Yamaha Teases a New YXZ Sport UTV + Video

Lucas Cooney
by Lucas Cooney
Has Yamaha changed how you shift?

Yamaha Hints at a Sport UTV That LeansYamaha threw the off-road industry a big curveball last year with the manual transmission YXZ1000R. It looks like Yamaha isn’t done with the Sport UTV segment yet.

Yamaha just unveiled a new teaser video for the follow up to the YXZ1000R. Yamaha shows very little of the new machine in the teaser, but there is enough to draw some conclusions.

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One of the things Yamaha did show us was the pedals. Unlike the current YXZ1000R, there doesn’t appear to be a clutch pedal. See the images below for a comparison.

Yamaha YXZ1000R Pedals

This is what the pedals look like in the current YXZ1000R.

Yamaha Teaser Pedals

Here is what the pedals look like in the teaser video. Looks like the clutch pedal on the left is missing.

While that may lead you to believe Yamaha has done away with a manual transmission, the video also shows the gauges, including the gear indicator. That has us thinking that Yamaha has outfitted the YXZ with paddle shifters, which is another step further in the direction of a pure-sport machine.

Yamaha YXZ Gear Indicator

If there is no clutch pedal but there is still a gear indicator, does that mean paddle shifters are on the way?

It’s also possible we’ll see a turbocharger, but the teaser video offers no hints about that.

The good news is that we won’t have to wait too long to find out, as the video shows the new YXZ is coming June 8, 2016.

Lucas Cooney
Lucas Cooney

I have been working exclusively in digital media since 1997. I started out with TSN.ca, spending nearly nine years creating and editing content on Canada's leading sports website. I left to join VerticalScope, Inc., one of the world's largest online publishers, to start a number of powersports publications. While at VerticalScope, I've helped create and oversee content for a wide variety of different publications, including ATV.com, Off-Road.com, ArcheryTalk.com, Tractor.com, RVGuide.com, and many more.

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