and theDirector General of the Fisheries AgencyPrize won by 3rd grader Yuki Nishiyamaof Kanagawa Pref.

The Japanese Minister of Education and Science Prizewent to a Japanese boy for his painting Tankentai(Expedition)

The 43rd Tokyo International Boat Show thatopened at the Makuhari Messe exhibitioncenter near Tokyo on February 5 gave Yama-ha a prime opportunity to show off its latesttechnologies and corporate strength as a com-prehensive marine manufacturer. Over theshow’s four-day run, the Yamaha booth wasthe center of visitor attention with its displaysof Yamaha outboard motors and WaveRun-ners, as well as new models from the populardomestic-market Yamaha brand powerboats. Like in other parts of the world, Japaneseboaters are increasingly concerned about pro-tecting the marine environment, whichexplains why there were always crowdsaround the display of seven models from

Yamaha’s lineup of lightweight, compactdesign 4-stroke outboards, including the top-of-the-line-F225A, with cleaner exhaust andlower noise. At the same time, to answer theneeds of users who want thelight weight, compactnessand power of a 2-stroke plusenvironment-friendly emis-sions, Yamaha offers 2-strokes like the Z240 dis-played in this show, whichfeatures the exclusive HPDI(High Pressure Direct Injec-tion) fuel injection system that achieves great-ly improved fuel economy and cleanerexhaust that clears by large margins the emis-

sions standards set by the U.S.EPA for the year 2006. Also on view was a new boatconstruction technology devel-oped by Yamaha based on theguidelines for “Ecoboats” intro-duced last year by Japan’s Min-istry of Land, Transportation andInfrastructure. This new Yamaha-exclusive foam constructionmethod, called “FOAMAP,” wason display in a special exhibitionmodel of a “16-ft. Trailerable

Boat.” This method injects urethane underhigh pressure between FRP panels to producean integrated 3-layer construction of FRP andhigh-density urethane foam to provide greatlyincreased buoyancy compared to convention-al materials. This gives the hull sufficientbuoyancy to prevent it from sinking even ifthe hull is ruptured. Development is nowunderway toward a production model thatwill be an entirely new-concept fishing boat

with a trailerable design. Another concept model ondisplay that showed offYamaha’s state-of-the-arttechnology is a UMV(Unmanned Marine Vehi-cle). In 2001, YamahaMotor Co., Ltd. (YMC)developed and put into

practical use the “Kan Chan,” anautonomous navigation, low-speed, seago-ing UMV for carrying automated meteoro-logical/oceanographic equipment systems.The new concept model is a higher-speedUMV with potential for use in surveys ofdangerous water areas, like over seafloorvolcanoes, or for water-quality surveys.Using YMC’s autonomous navigation tech-nologies developed for our autonomous-flight unmanned helicopters, this UMVachieves high-precision autonomousunmanned navigation and remote-controloperation at speeds of up to 40 knots withautomatic functions to accommodate chang-ing wind and wave conditions.

Yamaha Marine Technology on theCutting EdgeYamaha Marine Technology on theCutting Edge


A WaveRunner ride gave even little visitors a virtual experienceof the thrill of PWC riding

Visitors marveled at the UMV concept modelcapable of high-precision autonomous unmannednavigation at speeds of up to 40 knots

The Yamaha booth with its displays of six boats, WaveRunners, outboard motors and more, arranged under the theme “The Sea –One-of-a-kind Weekends”

The popular Yamaha outboard motors stood at the center of the booth

Printed in Japanhttp://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp

YAMAHA MOTOR CO., LTD. Public Relations Division 2500 Shingai, Iwata, Shizuoka, 438-8501 Japan Telephone: 81-538-32-1145, Facsimile: 81-538-37-4250

Z O O M I NZ O O M I N

RSVector ER, a new kind of trailbreakerRSVector ER, a new kind of trailbreaker

Two years have passedsince Yamaha released therevolutionary RX-1 as the first

true performance snowmobile powered bya 4-stroke engine. Never one to let theexcitement cool, Yamaha now announcesthe spring 2004 release of an entirely new4-stroke snowmobile, the “RSVector ER.”Developed for a high-level balance ofpower, handling and comfort, this newmodel is Yamaha’s 2nd-generation 4-strokeperformance sled. While the RX-1 mounted a 4-cylinderengine developed directly from the YamahaYZF-R1 supersport motorcycle, the new“RSVector ER” takes as its base the 4-cylinder engine of the European marketmodel FJR1300 motorcycle re-designedinto a liquid-cooled 3-cylinder power unit.Meanwhile, the chassis adopts a lightweightdesign that brings the total sled weight online with the 2-stroke models of the sameclass. The result is the power and handlingthat enables aggressive performance riding.

One look at the body design tells you thatthis is a whole new machine. First of all, therear silencer assembly was given a morecompact design with a look that says “highperformance” in a light and agile image.The compact design of the rear end has alsoopened up more foot space at the rear of thestep to allow for more aggressive ridingaction. The RSVector ER will be offered in threeimpressive color schemes, a block-patternblue modeled after the racing colors of theYamaha USA teams with stripe graphics onthe upper surface of the body, a red in theimage of American muscle cars and a silverwith a mechanical image in combinationwith a flare pattern exemplifying the popu-lar custom designs in an appealingly mod-ern arrangement. As for the performance ride, a key compo-

nent is the new light-weight, long-travel sus-

pension with quickadjustment mechanism.

The track features an aggressive pattern beltwith 1.25-inch lugs for optimum accelera-tion and high-speed performance. Amongthe many other new features are aredesigned seat, wider footboards andimpressive blue headlights. And the new RSVector ER will not bealone. Joining it with the same basic engineand chassis will be two variation modelswith select spec changes. The “RSRage”will be outfitted as a potent “all-roundsport” model designed to handle any kindof snow and trail conditions. Meanwhile,the “RSVenture TF” version adopts a 151-inch track with 1.25-inch lugs, a suspensionreadily adjustable to accommodate a tran-som passenger, plus an adjustable seatarrangement to provide greater comfort intandem touring. These new designs areYamaha’s idea of how to really enjoy thesnow.

the new leader of the pack! - yamaha motor company · yamaha motor co., ltd. march 1, 2004 english...

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