Hello my question is , i was planning to buy a tld pred this spring , now after reading a couple of reviews I dont know what the heck to do,, First I read that the standard pred gear ratio is about the same as the tld. then i read that in a drag race the std pred smokes the tld, then i read and hear that 5th gera on the tld is a big fall off on the power band going from 4th to 5th??? my question is for the extra money ,, is the Tld pred that much better than the std pred, preforance wise.. and what can be done to get more top end out of the tld to hang with the std pred,, would a pipe and jetting be somthing that would improve the TLD and what about changing the sprocket teeth front or back..

Any info would be great because as of right know i dont know what to buy i really wanted the TLD pred but i dont know.... THANKS

 

I think the TLD this year is a whole different ball game....I don't know if sprockets would help or not. I know that 1 & 5 are the same....as the std. I do know this for sure. I also was waiting on the TLD....I just got sick of waiting. But after hearing the same things as you have....I don't know if I would have got it or not. (that is if the dealer had both) All I know is that i'm happy with what I got.

To all the 05 TLD owners i'm not saying anything bad about your quad....I just don't think it would have been the right one for me.

 

Well.... I hate to evan comment on this subject because of all the crap that usually follows on these forums, but I will state my piece and be done with it. I totalled my 03 predator this spring and waited till the TLD came out for 05. All I have to say is yes it was worth the wait. My 03 was stock for about 4-5 months; then I went to the Hardrock airbox mod and Whitebro's pipe w/ 12 disks. Yes it woke it up tremendously. I will say that the TLD has much....MUCH..... more acceleration stock for stock then the 03 did. And as for the gearing being off or to far between 4-5.....NOT..... I think it feels great. Maybe whoever stated that either didnt have enough RPM's to shift or maybe they were smokin crack.... who knows? If it is to far appart; once again I dont believe it is, then it is nothing that a couple of extra ponnies wont cure with a pipe and airbox mod. Over all I am sure it is well worth the extra cash for the TLD.

 

Well, the TLD, has better shocks, correct me if I'm wrong, a close gear ratio, so it has to accelerate more. As for piping it, it won't help taht much, why? because of the gearing it has, now don't come to me and talk crap, because I know what I'm saying. Though the acceleration is cmparable to the one of the YFZ which is great, but I would go with the STD, it's also fast don't get that wrong.

 

From reading the mag reviews and owner's reviews, you can't go wrong with either one. The front shocks on the TLD are worth the extra money, and if you get the Std, you are going to want to upgrade to the TLD's shocks (I do!).
As for the gearing, like IndyPred said. With the Std, you have to get the r's up in 1st so 2nd doesn't bog, and with the TLD you have to get the r's up in 4th.
So, do you want the red one or the orange one? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

 

Your choice depends on the type of riding you plan to do, tighter technical trails where you don't use 5th gear much or at all-go with the TLD. High speed open riding where your using 5th gear a lot-get the Standard. It's really that simple.........

 

I'm lookin at buying a predator here in a few weeks. I have riddin 2 TLD preds. These things handle well, to me, the 4 - 5 does feel a little wide. I run sand wide open and trails. probably won't be in 5th much and the front shocks are awesome. i was flat landing one from about 6 ft up and it sucked it up time after time. From what I read, the 5 th gear is the only thing that is the same between the two. the std has a slightly lower first gear by what the mag reads. But would the 1 - 2 spread of the std be bad when tryin to work a technical trail in gears 1 - 2?

 

The 1-2 spread isn't a problem for me, I ride a combination of tight and open trails. I did change the rear sprocket from the 37 to a 38 and that works well. I think the 05 standard has the 38 rear sprocket now but not sure on the TLD. The ratio spread is easier to tolerate in the lower gears because the ratio is still fairly low compared to the upper gear ratios and the mph is lower so it's easier for the engine to accelerate when throttle is increased. It takes more power to move the quad at higher mph so the larger ratio gap from 4th to 5th will be more noticable, it will take more time to accelerate through 5th gear....

 

Also forgot, that you are going to have to shift gears alot if you are riding tight trails, because of the close gear tranny, my vote like I said would go with the STD, though I haven't ridden the TLD, like to get my hands in one.

 

Yes the std. has a 38 rear...and I think so does the TLD. I just put a 40 on the rear, this is going to help trail riding for sure. I can't wait to try it out.