Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

At a recent dealer meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, Yamaha Motor Corporation celebrated the 25th anniversary of its formation as a stand-alone motor company, (versus being part of Yamaha International, which also distributed musical instruments in the U.S.), announced impressive growth numbers and introduced some 2003 models.

Yamaha Public Relations Manager Brad Banister told Roadracingworld.com “Yamaha has outpaced the industry in terms of growth and in the past seven years has grown in market share from 13 to 20 percent.”

With news of the 2003-model YZF-R1, YZF-R6 and Roadstar Warrior still to come later this year, Yamaha showed dealers the 2003-model FZ-1, which now comes with a matte black frame and a yellow and black body color option. The FZ-1 will still be available in blue or silver. Other sportbikes returning to Yamaha’s line-up for 2003 include the FJR1300 supersport tourer and the YZF600R sportbike.