The engine is strong, snappy, and perfectly happy hauling the RMAX around at speed. The Wolverine RMAX 1000’s engine produces around 40 more horsepower than the 850, and utilizes Yamaha’s all-new Ultramatic transmission. The RMAX engine uses a shorter stroke than the Wolverine 850, but a much larger bore. The engines share some design elements, but are worlds apart in terms of how they’re built. Like the Wolverine 850, the RMAX also gets its motivation from a parallel twin-cylinder engine with dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. We joke that the “R” in RMAX stands for Rhino (Yamaha won’t confirm), but the bottom line is this: Yamaha has big shoes to fill here, as not only does the RMAX carry Yamaha into the next generation of sport/utility UTVs, but it also has some very stiff competition! Here’s our 2021 Yamaha Wolverine RMAX2 Review. The RMAX2 and RMAX4 share a new, high-output 1000cc parallel twin engine and bespoke suspension. With the introduction of the Wolverine RMAX2, Yamaha has again set their sights at delivering that experience, with two new UTVs based on the Wolverine platform. The Rhino’s ethos was simple: do everything a UTV can do, do it well, and make it fun for the driver. While Yamaha’s Rhino nameplate was unfortunately discontinued years back, the Viking and Wolverine have carried the torch well. Little did we know at that time just how big the UTV movement would become, and how important that Rhino would be in shaping its future. We geared back up hastily and chased him down, finally cornering him for a little Q&A about his mystery machine.

This thing was going triple the speed any of those tractors could manage, and the driver had an ear-to-ear grin as he passed us. Pardon my description, but before this, all we had seen in these hills as far as UTVs go were Mules, Rangers, and other yard equipment. A middle-aged man clad in street clothes and an open-face motorcycle helmet came flying past us on the trail at what appeared to be an extreme rate of speed for the utility cart he was driving.

My father and I were riding dirt bikes up in the hills in Gorman, California, having a break on the side of the trail. I’ll never forget the first time I saw a Yamaha UTV in the wild – it was 2004, and the legendary Rhino 660 had just hit the market.

Words: Cody Hooper // Photos: Adam Campbell Photography The Yamaha RMAX is an ideal candidate for anyone who uses their UTV at home or at work, but still wants all of the trail capability a sport UTV offers.

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