Original subtitles

- [Adam] There's nearly 4 million square miles

of America the beautiful,

and whether you are charging up a mountain

or tearing through a forest, [motorcycle engine roars]

cutting across the water or slicing through the air,

there is a machine built to help you enjoy

nearly every square inch of it.

And it's not just fun and games.

This is big business.

[dramatic music]

From equipment and apparel

to races and extreme experiences.

Americans spend nearly $800 million

each year on outdoor recreation.

Today, I am at the Yamaha plant in Newnan, Georgia,

where right behind these walls,

they manufacture every single Yamaha,

a Waverunner, ATV or side-by-side vehicle

sold in the world.

Machines that amp up adrenaline.

Machines that enable escape.

Machines that are built for adventure.

We'll get an inside look

at how these bad-ass beasts are brought to life

and explore the wide world of adventure machines.

[Jets blasting]

In what ways are personal submarines

changing the way we explore the ocean?

How can a motorized backpack

send you soaring 400 feet into the air?

And what futuristic sport

requires piloting a four ton exoskeleton?

Grab your helmets, strap in and throttle up

because today is going to be a lot of fun.

This is Modern Marvels: Adventure Machines.

[dramatic music continues]

[engine roars]

[upbeat music]

The Yamaha campus behind me

contains over 1.3 million square feet

of state-of-the-art manufacturing technology.

[welder sparks]

And sitting on 280 acres.

It's bigger than Madison Square Garden

and the Empire State Building combined.

And by employing over 2000 people,

they have had a huge impact on the community.

In fact, they even have their own Yamaha day.

It's May 18th, in case you feel like celebrating.

But Yamaha did not start with motor sports.

They actually began with musical instruments.

It's true. [uplifting music]

founder Torakusu Yamaha actually began manufacturing

reed organs after being hired to repair them.

There's even an ode to this musical origin of the company

hidden in plain sight.

If you look at their logo,

it's actually comprised of three interlocking tuning forks.

[tuning fork tone]

In the 20th century,

Yamaha discovered that their process

for casting iron for piano frames

was useful in the manufacturing

of motorcycle engine cylinders.

By 1955, Yamaha motor company made their first motorcycle.

A few years later, they entered their new bike

in two of the biggest motorcycle competitions in Japan

and they won.

[ATV accelerates]

And since then they've designed their vehicles

with maximum power, performance, and durability

to take adventure a whole new level.

Now, today I'm going to meet

with manufacturing engineering manager, Brad Benton,

to get an inside, behind the scenes look

at how these adventure machines come to life.

And maybe if I'm lucky, take one for a test drive.

[upbeat music]

This beautiful, massive facility

is dedicated to making machines that are about fun,

enjoying life and adventuring.

- Yeah, I mean our purpose for Yamaha

is really to try to rev people's hearts.

Get them really excited about being outdoors.

- [Adam] Here in Newnan, Yamaha makes four primary products.

Powerful ATVs, [ATV engine roars]

the iconic WaveRunner, [water splashes]

sleek golf carts, and their newest creation

The RMAX 1000 also known as the Wolverine.

The Wolverine is what's known as a side-by-side.

It's a four wheel multi passenger off-roading vehicle

engineered for outdoor adventure.

We'll get up close with the state-of-the-art machines

and workers that breathe life into this beast.

Can I please go out on a test track

in something, anything?

- I think we can make that happen.

- Excellent.

to the first manufacturing site.

- Which one can I take?

- Any one you'd like. [upbeat music]

- I'm going to go with orange.

It was was Frank Sinatra's favorite color.

If it's good enough for ol' blue eyes,

that'd be good for middle-aged brown eyes.

[laughs] So I'm going to try this one.

- [Brad] Have at it.

- Hoho hoho. [engine rumbles]

Golf cart, away.

[upbeat music continues]

Today 194 workers at Newnan put these machines together.

The creation of modern golf carts

began during World War II.

[trumpet trills]

Spurred by nationwide gas rationing during the war,

a California inventor built

a compact electric car for daily use

and by 1951,

he began mass producing electric cars

for use on the golf course.

Today tricked out cutting-edge models

are a cottage industry.

With explosive power and custom styles.

- The longest golf cart in the world

comes out of our state of Georgia.

Mike's golf cart makes a 31 foot golf cart

has 49 inch wheels.

[engine revs]

- [Adam] And golf carts have gone beyond the links.

Plum Quick Motors in South Carolina,

regularly competes in golf cart drag racing events.

The company enhances standard golf cart engines.

Creating models that can go toe to toe

with full blown race cars.

They set the world record

for the fastest golf cart in the world.

Clocking in at over 118 miles per hour.

- [Brad] This is plant one.

So, in this facility,

this is where we'll actually build

the ATVs, golf carts and WaveRunners.

Every 60 seconds, an ATV or a golf cart rolls off the line.

- [Adam] How long does it take for the side-by-side?

- [Brad] Just over two minutes.

- [Adam] Gotcha.

- [Brad] Due to the size, the complexity,

the number of parts for the new RMAX 1000

we'll produce everything to that unit here in plant two.

[rock music]

- [Adam] The RMX 1000, code named Wolverine,

gets built in its own factory.

And the process starts right here,

inside plant two at Yamaha,

an intricate assembly line builds the Wolverine

inside out, piece by piece.

It begins on the weld line

[welder sparks]

where workers build the vehicle's

frame and send it right here.

- So we are at the beginning of the assembly line.

Our first process here.

- Oh my God.

How are you doing?

- Good. How are you doing?

I'm Mike that's Austin.

- Nice to meet you. [wrench spins]

You guys are like a seamless operation.

- That's what we try to do.

- The engine is one of the first components

that gets added into the Wolverine's frame.

Mike uses a hydraulic lift assist

to swing the 375 lb engine into place

as easy as if it were a paperweight.

The frame moves along a mechanized track

to 180 individual stations. [machinery whirs]

There are more than

200 different workers on the floor here

and the Wolverine is assembled

out of a whopping 2100 parts.

[machines whir and clank]

It's kind of amazing.

It's like a NASCAR pit crew.

[machinery whirs]

How often do these cycle through?

- Well normally under three minutes.

- Really took three minutes start to finish?

Crazy.

The staggering efficiency of this assembly line

has historic roots.

[upbeat music]

The modern automotive assembly line

began with the Ford motor company.

We all know that Ford's concept was a moving production line

where a car could be assembled one part at a time,

but believe it or not,

the inspiration for this idea

came from Ford's observation of slaughterhouses.

- Ford went into these slaughterhouses

and witnessed how these animals were dismembered.

And he basically developed the Ford assembly line

based on this disassembly of animals.

- [Adam] Today, the technology speed

and most of all size of these operations have grown.

While the industry has scaled up

the core concept of an assembly line remains the same.

Including at Yamaha's massive operation.

- Adam, this is Anna.

- Hello. - How do you do?

- I'm pretty good, how are you?

- She's going to walk you through

our quality verification process.

- Is that where we are now?

- Yeah.

- I'm just going through and checking all the bolts

and making sure that everything's good and connected.

There's a little over 100 things I'm having to look at.

- How many minutes do you have

to check 100 different things?

- 2 minutes and 42 seconds.

- But that's just a rough estimate right?

[laughs]

Anna, you are certified bad ass.

[upbeat music]

Before we see the next step of the Wolverine process.

It's time to see the assembly line

of another classic Yamaha adventure machine.

- This is our water vehicle assembly line.

Every water vehicle, every Waverunner that we produce

for the whole world comes off of this assembly line.

- Wow.

[upbeat music]

The Yamaha Waverunner.

Every 1.8 minutes,

a fresh one comes off this massive assembly line,

ready to hit the water.

This is just incredible.

- Americans spend nearly $140 billion on watersports annually.

More than they do on hunting,

fishing and motorcycling combined.

Over 82,000 personal watercrafts

were sold in the US just last year.

An 8% jump from the year before.

And among them is Yamaha's signature water vehicle,

the Waverunner.

I have one thing I have to say.

We're talking about Waverunner.

If there's, knowing Waverunner

is the proprietary name of Yamaha.

Like that's a Yamaha brand name.

- It is, that's correct.

that look similar

are also getting generically called Waverunner

like Kleenex or Bandaid.

People just call them Waverunners.

- That's right.

[upbeat music]

We have 165 operators that work on this assembly line

that are dedicated to this product.

- You can't tell cause I have a mask,

but my jaw is hanging open right now.

[laughs]

[rock music]

Wow.

This is just insane.

An actual pool of some kind.

- So each one of the different WaveRunners

at the end of the assembly process

will go through a dunk test

so that we can verify that no water can come

between the bonding line of our deck and hull.

[upbeat music]

- These robotic arms are pressing on the vessel

at various points to submerge it.

This is how the team will learn

whether or not the Waverunner has sprung a leak.

It's a critical test because this machine

is meant to stay at the surface of the water.

Of course, there are aquatic adventure machines

that offer a different kind of ride

and to check these out,

we're diving deep with another company.

The 3303 from Triton.

At a time when governments

spend up to $128 million on nuclear submarines,

Triton has created a sub for personal use.

- I'm a scuba diver and usually scuba dive

around 60 to 80 feet.

And you know, a tank lasts about 60 minutes max.

But in this submersible,

you get to go down over 3000 feet deep

and stay down there for up to 12 hours.

- [Adam] The sub has multiple thrusters

allowing its pilot the ability

to control and maneuver smoothly,

whether they're hovering above the ocean floor

or getting up close to a reef.

Whatever your chosen adventure,

the transparent acrylic dome around the hull of the vessel,

refracts light in a way that gives passengers the illusion

that there's no barrier between them

and the surrounding environment.

[rock music]

Between Yamaha's Waverunner and Tritons submersible.

We've seen machines that can conquer the sea.

[propellers roar]

But there's yet another company

making machines meant for the skies.

The U.S. has over 167,000

recreational and private aircrafts

enjoying over 5 million square miles of domestic airspace.

But what if you don't have the resources

to get your own airplane?

You could skydive and count yourself

among one of the more than 3 million jumps

that take place every year.

Or join one of the estimated 1.5 million people

in the world who kiteboard.

[propeller starts]

But now there is another machine

that can get you up in the air.

- Blackhawk Motors designs and manufacturers

paramotoring equipment.

[upbeat music]

Anybody can use our paramotors.

The FAA do not require you to have a license

or be a certified pilot.

You can go from a couch potato

to an adrenaline junkie, overnight.

- [Adam] Blackhawk constructs

state-of-the-art gliders out of a fabric wing,

attached to a back mounted motorized propeller

that work together to send a pilot soaring into the air.

- In addition to the manufacturing

and the development of the equipment we also train.

Last year, we trained approximately 204 pilots

just here at the Blackhawk ranch.

- [Adam] Trainees here have multiple options

to get off the ground.

You can strap on an engine and run towards flight,

or you can use vehicles

that are literally driven into the air.

- Our best selling unit right now

is the Lowboy III Quad

with the Arrow 1000 four stroke engine.

Cruises at around 25 to 30 miles an hour.

It uses approximately one gallon of fuel per hour.

So you can go close to five hours with that.

- [Adam] And today we'll see the Lowboy III Quad in the air

as a fresh batch of trainees

prepare for their first flight.

Starting with one who's taking off on foot.

- You know as a child growing up, you have dreams of flying.

And so it's pretty cool to make it a reality.

- You ready for this? - Mm-hmm.

- [Adam] Training Instructor Mike Gambrill

goes through a pre-flight sequence

with rookie pilot, Jesse Sparks

to make sure he's strapped securely into the machine.

- Okay. Radio check.

All good? Okay.

- [Adam] Mike will be in radio contact with Jesse

for the entire flight.

Today, Jesse will reach heights of up to 400 feet.

[dramatic music]

- All right, remember we just want to concentrate

on that good taxi, right?

- Yeah.

- Then we run into the air

with a big grin on our face.

- [Adam] With the all clear from Mike

it's time to take off.

[engine starts]

- Okay and whenever you're ready.

Use the motor to bring the glider up.

Little more speed. A little more speed.

There we go and let's roll on the power.

[music intensifies]

Run into the air, run into the air.

Okay.

- [Adam] As awe inspiring as it is to watch

the process of controlling the flight is surprisingly easy.

- The hands control the glider.

So if we want the glider to go left,

we simply add a little bit of left brake.

If we want to go, right,

we simply add a little bit of right brake.

The throttle is merely for altitude.

And if we want to go up and we're adding power,

if we want to come down, we're reducing power.

- [Adam] These simple gestures

- Experiencing flight with a paramotor

is really unique to any other type of aviation.

There's nothing in front of you, nothing but the breeze.

[stirring music]

That in itself sets it apart.

You truly feel like Tom Cruise in Top Gun.

- [Adam] While the drone camera filming our flyers today

is up about 200 feet in the air,

the legal limit for powered paragliders is 18,000 feet.

- [Mike] Hold that heading right there

is looking really nice.

[laughs]

- [Adam] After about 15 minutes of flying

a simple pattern above the field,

Jesse uses the throttle to lower power to the engine,

which reduces his altitude.

- How was it? - All right.

[laughs] - Good job.

[engine accelerating]

Outdoor recreation accounts for an insane

2.1% of the American GDP.

Making it bigger than mining and agriculture.

Over 80% of this includes both conventional activities

like hiking, off-roading, water sports

and businesses supporting these types of activities.

Yamaha is one of those businesses.

The workers here use cutting-edge tech

to create marvels like the Wolverine.

Workers like Lazarus.

- Let me show you what we got.

- Please, all right, lets do it.

Lazarus operates this state-of-the-art

injection molding system

that makes custom plastic parts

for nearly every vehicle produced here.

Right now it's cooking up Wolverine's grill.

- [Lazarus] This machine has a recycle time of 78 seconds

- Every 78 seconds a new part comes off.

- Every 78 seconds, when this mold cracks open,

it pulls out a part.

- This is just insane.

[laughs] [dramatic music]

The molding process kicks off with a heating chamber

containing liquid plastic

that's kept at a searing 400 degrees.

This chamber is connected to a machine for different molds.

When, for example, a Wolverine's grill mold

is inserted into the machine.

The hot plastic gets shunted

through the molds injection ports.

As this happens water

is constantly churning through the system

to cool down the plastics,

as it settles into the mold and takes shape.

It just boggles the mind.

Cause you look at a thing like this,

and you see this as like a NASA control system.

So much engineering, so much technology

to make just the grill for the ROV.

This is amazing. - That's right.

- [Adam] Cutting-edge tech is doing wonders,

not just here at Yamaha. [dramatic music]

There's another company that's breaking new ground

in the world of adventure machines

by creating a futuristic technological wonder.

- This machine here is Prosthesis.

The world's first purpose-built sportsmech

It is a four legged human piloted

all electric powered exosuit.

- [Adam] Exo-Bionics founder, Jonathan Tippett,

envisioned Prosthesis as the first

in a class of massive exoskeletons

that could compete against one another

in racing and obstacle course events.

These vehicles can't function

without a person piloting it

from inside its massive body,

which weighs over four tons.

- We made a machine so huge

it had to have a ladder built into it.

To get in you drop in through here.

And it's a tight squeeze on your way through.

But once you get into position.

You kind of expand into this body shaped interface

and it engages your body in a number of locations.

There's clamps on your legs,

and then you clip in your feet

and there's clamps on your forearms.

And then you grip the grips.

So at this point I can't move at all

and I'm locked into the machine.

Until the machine is powered up I can't move anything.

- [Adam] With just a flip of a switch,

the pilot and mech become one.

[mech powers up]

[dramatic music continues]

[hydraulics whine]

When this behemoth is turned on

two lithium ion battery packs

send power to two motors.

the motors activate hydraulic cylinders

that pump to move the legs.

[hydraulics whine] [mech stamps]

But how and where the forelegs move

is entirely up to the pilot.

Each joint on the mech's legs

is controlled by a corresponding joint on the pilot's body,

through an exoskeletal interface,

which the pilot connects to at four points;

the feet, the thighs,

the arms and the hands.

A pilot uses their arms to control

the two outer legs of the mech.

While the two inner legs are controlled

by the pilot's leg movements.

- So you are basically learning

how to be a quadruped.

[dramatic music continues]

[hydraulics whine]

There's a steep learning curve to readjusting your balance,

especially when you have a 4,000 kilogram body

and a 200 horsepower heart.

She's a little wild.

really exhausting.

You're using muscles that you don't need to all the time.

But as you gain proficiency,

once you get accustomed to the machine

it really floats.

It's unbelievable that such a giant machine

can feel so light in your hands when you get dialed in.

[dramatic music continues]

Woo!

The journey we're on right now

is figuring out what makes a good mech pilot.

It's starting to become clear

that a large degree of body awareness,

good balance,

and we're finding that gymnasts,

free runners who do parkour.

we think maybe motocross riders would be pretty good.

Wakeboarders, snowboarders.

The vision we have is for like giant obstacle course,

like a stadium sized parkour gym

where pro athletes are leaping and jumping

and pushing obstacles and lifting and dragging.

As much as we've been focused on the sport side of things.

The thing just keeps coming in handy.

and the truck that I was driving got stuck in the sand.

So I towed the whole truck and trailer

out of the sand using the mech.

- [Adam] While research and development on Prosthesis

costs $2 million,

the hope is to one day produce sportsmechs

that cost less than $100,000.

- The inspiration for this project

was a vision I have of myself

in a giant agile powered mech suit

bounding across a desert landscape

faster than a person can run.

With the pumps whirring, dialed into the machine.

That still drives me.

You know, the sky's the limit.

Like this is a new class of vehicle.

This will evolve for generations.

This is the inception of the mech era.

[hydraulics whine] Woo!

- [Adam] Prosthesis is a vision from the future,

but here in the present I'm inching closer

to a finished Wolverine.

Once our grille pops out of the mold

they head over to get checked

by floor operator, Jackie Dozier.

So tell me a little bit about what you're doing.

I saw the molding. Putting these in the grills.

What are you doing here?

- Well, first I'm looking for burn marks.

- Why, what does the burn mark indicate?

Like there's not enough water getting to it.

- Yeah.

- Wow, so you have to do this with parts coming

off every minute and change. - Uh-huh.

- And they're warm.

Is this one ready for the bin?

Watch I'm doing my part, Yamaha.

Everybody does their part.

That's the Modern Marvels way.

Thank you for letting me talk to you.

I know how busy you are.

I'll grab this final one for you.

And we're going to go see how Newnan

and the great people of Yamaha

are changing the adventure machine game.

- [Adam] Adventure machines allow us to go places

and do things that seem impossible.

Things like this.

- Gravity industries is really interesting,

and it's inventor Richard Browning

who's also the founder of the company,

has created this Jet Suit

that has handheld thrusters

that lifts people off the ground.

I mean, this is stuff of childhood dreams

to be Peter Pan, Iron Man, you name it.

It's straight out of a movie or a TV show.

- [Adam] This machine has been flown

up to 100 feet in the air

and at a top recorded speed of 85 miles per hour

it's the fastest jet suit in the world.

Since its launch in 2017.

Gravity has wowed the world.

Doing over 100 live jet suit flights in 31 countries.

Online videos of the suit in action

got over 60 million views within a week of release.

And it's easy to see why

this has grabbed attention around the world.

This is a device that allows man

to break the rules of gravity

and experience something wild.

At Yamaha the machines may be earth bound

but most of them are definitely off road.

There are over 1.2 million ATV owners

across the United States.

And while Yamaha's side-by-side, the Wolverine

is the latest in their slate of off-road wonders

they also make these bad boys.

- So this is our terrain vehicle assembly line.

We actually manufacture both golf carts

and ATVs on this assembly line.

- [Adam] How many different varieties

or permutations can there be?

- [Brad] If you're talking about golf carts and ATVs,

there's eight basic models,

but we have over 400 different variations.

- That's awesome.

As of 2016, Yamaha has produced

over 1 million of their ATVs.

A line that includes the world's top selling sport ATV

Yamaha Raptor.

Are there professional sponsored teams attached?

- That's a big part of our heritage

is going back and sponsoring these motocross teams,

these competition teams,

and making sure that we've got

some of the best performing machines in the market.

- Off-road motorcycle racing

And the earliest races were called scrambles.

- [Adam] Today, motocross is a global off-road sport.

With multiple world championship tournaments

and a growing fan base.

- In 2019, it was estimated that motocross

was worth $1.7 billion

in terms of the whole industry.

- [Adam] And the king of motocross races

is here at the Erzberg rodeo in Austria.

- It is in a iron ore mine.

It's one of the world's most dangerous endurance races.

Hundreds of racers battle

through 22 miles of treacherous terrain.

- And the chances of making it

all the way through are slim.

In 2015, only five of 500 racers made it to the end.

It's kind of amazing how this hollow frame

that Mike was handling now really is

looking like a vehicle here.

[upbeat music]

With the Wolverine's engine, transmission,

and wiring secured into the frame,

the team installs the steering column and steering wheel.

The Wolverine moves down the track to the folks

who'll add the doors and body panels

and interior elements like the seats and the dashboard.

Then it's wheels up.

- I'm going to introduce you to Christian.

He's going to show you how we Mount the wheels.

- Now, first of all,

this is like one of those high powered guns

in an alien movie.

Is it just to handle the weight?

So you're not repeatedly lifting them.

- Yeah, this makes it a lot easier.

- How much are these tires weigh individually?

- These weigh about 45 lbs.

- Now I have to ask

- [Christian] Yeah.

- Are you awesome at that crane game?

Like at an amusement park? [laughter]

Cause that's unfair.

There's just one last step at the end of the line.

- All right, Adam, this is Michelle.

- Hi Michelle. So tell me what we're going to do here.

- We're gonna test the lights

and the functions of the car.

[dramatic music]

- Michelle will test the Wolverine

lights, the seatbelt, then drive onto a device

called the dynamometer

to make sure its wheels and engine

are in proper working order.

- So we don't test it out here.

We test it in that chamber.

- In that time chamber up there.

Only at the back part, go down the front stairs for safety.

- I've done a lot.

So it was only a matter of time before

I got the coveted role of test dummy.

[engine roars]

Okay.

- Once I get in here I let the garage down.

- Yeah.

And then what are you going to do in here?

- I'm going to do all of the front.

I'm gonna check my lights. I have the mirror here.

- So you can make sure the lights are working.

- In the back.

- Okay.

- And I do a seatbelt test.

[engine revs]

- Did you hear it?

- I felt it Michelle, I felt it.

[laughs]

- Now we gonna rev it up.

[engine revs]

- Wow.

That was awesome.

That was a lot of adrenaline and we didn't go anywhere.

Tearing across the sky in a jet suit,

wearing a nearly 9,000 lb exoskeleton for sport

and piloting your own personal submarine.

We've seen machines designed to turn the world

into an amusement park,

but there's one place redefining

what an adventure machine can be be.

[dramatic music]

- We are Diggerland, USA.

We are over 21 acres.

We have 40 attractions,

mostly construction themed vehicles.

And this is where kids and adults get to use them

in a nice, safe environment

and to have a great time.

- [Adam] That's right, Diggerland, USA

actually takes machines commonly found in construction sites

and repurposes them as theme park rides.

[screams]

[whooping]

[rock music]

And if you don't feel like controlling the action,

you can sit back and let one of these massive machines

do all the work.

[screams] [rock music intensifies]

- The Spin Dizzy,

which is a JS 220 excavator with an eight seat gondola

spins you around in 360 degree rotation.

Gives you about one G-Force.

- It's not over?

[screaming]

- [Adam] There's one section of this park

that's only for adults

and it's got heavy duty machinery.

- We also have Diggerland XL.

That is where you operate the real deal machines.

You're talking about 40 or 60,000 lb excavators

and dozers and wheel loaders.

So that is a lot of fun.

And one of our ride operators

will teach you how to use that piece of equipment.

[loader beeps]

- [Instructor] All right, now turn yourself around

so you can see where you're going.

Line yourself up and use the center of this car.

Down.

[metal crunches and glass shatters]

There ya go.

And hit another spot.

[metal crunches]

[glass shatters]

Let's see if we can climb onto the car.

[whooping and laughter]

- This is craziness.

Did you see that look of pure joy on his face?

- [Man] That was awesome.

- [Instructor] Well done.

- That was good.

- [Adam] Back at Yamaha

I'm finally getting ready for my own thrill ride.

- All right, Adam,

- It's funny, you know, people think,

"Oh, you must have the coolest job."

No, sir, you do. [laughter]

This is what you do.

You test these amazing vehicles

that we've had the privilege of seeing them built, right?

- Yeah. We really focus on trying to evaluate the vehicle,

just like the customers will.

Yet we are still within

the 280 acre campus of Yamaha in Georgia.

- We've just come straight out of the factory

and onto the test track.

- It'll feel like we are miles away,

but it's still within the sprawling campus.

What is the main purpose of this track,

of this environment where we are now?

- Well, the great thing is we evaluate

all over the United States.

So every part of this track actually simulates

a portion of the real world

that we're looking to duplicate

so that we can evaluate it right here in Georgia.

- Yamaha has transformed this track

to simulate different environments.

Including a Sandy desert road,

a rugged forest trail, and even a rock scramble.

I think that's kind of amazing.

I mean, we're in Newnan, Georgia

yet with the expertise of Yamaha,

Newnan, Georgia is going to turn into Nevada,

Montana, South Dakota, Florida.

- Exactly. Of course we've got a lot of Georgia clay here.

Which can be used in a lot of different ways.

You know, for example, trying to simulate

those Southwestern whoops

that has come from decomposed granite or sand.

- Did you just say, "Whoops"?

Big bumps, all in a rhythmic row.

We've actually recreated whoops out here

made out of Georgia clay

and it simulates the same amount of stress

that we see in the Southwest.

- The whoops. [laughs]

Shall we?

- [Pat] Let's do it.

- Let's do it. Yeah.

- That's it you're looking good.

- Let's get it done. You're a rock star.

Thank you for this opportunity. I am so psyched.

[upbeat music] [engine starts]

- [Pat] All right, ready? - Ready as I'm gonna be.

[vehicle accelerates]

We've seen the Wolverine go from frame to fully assembled.

Now I'm in the belly of this beast as it hits the road.

Woo, she tips out. - Yeah.

We've got three different drive modes here.

Trail, sport, and crawl.

- The three modes control

the throttle response of the Wolverine.

Adjusting for the three types of environments

we're about to take a spin on.

Give her up a little bit.

- Sure, all right.

[engine powers] [whoops]

[rock music continues]

[indistinct]

- Woo hoo.

- [Pat] All right, you good?

[indistinct] [laughs]

[upbeat music]

- Here's a Sherwood forest.

No way, this is crazy.

This is the best.

Oh my god.

Are you going to go up this thing?

- [Pat] Oh yeah. [engine revs]

- It moves like it's just on a road.

- Yeah, we really focused on having very precise steering.

- [Adam] We're starting off in trail mode,

which is Yamaha's standard setting in the RMAX 1000.

The throttle responds, as you would expect your car's to.

It's just a little more fun than your car.

Robin Hood eat your heart out. [laughs]

- [Pat] All right I'm going to go up to sport.

We're going to head up into the sand section.

- [Adam] Sport mode is where things get exhilarating.

The throttle response is tight,

giving you quicker access to full power.

Which makes it extremely fun for wider trails

and more open spaces.

Now sand was for what region?

- [Pat] Sand is definitely the Southwest.

Lot of decomposed granite there.

So we really simulate that.

You see the sand right here.

[laughs]

- No way. The turning on this thing is absolutely bonkers.

- [Pat] Here's our rock section.

- [Adam] For the last section on this loop we're going up.

- [Pat] We're going to go to crawl mode.

- Oh man, this is the stuff you see in commercials.

[rock music continues]

loosens up the throttle response,

but adds full engine braking.

So that in extremely bumpy terrain,

you can maintain precise control.

Think of it like going over a speed bump.

If you do it slowly, it's a much smoother ride.

Crawl mode allows you to feel your way over the terrain.

Oh man, no way.

This thing is like the surface of the moon

we're driving on right now.

You have no idea how amazing this thing is.

[engine roars]

This thing's unbelievable.

We've climbed the rocks and closed the off-road loop,

but there's one final test for the Wolverine.

- Now we're about to do the splash test.

- [Adam] And what's the splash test?

- Splash test is a higher speed shallow water test.

This is about 100 mm deep.

About four inches.

- Okay. Well the water is still coming in the cab?

- We are going to get a little bit wet.

The faster we go, the more the water

is going to come over to the front,

but it's really not about splash

for the driver and passenger.

It's actually this water intrusion for the whole vehicle.

- I am excited.

It's a beautiful warm Georgia day.

Let's part the waves Moses style.

- [Pat] All right, here we go.

[engine roars] [Adam whoops]

[water splashes] [dramatic music]

[cheering]

- That was impressive.

This was amazing.

I mean to see it being built.

To see the hard work is all well and good,

and I'm very impressed,

but there is nothing like being in this.

You do have the coolest job.

These guys truly take it to the next level

when it comes to amping up the excitement and fun

when you go out to conquer the great outdoors.

Adventure machines come in different shapes and sizes

and they allow us to have fun

across an array of different environments.

They offer extraordinary experiences.

Fortunately, because of the incredibly hard work

of a lot of people in places like this

we can break away from it all.

go roaring into the wilderness

in some of these amazing adventure vehicles.

This is awesome.

You have to experience it for yourself.

And I?

I need a new change of clothes.

See you next time.

[engine revs]