Hi guys! I'm new here and just bought a raptor 350 of CL. It's all stock and I would like to know a few things.

1. What are the first and usual parts that people upgrade on their raptor?

2. Where does everybody shop for parts. (cheapest of course)

3. When to the trails and notice that with stock shocks I was feeling every little rocks on the trail. How can I reduce this? Aftermarket shocks?

 

1) The most common performance mods for any sport quad tend to be intake and exhaust. There are plenty of exhaust systems out today that add power while keeping the noise in check. I would look at some of those as well as a new air filter perhaps.

2) Most of the online retailers are close on price these days. Rocky Mountain, Motosport, and Moto-man tend to be my favs.

3) Aftermarket shocks are great, but can be spendy. Are you ever planning on adding a-arms/wheel spacers? You will have to look around to see what shops are even doing work on the 350. Works makes decent shocks for the money, but there are some places that do custom work that are great. All depends on how much you are looking to spend.

 

Are you saying that the 350 isn't worth modding? Sorry still new this hobby.

Adding spacers? For more stability I'm assuming? Will the Raptor 450R shocks w/ piggyback improve over my stock shock?

 

I didn't say it is not worth modding, just that the design is a bit long in the tooth and aftermarket support is shifting to newer models to some extent. For instance, a few of my favorite aftermarket companies don't list parts for the 350 online anymore. They may still carry stuff though. I would suggest calling if a certain manufacturer catches your eye.

Widening the machine will make it more stable, yes. Spacers are the cheap way, but they put added stress on the steering and suspension components and are not recommended for jumping or other such applications. Wider a-arms are much more expensive, but a quality set up in conjunction with shocks can do wonders.

There is no Raptor 450R. The YFZ 450R shocks are way to long for the 350 chassis. Even the regular YFZ 450 front shocks are to long. You really are better off looking for something with the proper eye to eye length, spring wt and valving specific to your application.

Having said all that, I wouldn't spend a fortune on upgrades unless you are sure this will be your only machine for a while. For $2500.00-$3000.00 you could buy a used Z400 that already is wider/better suspension, stronger motor. Adding another $2500.00 on top of a stock 350 could certainly perk it up, but you would still be hard pressed to make it perform with the Z quads.

Put it another way... My buddy has a 300EX done out with shocks, exhaust, intake, etc. It is a fun quad, but is still mild enough I can run it wide open a lot of the time. You really have to spend a bit of $$ to make them real fast.

 

Great information Scooter. This already sounds like a money pit hobby. LOL.. I have just a few more questions.

What intake, and exhaust would you recommend (without making it loud, but adds performance)? I want to upgrade to a raptor 660/700 by next year or two. Would you recommend even upgrading those things?

As for the stock shocks on my 350. I noticed it's set to 3 and I'm feeling every little bump on the mountail trail. Should I make it softer? Like around 1-2 or stiffer?

Thanks!

 

Put the preload all the way down a banshee rear is a great upgrade and banshee fronts a a bit softer works can be picked up cheap. Yz250 shifter and oil cooler make the quads better. Everyone likes hmf, the competition is a great system im debating selling my curtis sparks for one

 

Okay. Thanks! I'll try that and see how I like it.

BTW, what is re-jetting?? I keep hearing about it, but I don't know what exactly what it does? Do I need it?

Also, do you think the "Trail Tech Vapor" tach is worth the money? I'm thinking about buying the dashboard with the tach. That's about $200 bucks on ebay (expensive).

 

If you do any mods to the intake or exhaust that flow more air, you will likely need to rejet(add more fuel.) It isn't terribly hard after you have done it a few times. Plenty of tutorials out there if you google for them.

I love me some HMF. FMF has a good range of products too. The Lexx systems from Rocky Mountain provide a pretty good value for the $$. GYTR stuff is quality.

As for Trail Tech, I have never owned any of their product. You don't really need a tach on an atv though. I can suggest one alternative. For around $50.00 you can buy a digital hour meter/tachometer. Not sure how accurate the tachs are, as the few I have owned seem to lag a bit time wise(like if you blip the throttle.)

 

My recommendation is to keep the 350 stock, ride it like it is and enjoy it, save your money and then upgrade to the Raptor 660/700 later (preferably the 700). You will never get your money back for any mod that you do, and the 350 just isn't much of a high performance machine even with tons of mods.

 

Thanks guys! Your right I guess I'll just leave this 350 stock until I can save up enough money for a 700. I think I'll be getting the AMR racing "tribal Flames" sticker on my 350 to hide all the scratches on it left by the previous owner.