I finnally got my new dirt wheels and read the reveiw on the raptor.I have a couple question's though.If the weight bias is similar to a 400ex and it has more power it seems the raptor would be the better of the 2 bikes at wheelieing.But it says the "expert" wheelie guys hard a hard time keeping the front end up.They say 75 mph is about right as far as top end speed go.Is this just like every other dirt wheels test and in accurate??I think this should be the ultimate qaud.Handles similar to a 400ex.Faster than a 400ex,banshee,DS650.It even has reverse.I think ti should handle the woods and a MX track extremly well.It is smaller than a 400ex has more power and better handling.I wish I was rich that is all.I guess I am just dreaming.

 

Really? I thought it was the opposite I thought they said they had a hard time keeping the front end DOWN? I dunno Im prolly wrong though. I heard somewhere that the production got cut back to 75% of what they initially planned......Im starting to break into a cold sweat here! Im 3rd in line at my dealer and he's only getting three!

 

Here is the quote out of dirt wheels."But our expert wheelie guys had a hard time balancing a wheelie for any lenght of time.Getting it up of course is no problem, and power wheelies are a snap; it's just not easy to keep it balanced."

 

I thought the problem with the wheelies was that the carbs didn't have the baffles around the jets yet that would keep fuel from sloshing up and making it cut out.

Yeah, I'm third in line as well and getting very anxious, especially with no 2 magazines being able to give agreeable reviews.

 

Well like I said I was probably wrong! Ofcourse I was. Maybe it has too much power to balance it? Errr I dunno I never really got good enough with my Warrior to really ride wheelie's for a LONG distance so I dont know what im talking about! There I admit it! =-) Thanks for clarifying though!

 

Or, most likely, these magazines are rectally deriving their information..... One magazine says this, the other says that and the third magazine contradicts the first 2. Much like the 400EX and DS650 (both great quads), there was so much hype you would have thought that either of these were designed and built by God himself. Honestly, I'm sure the Raptor will be great but I'll wait until I see one perform in person before believing anything I read whether it be magazines or user reviews.

 

This is a little off of the topic....but could be a big help for some of you guys that don't have a big deposit on a Raptor. I was calling around yesterday to local dealers trying to get some info on when they were getting the Raptor's in. One place in Charleston, WV had nobody on the Raptor waiting list (I did'nt ask what they were selling them for though). The number is 304-342-5148. Good luck!

 

There are two weight bias on a quad affecting wheeling.1-front to rear,2-top to bottom.Now the front to rear is said to be identical to the 400 ex,which everyone agrees is nose light,easy to pop up,the second is unknown but easy to decern by looking at basic frame geometry.Overall height like ds,width like 300ex,length like 400ex,this tells me it would make for a tippy feeling quad in turns.The magazine reviews said they figure same as well but it wasn't.Only way to counteract that would be to get majority of mass low enough on quad to compensate for high centered feel.If thats what they did then that alleviates main concern I had initially regarding raptors turning stability and would not make wider aftermarket a-arms/axle necessary.Now this low mass does have a trade off,the quad has to be higher on end which makes rider farther back( more difficult to maintain riding position) to hit balance point when riding wheelies,also high enough to where fuel comes out overflow tubes and and fuel slosh(no gas).Slosh plates in carb will help this to some degree but overflow tubes will still be a problem.Minor trade off not being a great wheelie machine to be a better handling one,given narrow width if you ask me.Overall I am impressed with this quad but have a few concerns that keep me from buying one for a while.I let you guys who had to have the first production run models tell me if my speculations are right.