I have found a deal on an '01 Raptor 660 and was wondering if it is as good a deal I think it is.

Description is as follows:

Pics can be found here: http://fototime.com/inv/081E49900FB5C5C

The guy is asking $1500 for it and is giving me several other parts such as full aluminum skid plate, rear aluminum skid plate, some misc. stock parts, repair manual, etc. I know the guy pretty well, so I know he is not trying to rip me, just wondering if this is a great deal. I already have the quad in my garage and he told me to look it over while he is out of town for a week to make my decision. Are there any things I should look for in particular? I have rode many other wheelers over the past 20 years from a Honda TRX125 my dad bought for us kids in '87 to my friends Banshees and such, but I have never owned one of my own. So I know how to ride, just not up on working on them. I consider myself fairly mechanicly inclined. I've done many transmission and engine swaps in import cars and replaced clutches, installed electronic tuning devices, nitrous kits, etc. and always do all my general maint. myself. Should the one way bearing give my any problems? Are there other common problems with the Raptors I should concern myself with?

Sorry for the long post, I'm just one of those guys that likes to do my homework before I buy something.

Any and all input is appreciated! TIA

~Brent

 

01 rappy tannyy's blow, and tend to break, also can cause it to mess up ur motor too...

 

Avoid the 01, unless you enjoy transmission repair. If you can get one for free, Alba has a ($$$$) kit for replacing the transmission.

 

On one hand I must say $1500 for a rideable atv in decent shape (for an 01) and had good compression is a good deal. On the other hand the 01 tranny is prone to failure and it's ready for a L and A 1-way as well (stock will fail again). Tranny fix runs about $500 and the 1-way runs another $200 or so if you can do the work yourself....add in gaskets and some brews to drink while working and you will already be at around $2300+. While you are inside the engine you would be crazy not to rebuild the top end...probably another $150. Personally, when I figure on the potential maintenance hassle and the ultimate amount of cash potentially invested, I could not justify buying the atv.
Gary

 

If you're willing to spend the extra 1k+ dollars to get this bike where it needs to be then yes it's a decent deal.

 

Well, thanks for all the input guys. A little late though. I bought the machine two weeks ago (well, it's at my house but I havn't paid for it yet) and have since spent $41 on the choke cable and plunger and ordered a new LA Design one way bearing. And yes, I will be doing all the work myself. He also gave me a couple of boxes of misc. parts such as a new (never used) chain, new (never used) rear sprocket, two front sprockets (haven't counted the teeth yet) that are still in great shape, K&N Jet kit, stock piston with less than 20 hrs on it, K&N oil filter, new spark plug, etc. Apparently he used to race these things and had several left-overs. This particular bike he did not race, he actually bought it from a friend and was going to fix it, but remembered why he didn't work on them anymore!

That's good info on the tranny. Are there any tell tale signs of early failure? Is it as common a problem as the bearing?

 

There are no signs that the tranny is about to go. Some guys are still running 01 Raptor gears and some have had troubles, leading them to switch to 02 up gears. The problem with the 01 gearset is it's basically a weaker design.....2nd and 4th engagement dogs have 3 engagement dogs compared to 4 engagement dogs on the 02 up design. You can go to www.raptortranny.com and get tons of info on the switchover...great site. They sell the 02 up parts needed as well....and will switch gearsets out as well very reasonably. Check with Bob at www.magnoliatractor.com as well on the upgraded gearset. I went through 2 01 tranny rebuilds before switching to the 02 gearset....[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img].
Gary

 

I heard that if you never put it in reverse, you can avoid the trannie problems. Sound like a bunch of nonsense???

 

On my second gearset I UNHOOKED reverse upon assembly and it still failed. Bottom line, weak design.

 

Gary you mean since I took your advice in 2001 and have not used reverse that I could have been using it these last 4.5 years. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] With that said I am still on my orginal tranny and starter but if one or the other goes I will let Gary know about it as I said I would do back then.