Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

Having introduced the Communication Plaza’s restoration team, we now share the story of how the DS6-C, a scrambler version of the DS6, came to be in the Plaza’s collection through an interview with its owner, Yukio Saito.     #Yamaha #RevsyourHeart #classic #motorcycles #restoration #museum #preservation #design #industrialdesign #history #manufacturing #engineering #technology #craftsmanship 

=== Days Gone By===    Together with Outboards – 2. Doing Good for Others Is Doing Good for Oneself     Thus began my work with outboard motors. Back then, however, we were so overwhelmed with handling complaints with our products every day that we had no time to develop new models, and on top of that, we were also short of personnel. We were simply in no position to formulate any kind of business plan. At the time, I felt there were three tasks I had to accomplish:     1. Gather the right people and build a proper base of operations.  2. Solve the immediate problems causing customer complaints.  3. Develop new models.     I got started by gathering the right personnel. At the time, the 3rd Engineering Division (Outboard Motor Engineering Division) consisted of 18 people doing design and testing, but only about 10 of them were engineers so things were wholly inadequate to get work done properly.     “We have to make a serious effort to grow our outboard motor operations,” stated Managing Director Koike at an executive officer board meeting. “To do that, we need to boost the number of personnel in the 3rd Engineering Division, so I want to reassign some people from the 1st Engineering Division (motorcycles) and the 2nd Engineering Division (snowmobiles).” This motion was passed by the board.     But while they all agreed that the idea was good, nobody was willing to make the sacrifices necessary for it. So once more concrete meetings began to reassign people, not a single candidate emerged. This is a common problem where personnel matters are concerned. For the time being, I hoped to secure reinforcements through regular in-company rotations and used every card in my hand to negotiate some transfers, but the effort proved futile. So in the end, I had no other alternative but to take a chance and hire some new people from outside the company.     Photo: Yamaha also released the 8 hp P-165 model that year.     <continues>      #Yamaha #RevsyourHeart #marine #outboards #outboardmotors #manufacturing #engineering #history #design    

#Yamaha is pleased to unveil the new TMAX & TMAX Tech MAX, the ultimate arrivals in the Yamaha Sport Scooter range. Since its first appearance in 2001, TMAX has been one of Yamaha’s best sellers in the Sport Scooter range due to its capacity to combine an attractive way to commute over longer distances with a sporty and enjoyable two-wheeler machine. Over twenty years later, the new #TMAX & #TMAXTechMAX are ready to set higher standards for the large-capacity Sport Scooter category thanks to their unique details including a new dynamic look with a sharper front end, as well as upgraded rider’s assist and a more sophisticated dash. Furthermore, the TMAX Tech MAX features a great premium finish that underlines its status as the ultimate Yamaha Sport Scooter. #MAXIsInDetails #Yamaha #SportScooter #SharkHelmets

===What the Japanese Bayberry Trees Have Seen===   28. “Learn by doing!”  <continued>    In situations like this, the most experienced workers would typically be selected for training, but the president insisted the department managers overseeing the workplace should be the ones to experience these new technologies for themselves.     We went to Abiko in Chiba and rented rooms in an old inn. We began our temporary lives as workers on the factory floor and learned how to operate modern metalworking machine tools. Though we were managers at our own company, we were given no special treatment and we toiled hard and ended our days covered in grime and oil just like all the other workers.     Our first job was using a turret lathe to cut 70–80 mm thick steel. The same task at the Hamana Factory would mean using high-speed steel bits to slowly make the cut, and it was always a laborious process. But here, the tools made by Tungaloy and other brands that used superhard alloys would just generate some smoke as they cut through the steel like a hot knife through butter. We just stared, dumbfounded at how fast they made the job.     Our duties also included cleaning the machines, removing the chips and shavings, sharpening the tool bits and setting up the machines. The scoldings we received whenever we had to ask one of the old timers for help in changing tools was just part of the job.     In what little free time we had at work, we made notes about the various shapes of the tool bits and tool holders, work conditions like workpiece rpm, feed speed, depth of cut and all manner of other information. Then, every evening after returning to our rooms, we would use this data to write reports on our progress in the dim light of a low-wattage bulb and send the report off to our company. Everything we learned during the day was written down that night and sent off immediately.    Photo: Some of the reports from our time at Hitachi Seiki.    <continues>    #Yamaha #RevsyourHeart #motorcycles #racing #manufacturing #engineering #history #design

The last entry in our series of interviews with the Communication Plaza’s restoration team is with its longest-serving member: Shinichi Hanai. A self-professed motorcycle nut, Hanai-san spent years in Japan’s national racing championship series as a mechanic for big name riders like Tadahiko Taira before taking up a position as a team manager and later helping mentor up-and-comers. He has been on the Plaza’s restoration team for over a decade now.     “The manufacturing era and technologies differ for each motorcycle we restore, so there is a lot that we have to study up on for each machine. The older a bike is, the more things we have to research and learn about, and it gets especially challenging when it comes to fixing their electrical systems. I still sometimes lose sleep because I’m trying to track down the cause of an electrical problem!”     #Yamaha #RevsyourHeart #classic #motorcycles #restoration #museum #preservation #design #industrialdesign #history #manufacturing #engineering #technology #craftsmanship 

#Yamaha is delighted to unveil the new TRACER 9 GT+, TRACER 9 GT and TRACER 9, the latest arrivals in the Yamaha Sport Touring category. As the TRACER 9 range has always strived to deliver the perfect blend of sports and touring, the new TRACER 9 GT+ goes a step even further, redefining the standards in the middleweight touring class thanks to top-level electronics, a three-cylinder CP3 engine, the world’s first Matrix LED headlight and intelligent braking system, as well as showcasing the innovative Yamaha Automated Manual Transmission. In addition to the TRACER 9 GT+ - equipped with Y-AMT -, this new range also features the TRACER 9 GT and the TRACER 9, both available with Y-AMT or manual transmission. #TRACER9 #TRACER9GT #TRACER9GTPLUS #Yamaha #YAMT #SportTouring

Our next newsletter covers the noteworthy achievement of our first carbon-neutral manufacturing facility. By installing additional solar panels and introducing CO₂-free electricity in 2022, the newly expanded facility is now all-electric. Yamaha Motor is also engaging in other efforts to reduce carbon emissions, such as exploring methods to shift melting processes over to use hydrogen gas. Read on for more.     #Yamaha #RevsyourHeart #manufacturing #carbon #carbonneutrality #sustainability #robotics #factory #Japan #environment  

=== Days Gone By===   Together with Outboards – 1. A Bolt from the Blue  <continued>    The first thing I did was go to the U.S. The market there was the most advanced and accounted for half the world’s outboard demand. If our outboards couldn’t gain a foothold in America, there was no way we could say they were of the highest quality. I thought that to really understand what outboards were and how they worked in people’s lives, I had to see the American market firsthand.    However, Executive Officer Nagaoka in Europe chastised me for this: “Since you’re in charge of outboards now, you should be going to Europe where we actually sell Yamaha outboards! Why in the world are you jetting off to America first thing when we don’t even sell them there?!” So my decision ended up offending the person actually responsible for marketing our outboards.    Following that incident, I worked to make up for it and visited Europe about four times annually for the next three or four years, making sure we communicated better about what we were working on. But even now, I still think that my decision to go to America before I had any biases about outboards and try to grasp an understanding of the market first was the correct one.    Photo: That year, Yamaha released its biggest outboard model at the time, the 25 hp P-450  <ends>    #Yamaha #RevsyourHeart #marine #outboards #outboardmotors #manufacturing #engineering #history #design   

===What the Japanese Bayberry Trees Have Seen===   28. “Learn by doing!”    Once an arrow is shot, it cannot return. After creating and selling the first YA-1, we couldn’t rest on our laurels because we still had a lot more to build. Keeping bikes coming off the line came with some serious challenges, but we managed to finally complete six more machines by February 13th, 1955. Though our production process had been like a wheel stuck in the mud, it was slowly beginning to gain traction.    However, once full-scale production did start, that in itself became the cause of tremendous self-reflection within the company. We suddenly had the painful realization that in the ten years since the company last produced propellers, our metalworking techniques and technology had fallen far behind the times.    To rectify this problem, Manufacturing Division General Manager Aisa visited Hitachi Seiki’s Abiko Factory in Chiba Prefecture, which was said to have the latest machining technology and machinery. Amazed by what he saw there, he called a meeting upon his return about how to address our machining issues.    As a result of this meeting, Nippon Gakki’s Metalworks Department Manager Nakatani and I were charged by the president to learn modern machining methods first-hand and to integrate them into our operations as soon as possible. I was worried about our motorcycle production since it had only just started, but we were ordered to set off for training immediately. So, on February 18th we left for what would be roughly a month of instruction.    <continues>    #Yamaha #RevsyourHeart #motorcycles #racing #manufacturing #engineering #history #design