Yamaha Raptors?
 

Does anyone own one of theese? How do they handle? also what is a true top speed?

I don't know what the top speed is, but the Yamaha dealer has a brand new one with a special pipe and carb work and it sounds mean. Whats a fair price walking out the door?

Dont know on the price but I am wondering too. They are supposed to be one bad a$$ quad. but I wanted to get some opinons before I bought one.

Thrillseeker,
I’m somewhat new to the sport so don’t take my word as final. But, I know Raptors have a bad rap for being too top heavy and poor handlers. I hear the new hot set-up is the Suzuki Z-400.
Personally, I’m keeping my eyes open for a nice 250R.

DLG

The Dealer here wants 5499.00 plus tax and his fees total 6149.00 walking out the door. A friend has a banshee and he says his buddys raptor will leave him on top end.

Okay I'm gonna give ya the straight scoop on the Raptor.....It is unreal fast on top and loads of torque down low......It's a tad heavy for quads......remember a little is a lot in these little guys.......

And it true problem is the handling......LOTS of unhappy people out there......there are pretty dangerous when tryin to lean them into a turn......the flip easy......remember the 3-wheeler problems....different problem but similar results......but on the other hand good riders make up for these things........but tstill this will hurt the Raptors name for sure.......

You do know Yamaha is bringing out a new Banshee.......look for it to be the new highwater mark......;)

My friend has a new Z-400 Suzuki. I am trying to compare it with the Raptor and the DS-650 from Bombardier. All of you guys are saying that the Raptor is heavy, the DS-650 weighs about a hundred pounds more w/ the same sized engine.:rolleyes:

Thrillseeker, whats your opinion on the raptor? Have you owned a 4-wheeler before? I was looking at the Raptor because it looks mean and has the bigger engine than the suzuki, but handling would be a concern. I have never owned one before.

I've ridden my friends new Raptor and I have to say "Buy a banshee!!!!. Their cheaper, faster, handle better, ..... If a banshee is left behind by a Raptor then check the spark plug wires - one is off. I spank Raptors all day long, even the highly modified ones with my 89 Banshee.

Hey Thrillseeker i got one of the fastest Raptors on Long Island
FMF Ported Polished, FmF Pipe, H-Bomb, Dynojetting K&n airfilter
airbox. I can honestly say I have had 5 diffrent Banshees one had Big bore 540 Ive had them all.
My raptor has been the best quad yet the reverse alone is such a great option handling is unbleveible. I would change front sproket to 12 tooth first thing. eletric start is also great. The only thing that you have to keep an eye on is steering stem nut gets loose if you ride hard after a little time. It is easliy fixed by tighten
it up otherwise its the best money I have ever spent on a quad. :cool:

I've got a 2001 Banshee, basically stock besides the pipes. My best friend has a 2001 Raptor, totally stock. My Banshee will blow him away any day and even if he had a pipe it would not make up the difference. He wants to ride my Banshee everytime we go out riding, I normally don't ask to ride his Raptor. They just do not handle like the Banshee....their is a reason Yamaha has been making these bad boys for 15 years now...I would be highly surprised if the Raptor hangs around half that time....

Buy a Banshee or wait until the supposed new model comes out!

But that's just me 2 cents..........

Thrillseeker,
Here's another one to throw in the mix.
http://predator500.com/

I went to a dealer tonight and a salesman admitted that the raptors have chitty handling and are dangerous at high speeds:( kind of a bummer, I was looking foreward to approaching 90mph on a quad:cool: Does anyone know anything about the Bombardier DS-650?

I own a suzuki LT500R boy that thing is a handfull.

Thrillseeker, go to www.highlifter.com and ask the question there. It is just like OSO but for quads.

OSO

What do you guys think of putting a Raptor engine in a 300EX frame and lenghen the swingarm a little?

Yamaha Raptors
 

I am not sure where you people who ride Yamaha Banshees can say that they handle good? Their style is out of date. I own a Yamaha Raptor with a CT pipe and jetting, just with that alone semi built Banshees are no problem, so I am not sure who your racing but it's a good joke.

I'd take the Banshee over the Raptor anyday too.

Thread on 4 wheelers....shouldn't this be in OT Forum?

Buck

I will second that site.
Awesome place

But if you really want the sh!t of a quad and want two wheel drive thrills, this is what you should be looking at.
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/products...50LE_blk_3.jpg
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/products...&cid=1&mid=323
Very good friend on here has a raptor, and his buddy has a YFZ450. They both ride hard and fast.
Maybe he will chime in and give his personal opinion on both units since he has first hand experience driving both.
I however love my Grizzly. :)
Thing rocks but not as fast as thiers. Even thought I 'try' to keep up with no avail :)

I had a lt250R that was modded back in '88 and was bitten by the quad bug. I had a Raptor and sold it for a Prairie 650 since we do more bogging down here that racing. I was contemlpating on getting another racer and was between a KFX 400 or KFX 700. The Suzuki and Kawasaki 400's are exactly the same quad and are both awesome machines. The KFX 700 will go about 95mph bone stock from what I have been told but I have no seat time....Four of my friends have the KFX 700's and love them more than life:D

Sounds like you are related to the Osbournes :(

I thought that celebreties are the only ones that can over exagerate the true speeds of power :(

Oh wait, we are on a boating site :) All boat speeds are over exagerated :(

I think even 70 is a hard number to come by with alot of $$$ and power options.

the banshee is a better handling machine because with the 2 stroke power you can get the tires spinning and "slide" a turn. It is also a better balanced bike. Where with the raptor it's very hard to take a turn because the tires grip when giving it throttle, causing it to want to flip. If you extend the rear axle and put extended a-arms on the raptor ($2000) it will slide a turn. The stock form of the raptor is too narrow and top heavy. i had a tough time getting it to donut....it kept wanting to flip on me.

they are both close in top end. the stock raptor will have about 2mph on the stock banshee. both run low 70's. put pipes on the banshee and you will run upper 70's.

the new yzf450 is in the same low 70's speed catagory, and will handle better than both the banshee and raptor.

my banshee will run low 90's (when it's not blown up :rolleyes: ) my next machine will be the 450.

Any of you guys want a Raptor? I loaned a friend money to buy one two years ago and now he has no money, a wife, and a new kid. I'm taking the Raptor back and selling it. It's not hurt.

As far as what handles?
A 250R Honda handles. A YZF450 Yamaha and TRXwhatever 450 Honda, both based on the YZ-F and CRF motors, they handle. A 400EX Handles pretty good.

Raptors and Banshees don't handle. Not in stock form.

A Banshee will slide around like a flattracker pretty well. A Raptor will handle okay in the air and has better suspension hardware than the Banshee, but they are both PLAY BIKES. Banshee comes closer to the mark on making the guys happy who buy it.

The new crop of racing 4 wheelers from Yamaha and Honda DO handle.

But I think 4 wheelers have two too many wheels. 3 wheelers were kind of fun but I haven't ever cared very much for 4 wheelers.

Besides, anything with handlebars is supposed to fall over when it is stopped.

Hence, the sale of the Raptor.
Anybody interested? I have discount hookups on all aftermarket parts if you want it decked out.

m

How fast does the KXF 700 really go? I read in a mag and the dealer told me 95 mph:rolleyes:

kfx 700 is also 70-74. Its fully automatic and heavy as hell. If you really want a sport quad look no further than the yfz450. The kfx400 is a really good quad also, however anything the 400 can do the yfz450 will do better and faster. The kfx400 does have reverse however and if you need that you should get the 400.

Don't leave out the Predator 500. I GPSed mine the other day at 75.4 mph. I have a pure polaris slip on pipe and k&n filter. This thing handles great with lots of torque. Only thing I don't like about it is when it gets hot the tranny gets kind of notchy when shifting gears.

It will leave a Raptor and a Z 400 in its dust.

I agree with all the others, that the Raptor is a poor handling quad.

My next quad will be either a YFZ450 of the 450R from Honda. Both well engineered machines.

I raced MX quads for years and I agree with the Banshee flat-tracking around corners, get the sucker spinning and its a blast,,, try that on the Craptor and you will flip, going through corners the raptor is kinda herky jerky because of the torque.. Also because of all that torque, from a dead stop my highly modified banshee will crap all over a craptor, from a rolling start its very even until about 4th then the banshee slightly pulls in 5th and 6th. For a stock machine the craptors are pretty good, BUT if I had my choice I would go with a YFZ-450 or the Honda TRX-450R... race ready outta the box....

P.S. If your thinking used, early craptors have tranny problems,, I think 2001-2002, they will lock up and blow 2nd gear...

NewsFlash

2004 Yamaha Grizzly
Red
660 Auto 4X4
130 ACTUAL MILES
Polished wheels and ITP 589 tires (27" tall) - same as MNFASTBOAT - a $500+ upgrade.
Clutch kit and carb jet kit.

ABSOLUTELY IMMACULATE.
see thread in OFFTOPIC.

Need to move FAST.
No reasonable offer refused.

Never crashed.
Not stolen.
Not abused.

Owner wants to swap for crotch rocket. We're too far apart to trade, but if he can sell direct to somebody we can all do well.

I know what he expects to get for this ATV and it is a bargain. I just can't afford to floorplan it and wait for it to sell - around here it is the season for YFZ's and mx atv's. Big 4x4s get hot again in the fall around here.

If it matters, the owner is a boat freak. Has owned supercharged race-layup Fountain boats, and his father is racing an APBA super cat lite this season.

how much$$$
might know of a couple people looking here in MN
where is he located?

Check out www.houstonyamaha.com. A friend of mine owns the place, he custom built a raptor and i believe it is still posted on his site. Think it had turbo, NOS, the whole nine yards. Never seen it run, but they said nothing could touch it.


:D :D

Mn,

The Grizzly is in Nashville area.

I HAVE A 2004 trx 450 R and it is the best out of all of the quads that I have owned and ridden,I have owned a Banshee,and 2 suzukis and a couple of 400 EX Hondas and I can tell you other than not having electric start it is buy far the best running Quad I have ever ridden,I have recently installed the HRC kit and it just made it that much better,buy one you will not be disapointed,I guarentee it.

I'm glad you raced Mx because so did everyone and their brother. I admit a stock raptor is a very bad handling quad, horrible. I have a +3+1 gibson long travel front end with a ct pipe and durablue x33 axle. I am still not sure how you freaks get a kick out of thinking a banshee is some great bike, it's ****. My friends have very fast cannondales that would smoke a banshee but yet somehow my raptor has a tad bit more top end?

I would be curious to ride a new yzf450 or honda crf450, those probably cruise.

:D