Im looking for some opinions on which bike would be the better buy. I will be doing a lot of Woods and track riding and the occasional visit to the sand Dunes. Also i have a nice flat gravel track in the back paddok that will get a fair thrashing.

I dont really care about top speed, acceleration is medium priority and im mainly interested in which bike will handle better through the corners and rough stuff. I woud also like to get a nice wheelie down packed but im sure both of these machines would be well capable.

Please dont turn this thread into a pissing match, i would like educated input from people that have ridden both bikes or perhaps raced one with the other.

Also where the Predator is concerned would i be better off getting the LE with wide range gearbox or is the Close range TLD better suited to my riding?

Thanks!!

 

Hey Rooost, I just went through the same process as you, but without the Raptor. I pretty much knew I wanted a Predator, just wasn't sure if I wanted to go TLD or LE. I went LE (well, will go LE next weekend...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]. I don't have any experience on the raptor, but was able to ride both the TLD and LE right out of the crate at my dealers. He had them all set up and said go for it...

Anyway, as far as handling, there shouldn't be a difference between the TLD and LE. All the same stuff on them. I have heard, but again, no personal experience, that the Raptor is top heavy. If you ask the Raptor guys though I'm sure they will tell you you won't even notice.

It appeared to me that the Predator LE had more power out of the crate than the TLD. I thumbed the LE and stood it straight up.

It sounds like we do some pretty similar riding. I'm pretty wide open most of the time...desert trails, dry washes and dunes is my area, and I have been told and believe that you will be shifting a bunch more in tighter areas on the TLD than the LE.

Bottom line, for a couple hundred bucks, I'm going with the LE.

Check out the thread on this in the Polaris section. I got some pretty good info from guys there.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll have a blast on any of the three.

Brian

 

Hi Brian. I have heard the old Raptor is top heavy and if it were the Raptor 660 or the Predator i would definatly go for the Predator but apparently the new Raptor 700 is a whole new beast without that tippy feeling. Were you refering to the old 660 or the new 700?

Initial tests of the Raptor 700 sound good but i get a feeling that the tests were somehow "sponsored" by Yamaha, the first ride article has way too many yamaha advertising speels on it and looks a bit comercial rather than true opinion.

I will checkout the Polaris forum re the LE and TLD but sounds to me the LE would be the way to go, isnt there a difference in the rear shock between the LE and TLD though? ALso my dealer said he would do the LE and TLD at the same price so price is not an issue.

Im guessing the slip on exhaust was the reason for the extra power you felt? Would be interesting to see how much difference the slipon exhaust makes on the dyno.

Im currently leaning towards the Predator LE but i still have 2 weeks before i get funds and 1 week ago i was sure i wanted the KFX700 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] so who knows!

Thanks for the reply and enjoy your Predator!... Let me know how you like it when you get a chance to take it for a propper sting!

 

Yes, I am thinking the 660 on the Raptor.

On the TLD or LE, I don't think there is a difference in the rear shocks. I believe they are Fox Podium X all the way around on both. Different grab bar and front bumper, along with the slip on White Brothers, and the standard ratio gearing are the only differences I believe.

 

You cant go wrong with either, their both awesome quads.

 

I couldn't agree more, go check them both out and then decide which is best for you. There's no bad choice there.

 

I think if your dealer is going to give you either one for the same price, then I would definately lean toward the LE. I don't know what he quoted you OTD on that, or what your taxes are in your area, but I have a quote of a couple hundred under MSRP OTD on both the LE and the TLD.

 

I race the regular Pred with the regular tranny. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go to the Polaris dealer's show in Nashville and got to ride the Troy Lee, regular Pred and the new Outlaw. They left the tranny the same in the TL. ? It does have a gap from 4th to 5th where it wants to bog because they spaced it a little too far. I race the GNCC's and I can tell you that I have no use for the close gearing of the Troy Lee. Seems like all I did on it was shift. That's fine if you are on a MX track where you are in the powerband all the time. It was set up for MX. They fixed the 4th to 5th problem on the Outlaw. I like the tranny on my Predator, the same one that they are still using on the regular Predator. I would say ride all of them before you decide. Only you will know what you like and the type of riding that you will be doing. The Raptor is a whole new quad, I guess it is totally redesigned from the old raptor. It sits lower, is wider and it is more powerfull. They really got the weight down on it too. I am a through and through Polaris man, but I think this new Raptor is really going to be great for the Yamaha people. Good luck man!

 

i have an 05 tld and love the trany for trail riding. Also in a srtaight line drag the tld will beat the LE with simalar mods. The new raptor is only 3 pounds lighter than the old one and still does not come with the list of nice aftermarket stuff the preddy does. Also to fix that fourth to fifth gap problem I just upped my rev limiter. Hope some of this helps.

 

Thanks all for the help!..... Went shopping yesterday [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Had a short ride of both the Predator TLD and Raptor 700. They were both so nice and both rode extremly well so that made it a very VERY difficult desision. I ended up getting the Raptor 700. I just got sucked in by that sweet engine, felt much stronger than the Polaris and the throttle responce is just amazing. The Raptor also felt more comfortable and that new sticky seat is sweet, brakes were much stronger and handling seems to be on par with the Predator now. I also felt the Raptor had better build quality and sure it was missing some trick after market parts of the Pred but i felt the base machine is better, bot ons are easy but changing the heart of the machine is not so easy. I agree they are both sweet machines and cant go wrong with either, just hope there are no gremlins yet to be uncovered for the 700.

Anyways, havent had a good ride yet (very hard to sleep last night, just wana ride it!!) Had a putt around the back, front seems a little soft but i think a couple of clicks on the spring rate will fix that, other than that it feels good so far, will report back once i get some more time in the pilot seat.

Being a Yamaha rider now i reserve the right to say Polaris sux, Yamaha woop your *** [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]... Just jokes !!