this is copied and pasted from the Honda forum...

"That's right, in the April 2001 issue of ATV Sport the 400ex beat the Raptor, DS650, and Scrambler in a shootout of four-strokes. The riders were able to post consistently faster wooded track and mx track times on the Honda than any of the others. They said that even though the Honda was a little underpowered compared to the Raptor and DS650 it's superior handling characteristics more than made up for it. Just goes to prove all those extra cc's aren't helping in my neck of the woods where tight trails are the norm. In the flat out speed drags the winner was the DS650 at 68 mph followed closely by the Raptor at 67mph, then the 400ex at 60 mph, and the Scrambler at 58 mph. The 400 was 6-9 seconds faster in the woods laps than it's next closest the Raptor. On the mx track the Raptor closed considerably closer to a 2-3 second advantage for the 400ex.
I know it matters about the rider but they used the same two for all the machines and times. And
I don't care about who supposedly has more ads in
the mag or whatever else. I just thought you guys might like to know the outcome of this shootout. Oh yeah the DS650 won the best jumper award too."


well, there you have it, the EX is the best in the woods and track, and the DS is the best out in the open and on jumps... that leaves the Raptor right where the Yamaha engineers wanted, right??? the best all-around quad, but not the best at any one thing...

hey, if I owned a Raptor I wouldn't necessarily complain

 

Ha, HA, HA, HA, HA!!!!!!

What a Joke! I've got 50 acres of some really tight woods and invite the LITTLE 400 EX'rs to come on over, so we can put this one to sleep!

Any takers?

 

THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!

 

Are you talking about a race thru the woods on territory you are intimately familiar with? That sounds fair.

Tell you what, meet you halfway at one of the MO HS races in the eastern part of the state. I'll be attending a few, between the AR series I run. You'll see how fast your Raptor really is in the woods in a true competitive environment...

After the event, I seriously doubt you will be scoffing at those "little 400s".

Just because you have more cc's doesn't necessarily mean you are faster.

 

I see your challenges, guys, but . . .

No verifiable instance of any Forum users EVER meeting face-to-face (or wheel-to-wheel) to settle any disigreement exists. If you two get together, you'll be the first.

No one ever took up MaxRules on his challenge; Gordon Banks offered a thousand dollars if a guy could out rock-hop him on a King Quad (other guy chickened out), and so on.

Challenge races on the Forum take place in the "fantasy" division.

Tree Farmer

 

Thoughs top speeds are rediculously slow, the "facts" are a joke. Those test riders must be the best in the business too, I've never seen a rider(s) who can ride machines with different charactoristics like second nature.
H*ll I can race my scrambler 400 against bozo on his 400ex "high performance race quad" and dust him with ease. I don't care what machine you ride, if you can't handle it, it's worthless!!!

2000 SCRAMBLER 400 2X4

SCRAMDADDY400

 

No real surprise here. Stock for stock, the reviews have consistantly stated the EX is better on the track and the DS in the wide open spaces. I was a little surprised they picked the heavy DS as the best jumper.

 

 

Hey swytak or whatever i already forgot your name, where is cedar lake? anywhere near indy? I just broke the welds on one of my a-arms so i got to get new ones but if your close i would race. I know (like the guy said above) noone actually does get together to race but if your close i wouldnt have any problem driving an hour or so, or we could go to attica or somewhere less "homecourt" right me back and tell me where cedar lake is. Youll have to give me 4 weeks or so though, so i can get the money and get them ordered

 

Hey gabe,
have there been any races yet? My hand is still healing, but by about 4-6 weeks I might be able to ride?