hey guys! here's the deal, I just sold my polaris sportsman 700 twin and I'm looking to get a sport quad. my choices are an '00 warrior, '97 polaris sport w/ a 400 2 stroke (pretty fast bike) or my buddy's '00 polaris xplorer w/a 400 2 stroke (its 4 wheel drive). I know most of you guys dig the yamahas but all I've ever been around are polaris and artic cats. what can you guys tell me about the warriors? are they good trail bikes? I like to ride hard and go through some pretty technical places, not to mention through creeks and mud. I've found a '00 warrior that is stock except for a pipe. what kind of power do they make? thanks guys

 

Only have experience with one warrior and it hasn't been good. Her 02 warrior doesn't even compare to my 02 400ex. The only plus is reverse. My 400ex will outrun, outhandle, and probably outlast her warrior. Don't know anything about the polaris 2 strokes, but the 4 stroke warrior may be more reliable. The only way I would buy the warrior is if the price was too good to pass up. Good luck making a decision and let us know which one you buy!

 

A Warrior will outlast anything, period. Yamaha has been using the same motor in the Warrior since it was introduced in 1987 as they used in the Raptor 350 now. 21 years of the same motor, and you will find plenty of old Warriors that still run strong. More or less, the Warrior is a tank. They weigh about the same as any other sport quad of similar size. They are great for trails because they are geared low. Another big positive for the Warrior is since it was made for so long, it is very easy to find parts for, OEM and aftermarket. It does great in mud and water, as long as you have good tires.

Most of the guys I ride with have Polaris four wheel drives, and I would not trade my Warrior for any of their quads; period.

 

Only down side to a warrior is the stock suspension. Also if you want to outrun Banshees and such its a bad investment though not as slow as some would say. Mine is an 87 and still very reliable. With the minor mods listed below I can stay within a few quadlengths of my friends stock Z400 until around 55-60mph. Ive not raced a 400EX but would like to, uness they are as fast as a Z400 I think I can take a stock one. The low end torque is amazing. First gear is almost like a granny gear excellent for really tough spots like railroad tracks or big rocks. I mostly trail ride and its hard to beat. I prefer it over my freinds Z400 in tight woods. I do some real technical hillclimbs to where its hard to get up a lot of speed first beacuase of a corner or the hill is just to rough for high speed. It will go up anything in 2nd gear and doesnt need to be all wound up like my freinds Z400. If things get out of hand I can back off and stay in 2nd where as he has to shift down to first on his which usually leads to too much tire spin and him getting stuck 3/4 up the hill. Not dissin Z400s cause his will do great on a nice smooth hillclimb were you just pin the throttle and hang on but not many of those here and I tend to miss all that torque when I ride his.

 

I would go with the Warrior. If someone has had a problem with a Warrior, it's because they didn't take care of it, and now it's junk......but if you never change the oil, clean and oil the filter, grease the zerks, and wash it off, don't be surprised with what you end up with. Any quad will fail under those conditions.

I bought a 99 Warrior and it is as strong as can be. No, it's not going to hang with a 400, but it's pretty quick. With the mods I have it will hang on hills trails and mud. I don't like 4x4 because they're heavy, and to me feels to much like a tank. Warriors are great entry level sport quads, and are pretty forgiving of rider error.

No matter what you get, take care of it and you should be fine. If you neglect it, and abuse it too much, you'll pay...........at the parts and service counter of your local shop.

 

thanks guys for the replies. I'm going to go look at the warrior this weekend. I'm not looking into out running 400s or anything, I just like to have enough power to be able to toss it around and have fun with it. my sportsman had lots of power but was a tank. for something that weighed 800+ pounds, it was fast and would wheelie easily. the only other sport quads the guys I ride with have are a 250x, 250ex and a trailblazer 250, as most of the others have 4 wheel drives. the polaris 2 strokes are pretty reliable. my buddy bought his '00 trailblazer 250 brand new and has always rode it hard and never really taken care of it. 8 years later, he finally had it rebuilt. thanks again guys, I will let ya'll know which one I end up with

 

See if it's been jetted for the pipe if not it's been running lean.

 

yeah, didn't think about that. i just got an email from him. i will be going to check it out this afternoon. it looks pretty good from the pics. i will post one up soon

 

IMO: You can't go wrong with the Warrior. At 6'3" 195lbs, I questioned if the 350 would have enough guts to be able to "toss me around". Well, it does....and that was even before I upgraded my rear tires. If I'm not mistaken, I think the dry weight on the Warrior is a little over 400lbs.....but I could be wrong.

 

yeah im only 5'6" about 172 lbs. the sportsman was just too big for me.
i put a pic in my album of it as i don't know how to post it here