I want to buy one of these. I ride in the woods.
Honestly, which would be better for my kind of riding?
Thank you!!!!!!

 

Im kinda getting sick of these posts cause someones gonna say buy a raptor, then the honda guys will come in and vice-versa. Look at the basics, both have good power, handling, and all the goodies except the 400ex doesnt have reverse. If you want reverse get the raptor, you will be happy with whatever you decide.

 

I actually want a 400EX, however for woods riding, the Raptor is narrower (GOOD FOR THE WOODS), has more power, and has Reverse for when you get in a tight jam.

The 400EX should keep up with a raptor in the woods, so the power isn't the issue...

I'd say you have to be a "smarter" rider in the woods with a 400EX, or else you'll be getting off and pushing quite a lot.

 

It sounds like you have already made up your mind you would probably be happy with either one of these quads it your going to buy the 400 and then put a pipe and all the other engine mods by the time you do all that youll have the same money tied up in one as if you would just buy the raptor the 660is fast stock and has reverse I was at the same decision as you I bought a 400 but I only paid 3600.dollars for it I couldnt justify the extra 3500.dollars and in the woods neither of these bikes is going to leave the other I have ridden both and ride with raptors all the time in a drag race the raptor will pull away after about 3rd gear butr only by about 4 bike lengths I can say the honda jumps great and like a honda handles great too on a motocross track the bike would probably be real close look for a good used one (400) save your money if money is no object buy either Im not sure where you live but e mail me there are some real nice used ones around where i live a 2001 for 4500. is a steel joeyterrier@aol.com

 

i would say go with the 400ex cause at this point in time the ex is 100 hundred times more reliable cause the sway arms and axles are junk on the raptor. plus yamahe itself is a bunch of *******s. I bought a beartracker for my little brother and i got the 3 year extended warranty on it he blew the rear end out and they bought the parts for it but they are making me pay for the dealer to work on it which i should not have to pay and that will be 120 dollars which is bull****. Yamaha also stated that they are not going to purchase anything else for the quad and i still have 1year and 4 months of warranty left. so i would say go with the 400ex...


2000 honda 400ex
lots of mods.
race ready

 

get the raptor, its the better bike overall, especially for about $$$. if i had to do it all
over again, id have a raptor, more quad for the money.

rayz400ex
Honda 400EX RIDERS site:
http://home.elp.rr.com/hipo/atv/

 

Buy a Raptor. If we all quit buying 400EX's, Honda will surely come out with a new Quad. LOL

 

Like one person said, you have opened up a big can of worms. That a look at the history of repairs for both. The Raptor is not doing very well in that area. The people that have them are have all kinds of problems with them but they still like them. The Raptor goes very fast in a straight line, but top speed means nothing to me. What I want is a quad that works and I don't have to fix every time I ride. To make the Raptor able to ride you must change both sprokets, take the emergency brake off or it will blow off the carbs, and don't ride it like a 2-stroke or you will burn the clutch up. My 400 I have riden it for 2 years and have only changed the brakes from wear. I am not going to pay $1500 for reverse and all of the problems with the Raptor. Just my option.

 

Actually the Raptor is not a better woods quad than the EX....

It has a very narrow axle, tall seat height, high center of gravity, and a short swingarm. These factors cause it to corner poorly. It's narrowness & high CG cause it to dive in the low power corners, and it's short swingarm and torque cause a severe understeer condition when on the throttle in a turn. The short swingarm also causes problems when hillclimbing. It's poor gearing is also a factor in woods riding/hill climbing.

It being narrow doesn't help it in the woods either, because it's the rear that's narrow, not the front. It's every bit as wide in the front, if not wider than an EX.

Equal riders - the 400 will tear up the Raptor in the woods. XC racing results reflect this as well.

 

I have not had one problem with my raptor and I have had for 5 months.