Wondering if anyone has ridden the versions with the upgraded front suspension.

We're probably going to buy an 07 but we're wondering which model will have the softest front end. Ride quality is very important for us as it'll be maily the wife's bike and the 1 06 Raptor she rode said rode like a buck board compared to her Z400. I rode another one of our friends' 06 and thought the same however, I was riding a DS650 at the time so that's a couch compared to anything.

90% of our riding is dunes and not big air (but hauling azz), the other 10% is woods riding in the mtns. The plusher the suspension setup the better for us. I just don't know if the old-school front shocks are plusher or not.

 

The regular shocks are going to give you a softer ride. The upgraded front shocks on the GYTR and SE are going to be closer to the 450 shocks and are going to handle better but be stiffer as well.

 

Thanks.

That's what I was thinking and that's what convential wisdom would be too I guess. It's just that sometimes things defy common sense for whatever reason. Didn't know if for some freaky reason the remote-res shocks would be plusher in the initial stroke due to more intricate & consistent valving cabability further into the travel.

The choppy stuff is really what annoyed both of us on our independent (diff quads and different days) 06 Raptor test rides. Just got a lot of side-to-side banging around feel in the front end that we never experience on the Z.

Sounds like the regular shocks may be the best bet for us. I do like that white and silver look to the GYTR bike though, and it'd be nice if someone is out there riding an 07 SE/GYTR that could chime in with a report.

Decisions/Decisions..............

 

I've sold a couple SE's in the last couple weeks and PDI'd them so i drove them but not really hard so its kinda hard to tell you, they really didn't seem any stiffer, and i've rode alot of 700's, i'm sure they are stiffer thought being rezzy shocks, but if you aint doing any jumping save the couple hundred and get the standard model, but that SE is sweet, its kinda hard to tell from pics, but that orange is actually a orange kinda carbon fiber pattern, its looks sick.

 

I have an 07 SE 700, and I can tell you the front shocks are valved and sprung much stiffer than the weak POS shocks the regular Raptor comes with. They are very much like what the 450 has, indeed. For the hi-speed desert and dune riding I do, they are perfect. I shelled out the extra money for the SE because yes, it does look "sick", and I now do not have to spend a bunch of extra coin to get aftermarked shocks. If I need to make any other changes to the VERY adjustable stock shocks, I can send them into any reputable suspension rebuilder and have them resprung and revalved, as they have this capabilty. I'm thinkin that won't be necessary though, because so far I am very satisfied. Anyway, that's why I bought the SE....to me it was well worth the extra few hundred bucks. Can't wait to get the pipe, EFI controller, and pro-flow kit on this thing!.......