Yamaha Motor Company

is a multinational mobility manufacturer from Japan. It is well known for making motorcycles, motorboats, Yachts and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. It has been the world’s second-largest motorcycle manufacturer and is the global leader in watercraft sales.

 History 
Yamaha Motor Company was created when the motorcycle division of Yamaha was separated and made into a new company in 1955. Genichi Kawakami became its first leader. Their first motorcycle was the YA-1, a 125 cc two-stroke bike based on the German DKW RT 125. The YA-1 won several races in Japan in its first year.Racing soon became very important for Yamaha. The company often competed with other Japanese brands like Honda, Suzuki, and Kawasaki. In 1956, Yamaha raced outside Japan for the first time and finished sixth in the Catalina Grand Prix.

In 1957, Yamaha made new bikes: the YA-2 (another 125 cc bike) and the YD-1, a stronger 250 cc twin-cylinder motorcycle. A faster version called the YDS-1 had the first five-speed transmission on a Japanese motorcycle.Around this time, Yamaha also made its first outboard motor.

 Motorsport 
In motorcycle racing, Yamaha has won 39 world championships in several racing series. Many famous riders have raced for Yamaha, including Giacomo Agostini, Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Jorge Lorenzo, and Valentino Rossi.

Yamaha also made important motocross technology, such as the first monoshock production bike and early water-cooled motocross bikes. The YZ400F won the 1998 U.S. National Championship.

Yamaha has had strong results in ATV racing as well, with riders winning many championships. In recent years, Yamaha has continued to win races in many series, including MotoGP and World Superbike.

 Products 
Yamaha Motor is a very diverse company that makes products for many different industries and types of customers.

 Motorcycles: Sport bikes, Cruiser bikes, trail bikes, road racers and motocross racers
 All terrain vehicles
 Snowmobiles
 Commuter vehicles, including scooters
 Boats: Powerboats, sailboats (e.g. Yamaha 26, a sailboat produced in the 1970s), utility boats and custom boats
 Marine engines: Outboard motors, electric marine motors, marine diesel engines and stern drives.
 Personal watercraft
 Electric bicycles
 Automobile engines
 Industrial-use unmanned helicopters
 Golf cars
 Power products
 Swimming pools
 Intelligent machinery, including compact industrial robots
 Electric wheelchairs and wheelchair electric drive units
 Yamaha parts and accessories, apparel, cycle helmets and motor oil
 surface mounters

 References 

 Other websites 

 Official website
 Yamaha Racing website
 Yamaha MotoGP team website

Category:Automobile companies of Japan
Category:Formula One engine manufacturers
Category:Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Category:Pages using small with an empty input parameter
Category:Articles containing Japanese-language text