Jet Ski

In the mid 1980’s jet skiing began to take off all around the world. As jet skiing jumped from “standup jet ski” to wave runners, this opened the doors to new adventures on the water. Jet skiing makes its presence known on lakes or even in the ocean by the spraying of water into the air or the sound of the engine. Experienced Jet Skiers have the ability to ride the ocean’s waves and do flips while landing right side up. This is truly an extreme sport.

Many people are not aware that Jet-Ski is the brand name. Personal Watercraft ( PWC) is now used as a generic term which all identifies PWC as a sport. Clayton Jacobsen has been credited as the inventor of the stand-up for Kawasaki. As jet skis developed manufacturers began to see the demand for them and a new way of exploring extreme water sport was created. PWC racing through the water, making sharp turns now thrilled thousands of people who wanted to own a jet ski.

Choosing a Jet Ski for yourself depends on the action you’re looking for on the water. If you’re a freestyle individual who speeds across the water, jumping the waves creating wakes for kite riders you will want a lighter and smaller jet ski. Today jet skiers are very competitive, often doing their own tricks and improving their techniques. There are many different activities can be done on personal watercraft, such as fishing.

Still there are those who enjoy jet skiing with another. There is Jet Ski designed for 2 or more people so you can share your experiences on the water. Waver runners are exciting when there is a group together and they plan a special vacation between family and friends. Remember, like all extreme water sports, proper equipment is a must. Safety vest, sunglasses and especially your first aid kit to mention a few. You will find on any given holiday the waters are full with individuals and their jet skies.

Safety vest, first aid kit and proper equipment is very important when jet skiing. Many times we neglect these areas and find injuries which could have been prevented. The buddy system is the most common and useful kind of protection many fail to share with our family. Protective eyewear, such as polarized sunglasses or polarized prescription sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection should be a part of your preperation.

 

Jet ski

Jet-Ski is the brand name of personal watercraft (PWC) manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Lt. The name, however, has become a genericized trademark for any type of personal watercraft. Jet ski (or jetski) can also specifically refer to versions of PWCs with pivoting handlepoles known as "stand-ups".

Jet ski became foremost the colloquial term for stand-ups because, in 1973, Kawasaki was responsible for a limited production of stand-up models as designed by the recognized inventor of jet skis, Clayton Jacobsen II. In 1976, Kawasaki then began mass production of the JS400-A. JS400s came with 400cc two-stroke engines and hulls based upon the previous limited release models. It became the harbinger of the success Jet-Skis would see in the market up through the 1990's.

In 1986 Kawasaki broadened the world of Jet Skis by introducing a two person model with lean-in "sport" style handling and a 650cc engine, dubbed the X-2. Then in 1989, they introduced their first two passenger "sit-down" model, the Tandem Sport (TS) with a step-through seating area.

In 2003, Kawasaki celebrated the Jet Ski brand by releasing a special 30th anniversary edition of its current stand-up model, the SX-R, which has seen a revival of interest in stand-up jetskiing. The X-2 has also been updated, based on the SX-R platform and re-released in Japan. Kawasaki continues to produce three models of sit-downs, including two four-stroke models.

Personal water craft

A personal water craft ( PWC ), or sea scooter, is a recreational watercraft that the rider sits or stands on, rather than inside of, as in a boat. Models have an inboard engine driving a pump jet that has a screw-shaped impeller to create thrust for propulsion and steering. They are often referred by the names WaveRunner , Jet Ski , or Sea-Doo , which are brand names owned by Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Bombardier, respectively.

A personal watercraft is also known as a jet ski, waverunner or pwc and is an inboard vessel, that uses an engine to power a water jet drive as its primary source of propulsion. It has no open carrying area that could retain water and is operated with a person or persons positioned on, rather than within the hull. Some manufacturers of pwc's are SeaDoo, Polaris, Honda and Yamaha. When riding a pwc always wear a life vest or some other flotation device and always exercise caution.

Because of their relatively low cost and the freedom they afford to owners, PWC are widely used for recreation. However, many U.S. states require safety training for personal watercraft operators. Modern PWC include a lanyard attached to a dead man's switch, to turn off the vessel if the operator falls off -- provided the lanyard is attached to the operator.

Most are designed for two or three people, though four-passenger models exist. Stand-up PWCs were first to see mass production and are still popular for single riders. The invention of both major types of PWC is usually credited to Clayton Jacobsen II of Arizona, originally a motocross enthusiast.

Lake Havasu, Arizona, is a favorite for PWC riders and racers alike, and hosts the IJSBA World Finals for personal watercraft racing each October since 1982.

Some surfers use PWCs to get to the waves and get up to speed with them; this is known as tow-in surfing or tow surfing. They can also be used for towing water skiiers on flat water.

Non-recreational uses

Although most PWCs are purchased by individuals for recreational use, they are also used for more serious purposes. PWCs are small, fast, easily handled, fairly easy to use, affordable and their propulsion systems, which do not have external propellers, are safer for swimmers and wildlife. For these reasons, they are sometimes used in preference to small motorboats.

Lifeguards in some areas use PWCs equipped with rescue platforms to rescue water users who get into difficulties and carry them back to shore. Rescuers have also used personal watercraft to pick up flood survivors.

PWCs have been used by biologists studying marine life.

PWCs are also used for law enforcement. Due to their high speed and excellent maneuverability, police and rangers use them to enforce laws on lakes and rivers.

A PWC has recently been used for coaching rowing on the River Tyne. When combined with a wash-reduction system, it is an excellent vehicle for assistant coaches, especially when the BOSE waterproof tannoy is also installed. The latest integrated GPS systems allow for accurate assessments of time and speed of the crews coached. See Phantom.

Emissions

watercraft emissions were unregulated in the United States. Many were powered by two-stroke cycle engines, which are smaller and lighter than four-stroke cycle engines but much more polluting. Simple two-stroke engines are lubricated on a "total loss" method, mixing lubricating oil with their fuel; they are estimated to exhaust in excess of 25% of their fuel and oil unburned in addition to the products of incomplete and complete combustion.
The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act allowed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to begin regulating personal watercraft and other off-road internal combustion engines. The agency began a dialogue with manufacturers in 1991, resulting in regulations that were enacted in 1996. These regulations, set to phase in between 1998 and 2006, are averaging standards, allowing manufacturers to offset more polluting engines in their range by selling other engines that exceed the standard. The U.S. state of California has adopted more stringent regulations than the federal standard.

To meet these regulations, manufacturers have adopted a variety of improvements, including increased use of four-stroke engines, the use of direct injection for two-strokes and the use of catalytic converters and other pollution-curbing measures that overall have reduced emissions by approximately 75% compared to pre-regulation models.

In some areas, only new personal watercraft that meet the current regulations are permitted; an example is Lake Tahoe.

Environmental groups such as the Surfrider Foundation and the Bluewater Network claim that more rapid progress could be made and the large numbers of older watercraft in use continue to emit substantial pollution.

Against this, industry groups such as the Personal Watercraft Industry Association point out that environmental groups continue to cite pollution levels of pre-regulation watercraft and ignore the improvements made to newer models; and furthermore, that personal watercraft are unfairly singled out when they are no more polluting than other powered boats.

Jetboat

A jetboat is a boat propelled by a jet of water ejected from the back of the craft. Unlike a powerboat or motorboat that uses a propeller in the water behind the boat, a jetboat draws the water from under the boat into a pump-jet inside the boat, then expels it through a nozzle at the stern.

Jetboats were originally designed by Sir William Hamilton (who invented the waterjet in 1954) to operate in the fast-flowing and shallow rivers of New Zealand to overcome the problem of propellers striking rocks in such waters, although Italian inventor Secondo Campini demonstrated a similar vessel as early as 1931 in Venice.

The difference between Campini's and Hamilton's invention are that Campini's waterjet had a very short lifetime in operation due to some unsolved material problems. Hamilton, unlike Campini, filed for a patent.

Jet boats are highly maneuverable and can often be reversed and brought to a stop within their own length from full speed in a maneuver known as a Hamilton turn .

There is no engineering limit to the size of jet boats, though the classic prop-drive is more economical than the jet-drive. Thus, the biggest jet driven vessels are found in military use. South Africa's Valour class frigates (approximately 120m long) are the tallest jet-propelled vessels so far. Even these German built vessels are capable of performing the Hamilton turn .

How jet boats work?

A conventional screw propeller accelerates a large volume of water by a small amount, in a manner similar to the way an aeroplane's propeller accelerates a large volume of air by a small amount. An aircraft's jet engine, by contrast, accelerates a small volume of air by a large amount. Both methods yield thrust due to Newton's third law — every force gives rise to an equal and opposite force.

In a jetboat, by pumping a small volume of water and accelerating it by a large amount, useful thrust can be obtained. This is achieved using multiple impeller stages to accelerate the water. Steering is accomplished by small vanes that direct the water jet to turn the boat.

Unlike hydrofoils, which use underwater wings or struts to lift the vessel clear of the water, jetboats normally plane across the water surface at operating speed, with only the rear portion of the hull displacing any water. With the majority of the hull clear of the water, there is reduced drag and speed and maneuverability are greatly enhanced. Jetboats are normally operated at planing speed. Below planing speed the jetboat loses most of its maneuverability and promptly slows due to greatly increased drag. For this reason a jetboat is difficult to operate at speeds other than very fast or dead slow. For stability, the jetboat has a very shallow-angled (but not flat-bottomed) hull. It is claimed that jetboats can be safely operated in less than 12 inches (30 cm) of water.

The jet of water is expelled above the water line, contrary to many people's intuition; Hamilton discovered early on that performance was greatly improved by this compared to expelling below the waterline. From a physical point of view, this is understandable because it is the momentum of the expelled jet which provides the equal and opposite thrust. By expelling below the waterline, the momentum is rapidly absorbed by the surrounding stationary water; the jet does not "push against" the surrounding water.

Manufacturers

An American company Ultimate Boats designs and builds high quality center console jet boats. These jet boats are capable of running through as much as 2 inches of water.

Ultimate Boats(TM)

The New Zealand company Hamilton Jet designs and builds jetboats and manufactures the Hamilton Jet Unit, the patented device that produces and controls the water jet. Jet boats are normally powered by a V8 petrol engine, often an adapted automotive engine from a high performance car manufacturer.

Sword Marine

Applications

Applications for jetboats include adventure tourism, surf rescue, farming, fishing and marine law enforcement, exploration, pleasure boating and other water activities where a motor boat is used. Jetboats can also be raced for sport, both on rivers and on specially designed racecourses. Most jetboats are small enough to be carried on a trailer and towed by car. Recently there has been increasing use of jet boats in rigid-hulled inflatable boats and luxury yacht tenders.

Pump-jet
A pump-jet or water jet is a marine system that creates a jet of water for propulsion. The mechanical arrangement may be a ducted propeller with nozzle, or a centrifugal pump and nozzle.
Pump jets have some advantages over bare propellers for certain applications, usually related to requirements for high-speed or shallow-draft operations. These include:

  • Increasing the speed for the onset of cavitation, due to the raised  internal dynamic pressure  

  • High power density (with respect to volume) of both the propulsor and the  prime mover (since a smaller, higher-speed unit can be used)  

  • Protection of the rotating element and making operation safer around  swimmers  

  • Improved shallow-water operations, since only the inlet needs to be  submerged  

  • Increased maneuverability, by adding a steerable nozzle to create vectored  thrust  

  • Ultra-quiet designs for submarines; for example the Trafalgar class  

  • Propulsion of torpedoes - for example the Spearfish or Mark 48

 



 

In these situations, the benefits outweigh the somewhat reduced efficiency (especially marked at low forward speeds) caused by the increased wetted surface and higher rotational speeds than an open propeller.

Bombardier
 
Bombardier Inc. is a Canadian company, founded by Joseph-Armand Bombardier as L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée in 1942, at Valcourt in the Eastern Townships, Quebec. It is a large manufacturer of regional aircraft, business jets, rail transportation equipment, recreational equipment and provider of financial services. Its headquarters are in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
History

Joseph-Armand Bombardier was a mechanic who dreamed of building a vehicle that could 'float on snow'. In 1937, the first snowmobile was made in his small repair shop in Valcourt, Quebec.

Joseph-Armand Bombardier's breakthrough came in the mid-1930s when he developed a drive system that would revolutionise travel in snow and swamp. In 1937, Armand sold 12 snowmobiles—named the B7—and in 1942 opened the company l'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée.

The first snowmobiles were large, multi-passenger vehicles designed to help people get around during the long winter months. Snowmobiles were used in rural Quebec to take children to school, to carry freight, to deliver mail, and as ambulances. His invention served a very real necessity and soon business was booming. In 1941, Armand opened a large new factory in Valcourt. Then a major setback hit the growing business: the Second World War was well underway and the Canadian government issued wartime rationing regulations. Bombardier customers had to prove that snowmobiles were essential to their livelihood in order to buy one. To keep his business going, Armand switched gears and developed vehicles for the military. After the war, Armand experienced another setback in his snowmobile business. In 1948 the Quebec government passed a law requiring all highways and local roads to be cleared of snow; Bombardier's sales fell by nearly half in one year. Armand decided to diversify his business and make all-terrain vehicles for the mining, oil, and forestry industries.

Armand dreamt of developing a fast, lightweight snowmobile (the Ski-doo) that could carry one or two people. In the early 1950s, Armand set aside his dream to focus on developing his company's other tracked vehicles. But by the end of the decade, smaller, more efficient engines had been developed and were starting to come on the market. Armand resumed his efforts to build a 'miniature' snowmobile. He worked alongside his eldest son Germain, who shared his father's mechanical talents. Armand and Germain developed several prototypes of the lightweight snowmobile and finally the first Ski-Doo went on sale in 1959.

The Ski-Doo was originally called the Ski-Dog because Bombardier meant it to be a practical vehicle to replace the dogsled for hunters and trappers. But the public soon discovered the speedy vehicles that can zoom over snow were a lot of fun. Suddenly a new winter sport was born, centred in Quebec. In the first year, Bombardier sold 225 Ski-Doos; four years later, 8,210 were sold. But Armand was reluctant to focus too much on the Ski-Doo and move resources away from his all-terrain vehicles. He vividly remembered his earlier business setbacks that forced him to diversify. Armand slowed down promotion of Ski-Doo to prevent it from dominating the other products but still dominate the entire snowmobile industry. The snowmobilies produced were is exceptional quality and performance unlike the Polaris and Arctic Cat brand of motosleds.

The sport has grown over the years from it's simple beginings to include extreme hill climbing, grass drag racing, oval track racing, snow cross and racing on water.

On February 18, 1964, J. Armand Bombardier died of cancer at age 56. He left behind a thriving business, but also one that had been focused on one person. Armand dominated his company, overseeing all areas of operation. He controlled the small research department, making all the drawings himself. By the time of his death sales of the company had reached C$20 million, which is the equivalent of C$160 million in 2004 dollars. The younger generation took over, led by Armand's sons and sons-in-law. The young team reorganized and decentralized the company, adopting modern business tactics. The company adopted the latest technological innovation—the computer—to handle inventory, accounts, and billing. Distribution networks were improved and increased, and an incentive program was developed for sales staff.

In 1967, L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée was renamed Bombardier Limited and on January 23, 1969 the company became public following listing on the Montreal and Toronto stock exchanges.

Aviation
Under the management of Laurent Beaudoin, Bombardier's son-in-law, the company took over the Canadian government-owned Canadair aircraft manufacturing company after it had recorded the largest corporate loss in Canadian business history to form Bombardier Aerospace. To this was added de Havilland Canada from Boeing and the bankrupt Short Brothers and Lear Jet. The aerospace arm now accounts for over half of the company's revenue and is reportedly the third-largest civil aircraft manufacturer in the world behind the giants Boeing and Airbus.

Railway technology
In 1970, Bombardier acquired the Viennese company Lohner-Rotax, a manufacturer of snowmobile engines and tramways, and thus became involved in rail business. This section started to grow important in the mid-1990s in the renaissance of tramways or 'light-rail transit'. Bombardier acquired the assets and designs of American Locomotive Company/Montreal Locomotive Works, who continued in the locomotive business until 1985. In 2001, they acquired Adtranz, who had developed the Class 170 Turbostar and Class 357/375/376/377 Electrostar trains which are widely used throughout Britain. They also built the Croydon Tramlink and Nottingham Express Transit trams and parts of Alstom's Eurostar trains. They are one of the companies which took over British Rail's R&D facilities after privatisation (the remainder largely being absorbed into AEA Technology and Alstom). They were part of a major consortium in the construction of the Eurotunnel railway cars, and also built new subway trains for a wide range of customers including the Toronto Transit Commission, the Commission de transport de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal, and the New York City Transit Authority (R62A, R142), and developed the Las Vegas Monorail system.

Bombardier is a UK Notified Body, under The Railways (Interoperability) (Notified Bodies) Regulations 2000, in one TSI area: rolling stock.

Bombardier Transportation also leads the development and production of the Acela Express train in a 75%–25% arrangement with Alstom. The train runs between Boston, Massachusetts, New York, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC. Bombardier provided carbody design and tilting mechanisms from its LRC ("Light Rapid Comfortable") line of passenger trainsets, and integrated a variant of Alstom's TGV propulsion system. This is the first high-speed rail line in North America, running at a top speed of 240 km/h (150 mi/h). To meet U.S. government "Buy American" regulations, final assembly of these trains was performed at Bombardier's U.S. rail car assembly facility in Barre, Vermont. Bombardier also provided seller-arranged financing to allow Amtrak to lease the trainsets rather than purchasing them outright as the railroad had previously done.

In 2001 Bombardier Transportation acquired Adtranz, making it the second largest manufacturer of railway rolling stock in the world. Depending on how one defines industrial activities, it is sometimes considered the largest in the world in this category.

Other
Bombardier was, until recently, a major Canadian defence contractor. With the latest restructuring the company sold off nearly all of its military related work in Canada. Military Aviation Services was sold to Spar Aerospace and land based defence products made by Urban Transportation Development Corporation ceased operations as Bombardier moved away from non-aviation defence products.

In 2003 it spun off as a separate company the Bombardier Recreational Products division, whose snowcats and snowmobiles had been the origin of the company. Bombardier Recreational Products as also become well-known for their Sea-Doo personal water craft division.

Criticism
Bombardier has been criticised in Canada and abroad over the subsidies it receives from various levels of government. They have been described as corporate welfare and accused of violating free trade agreements, especially by Brazil. Canada and Bombardier have countered by citing Brazil's direct and indirect subsidies to Embraer, its own major aircraft manufacturer and one of Bombardier's principal competitors in the regional jet market.

The government of Canada provided a large interest rate subsidy for the financing that made possible Bombardier's sale of subway trains to the New York City Subway. Some Canadians object to such amounts of money being given to a private for-profit company, but the government argues that the subsidies create many jobs. Recently Bombardier opened an engineering design agreement with an Indian company which subsidy critics argue may result in a loss of jobs in Canada.

Bombardier's reputation may have been tarnished in the western United States by its association with the privately-funded Las Vegas Monorail system, which has been operational since December 24, 2004 but was plagued by delays due mechanical problems. The system reportedly lost US$85,000 per day while closed over a period of four months.

Further more Bombardiers’ reputation has been tarnished in the eastern United States for shoddy craftsmanship in the manufacturing of the high speed trainset for Amtrak. The high speed fleet has been taken out of service twice by the FRA for safety-critical defects due to poor manufacturing and design. Also the design has undergone modification over a thousand times since coming into service.

Recently, some human rights and Tibet support groups in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. have put pressure on Bombardier over its sale of passenger carriages to the People's Republic of China for projects including the controversial Qingzang railway line into Tibet.

Also Bombardier has been criticized for the yearly procedure of moving assets (such as aircraft) from one Bombardier entity to another Bombardier entity and recording the transaction as revenue for the sole purpose of increasing annual bonuses of senior executives. The procedure was criticized as not being in the best interest of the shareholders although it received very little negative publicity.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. ( Kawasaki J?k?gy? Kabushiki-gaisha ) (TYO: 7012 ) is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Minato-ku; Tokyo; and Kobe; Japan.
The company is named after its founder Shozo Kawasaki and has no connection with Kawasaki city.

Its most visible consumer product lines are its motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, although the company and its subsidiaries also manufacture ships, industrial plants, tractors, trains, industrial robots and aerospace equipment (including military aircraft). Subcontract work on jet aircraft (including jumbo jets) has been done for Boeing, Embraer, and Bombardier.

JS550
The 550 is a personal water craft made by Kawasaki. It was first built in 1982 and has been very popular. The 550 shares many of the same parts with the JS440 including the fiberglass hull, hood and hand pole. This craft played a huge role in the popularity of personal watercraft. It was arguably the most popular watercraft throughout the 1980s and early 90s. The 550 was a very popular choice for racing. The 550 underwent very few changes over its production history. The 550 slowly lost popularity when the larger more stable and powerful stand ups began appearing like the Kawasaki 650, 750 and Yamaha Superjet. Many consider the era of the 550 the heyday of personal watercraft racing.

JS400
The Jet Ski 400 or JS400 was the first mass-produced stand-up personal water craft produced by Kawasaki. All Jet Ski 400's utilized 398cc two-cylinder two-stroke engines adapted from Kawasaki's snowmobile line. The Jet Ski 400 was produced in at least two color schemes. The earlier versions were a pale lime green while the later models were bright yellow with black decals. The earliest models of the Jet Ski 400 had hand-laid fiberglass hulls and wooden bulkheads. The Jet Ski 400 is the craft which sparked the standup watercraft's explosive popularity, which lasted through the 1980s and early 1990s.

In 1982, Kawasaki released the JS550 based upon the JS440's hull. Many of the parts between these JS models are interchangeable.

Polaris Industries
Polaris Industries
manufactures a full line of all-terrain vehicles (ATV), snowmobiles, Ranger utility vehicles in 2wd, 4wd or 6wd, Victory Motorcycles and EU rated quadcycles. Polaris no longer manufactures personal water craft and sportboats. Based in Roseau, Minnesota. Stock symbol: PII. Owns 25% of KTM of Austria.

Arctic Cat
Arctic Cat
is a producer of all-terrain vehicles and Snowmobiles in the United States. Located in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, they are a top competitor with other snowmobile companies such as Polaris, Ski-Doo by Bombardier, and Yamaha Motor Company Ltd. The NASDAQ stock trading symbol is ACAT .

Snowmobiles
Arctic Cat is most famous for the series of ZR snowmobiles including the 500, 600, 700, 800, and also for the famed thundercat which was the fastest snowmobile available in the 90's. Recent sleds include the Firecat, Crossfire, and Sabercat which all use the same engine series but have different track lengths, and are available in 1200, 1000, 800, 600 and 500 cc motors.

All Terrain vehicles
Arctic Cat also makes a wide range of ATVs (all terrain vehicles). The motors range in size: 50cc, 90cc, 250cc, 300cc, 400cc, 500cc, 650cc, and 700cc.

History
David Johnson, Edgar Hetteen and Allan Hetteen were partners in Hetteen Hoist and Derrick Shop in Roseau, Minnesota. They designed and built a machine in 1954 to travel over snow. This company eventually became known as Polaris Industries. Edgar left the company in June 1960 and started Polar Manufacturing in Thief River Falls. The company name later changed to Arctic Enterprises.

Arctic Enterprises began producing Arctic Cat snowmobiles in 1960. Arctic Enterprises later expanded to purchase boat manufacturers such as Spirit Marine, Silver Line, Larson, and Lund. Spirit Marine produced the first Wetbike in 1978.

A snowless winter in 1980 and over-production forced Arctic Enterprises to scale back operations and close boat manufacting subsidiaries. Arctic Enterprises went bankrupt in 1981 and ceased production in 1982. In 1984, a new startup company was formed, called Arctco to continue production of the Arctic Cat snowmobile line. In 1996, the company officially changed its name to Arctic Cat.

In 2003, ATV sales surpassed those of snowmobiles due to years of lighter snowfall.

Yamaha Motor Company
Yamaha Motor Company Limted
TYO: 7272 , a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company, was initially part of the Yamaha Corporation. After expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized vehicles on July 1, 1955. Yamaha Motor is the world's second largest producer of motorcycles. It also produces many other motorized vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles, boats, snowmobiles, outboard motors, and personal watercraft.

In 2000, Toyota and Yamaha Corporation made a capital alliance where Toyota paid Yamaha Corporation 10.5 billion yen for a 5 per cent share in Yamaha Motor Company while Yamaha and Yamaha Motor each bought 500,000 shares of Toyota stock in return.

The Superjet is a personal watercraft (PWC) made by Yamaha Motor Corporation. The Superjet is a "stand-up" PWC. Credit for its design is given to Clayton Jacobsen II. Part of their WaveRunner line of watercraft, it was introduced in 1990 and has become one of the most popular personal watercraft in history.

Honda
 
Honda Motor Co., Ltd , Honda Giken K?gy? Kabushiki-gaish , Honda Techno-research Industrial Corporation) (TYO: 7267 , NYSE: HMC), is a Japanese manufacturer of automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, scooters and robots. However, as the name of the company in Japanese suggests, the company is often described as an engineering or engine company rather than a car company. Honda makes ATVs, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies. Honda's high-end line of cars are branded Acura in North America.
With more than 14 million internal combustion engines built each year, Honda is the largest engine-maker in the world. In 2004, the company began to produce diesel motors, which were both very quiet whilst not requiring particulate filters to pass pollution standards. It is arguable, however, that the foundation of Honda's success is the motorcycle division.

Honda is headquartered in Tokyo. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange, as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris and Switzerland. American Honda Motor Co., is based in Torrance, California. Honda Canada Inc. is headquartered in the Scarborough area of Toronto, Ontario, and is building new corporate headquarters in Richmond Hill, Ontario, scheduled to relocate in 2008. Honda of Canada Manufacturing is based in Alliston, Ontario.