The Year 2008 has been a great leap ahead for the Indian biking industry with the launch of the premium bike, Yamaha R15. This event sets in motion a big set of wheels and gives us hope to expect more premium bikes in India in the near future, until then let us look back and learn how Yamaha came up in the biking industry.
The development of Yamaha motorcycles is one that took place quite by accident. In 1953 the company was already developing a variety of other products. They were looking for a use for idle pieces of equipment that had once been used to make propellers for airplanes. The ideas for this equipment included sewing machines, auto parts, scooters, all terrain vehicles, and motorcycles. The decision was made to focus on manufacturing motorcycles because of the market demand for them. The first Yamaha motorcycle was introduced in August of 1954, called the Yamaha YA-1. This bike featured a two stroke single cylinder engine.
By July of 1955 Yamaha was creating 200 quality motorcycles each month with a staff of 274 people. The YD-1 was introduced in 1957 as a racing bike. The bike quickly became popular and was featured in the United States Catalina Grand Prix in 1958.
This gave Yamaha the invitation to start selling its motorcycles in the United States with a private dealer in California. To further attract sales in the United States, Yamaha Motor Corporation USA was established in 1977. In 1959 Yamaha introduced the idea of offering a converter kit to consumers. This allowed the motorcycle to be used for both street riding and motocross racing.
By 1960 Yamaha was producing 135,000 bikes per year. 1965 saw the advancement of no longer having to mix oil with gas due to the automatic oiling system. By 1973 Yamaha was selling more than 1 million motorcycles each year worldwide.
During the 1970’s they began working on developing four stroke models to compete with other manufacturers. The results were faster motorcycles that met emissions regulations and were even more economical than the two stroke models. However, they also realized the potential to continue selling two stroke models to consumers as well. Many other manufacturers focused only on four strokes, so Yamaha was able to meet the needs of that target market.
1974 brought the introduction of the YZ250. This model quickly became the largest selling motocross bike because it featured a single horizontal rear suspension system. Yamaha built a racing track right next to the plant, allowing them to continually observe the quality and capabilities of their products.
Yamaha created one of the fastest racing bike models in 1985 with the introduction of the V-Max. This was classified as a muscle bike, with power that was not for the beginning rider. They continue to produce some of the fastest bikes on the market both for street riding and for racing.
Yamaha has never been satisfied to simply stop when they had a good thing going. They always had a vision of achieving more and to strive to further customer satisfaction. The visions and philosophies of the company have proven to be effective in every aspect of motorcycle production. The fact that they offer so many different models means the consumer has the opportunity to find the exact motorcycle they are looking for from a brand name they know they can trust to offer them a quality product.
While some of their models of motorcycles haven’t sold well, many of them have. Yamaha has always focused on the future of motorcycles while keeping in mind what consumers are wanting. They have been able to diversify their developments, and it has paid off by allowing them to reach a large portion of the motorcycle market without compromising their vision.
Today, Yamaha is the second largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world behind Harley-Davidson. They continue to make fast, reliable motorcycles that customers around the world are proud to own. They also manufacture motorcycles that have won more races than any other brand on the market. Their diversity and dedication to making quality motorcycles that meet the needs of the consumer have kept them a top seller in this growing industry. Yamaha dealerships can be found around the world, offering a full range of motorcycle models to suit your tastes.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice article but can i ask u smethn. Hw is Harley Davidson the biggest byk manufacturer in the world. I am pretty sure it is Hero honda.
May be Harley manufactures the ‘biggest’ bikes! and hence they call it that way
But it is for sure that HH makes the big numbers.
i did a small research over the internet..
and as it seems, various websites and awards make one thing clear.. it is “honda” which gathers the most applauses !!
it is undoubtedly the the largest two wheeler manufacturer of the world. since, hero is in association with honda.. and technology is more or less borrowed frm honda.. it is appropriate to say that honda is largest..
like here in india, we have hero honda.. in some other country.. honda might have tied up with other native brands as well…
soo.. collectively Honda was declared the largest bike manufacturer
P.s – harley was no where in the picture
I thought Hero Honda was the largest bike manufacturer…may be jst because Harleys are known everywhere they call themselves the biggest bike manufacturers.Which place does Bajaj come in?
Hmmmm, makes for quite an interesting read. Good article. The YA 1 1955 has quite a lot of similarties with the current Bullet.
With this kind of lineage, Yamaha still continues to short change the Indian market with products like the FZ16 and R15… After the initial craze, the real issues have started springing up… To add insult to injury, the YMIL CEO was also removed from his post…
And as someone rightly mentioned above, it is not Yamaha but Honda which rules the bike world… Its only because of homologation and tie ups with regional companies that it does not stand out…
HONDA spares are very costly when compared to yamaha but people say they have a better service than yamaha which can be changed with proper service men.
HERO HONDA splendour which is selling in huge numbers till date cannot be started under gear . Glamour FI which was advertised to be a great bike was a huge failure .Each and every brand bike has some minus points …. HH models are not looking good except splendour, karizma , hunk , old cbz .the latest cbz extreme has a black alloy in the front and red one in the rear which is so head scratching with the slogan live in the edge.
I am a big fan of YAMAHA MOTORS
they where the first to interduce 1000cc raw power bikes in india which others are following .
R1 with full fairing is awesome in race tracks even honda cbr could not meet with the handling character of r1 but it was faster (honda cbr)
FZ 16 is a great bike for india from yamaha but crash guards must be implemented in it.
i heard that vixion 150 cc , r125 and scooters are in the cards of 2009 . Their tuning fork logo , latest designing concepts are better than HH . YAMAHA the power are back in india strongly with their products which are touching the hearts of people …..
HONDA the power of dreams only in dreams in india
lol.. nice quote in the end Gangadharan ..
actually i think, Yamaha is taking india in a huge way.
Since the 2 wheeler industry in india has grown considerably..
and as far as honda is concerned.. i think hona would rather like to maintain a low profile and just let “hero honda” take over instead.
Honda isnt really launching vehicles that would counter the current market status which is growing in favour of Yamaha with the launch of R15 and FZ 16.. maybe even R125 in the near future.
Infact i heard that Honda is going though “slight” financial crisis.
i dont know if that was true or not but the news was from a trusted source. maybe thats what keeping honda from taking a drink on the streets of india.
Rumour
HERO HONDA going to launch karizma FI
HMSI to launch 800cc bike by March 2009
Bajaj to launch kawasaki ninja 250cc plus six models in 2009
=)
ive heard about Karizma Fi .. dunno when though.
HMSI… umm. whats that??
lol
yes.. i can bet on bajaj’s product.
ive heard a lot .. and kawasaki’s website confirmed it.
but as ive heard more to add to these rumours.. by mid ’09, Hero honda will launch minimum of 6 more new bkes. lets wait and see whats up in the market for us =]
Daksh Hero Honda will launch 6 variants of the existing bikes and call them all new with some stickers so we really can’t expect anything exciting from HH.
Adi i agree with what you say, its true that Yamaha have been taken people for a ride. If you noticed everyone reduced prices with the reduction in CENVAT, but Yamaha did not announce any price cut.
oh ok.. i thought that they would launch a whole new set of range of bikes.. the retards will launch diff versions -.-”
something like PGM -Fi as in glamour lol
SUPER DOOPER FLOP!!
i never liked yamaha india’s strategy ..
but in one year they have changed my opinion ..
first of all ..
with their current bike launches.. they are trying to put the crown of king of performance biking on indian roads.. which they wore in the time of RD-350…
of course its not going to be easy..
please guys dont compare honda and yamaha…i think looking at their bike lineups …their line of thinking is totally different…
while hero honda is still the bike maker seeking volume numbers…
considering bike lineup of yamaha..only missing is a cruiser…
while it would be cool to have suzuki or even kawasaki to bring cool bikes like yamaha..that would surely make others start thinking… about bajaj and TVS.. its going to be tough for them…still i think..bajaj service centers are more common than yamaha…so yamaha should work on that…
Yamaha & Honda both are good manufactures in their own respect. Yamaha is all about enjoying the ride with its awesome handling characteristics (No match) while honda is about producing softer/ smooth bikes and presently Yamaha is under financial crisis and they have pulled out of races. While on the other hand HH is about selling mass volumes for commuter segment and don’t except some exceptional models from HH.
I own a RX-100
I want in Yamaha RX 100 Model. Any other Details. Pls write to my email. Thanks of Yamaha
i won a yamaha rx 135….
my rx is leading to apatche rtr 160…
so i think my rx is greater than others….
ha ha ha………