I was offered an 04 predator 500 at a very good price. Im just wondering if these quads are good trail riders or not. The majority of rideing I do is woods but I dont wanna buy something that just wont cut it on the beatin path. I know its not 4x4, but my warrior isnt either and the warrior does great, I just wanted something with more nuts. Let me know your opinions please.....

 

the Predators are a nice all around machine, I am ridding a DS 650 and a freind is ridding an 05 Pred. he keeps up on the trails no problem. he has had his for a while and it seems to be reliable and mostly trouble free as long as you maintain it. By far better than the Warrior, my wife had a warrior for 2 months and ditched it for a 400 ex becasue the Warrior was to slow LOL! good luck with the new machine

 

The 500 Fuji motor in the predator might not be the most powerful but it's bullet proof.
It's got pretty good low end and great top end. But if your going to go bushwacking you might want to gear it down a little so your not roasting the clutch.

 

Thanks for the info, I just dont wanna regret getting this quad even though its a hell of a price. I wanna make sure ill be able to putt around if I want, or fly if needed. Anyone else have comments please let me know...

 

we got one with a remapped cdi, leo vancin pipe jet kit and razorblade rears that eats the 450 up, if you want to go real fast and have a great trail machine buy the irs outlaw 525

 

i owned an 04 troylee edition for many years and it was an OK quad, good power that was comparable to anything else out there with most of it being in the upper mid to top end. it handles terrible on loose terrain, it feels like it has a hinge in the middle. the rear end spins too much and unlike a banshee, because atleast a banshee stays where you point it... the machine felt and looked more "used" then it was, with creaks and groans eminating from everywhere. id pass unless you got it for under $2000

 

Personally If i was going to get a pred I would get an 05+ the updates like reverse are nice.
But quality wise I would have put my old 05 predator * in avatar* against most of the jap bikes in quality. it never let me down and i rode it hard as hell. My Raptor was a POS buddy of mine got a DS650 same time I got that pred. I just put oil and gas in it his was in the shop a lot. Maybe I just got a good one. Friend had an 03 pred and rode it jsut as hard and it's still going to this day and all it's needed was oil and gas.

Handling I personally thought was pretty good. I had to widen my Raptor 660 to make it handle as well as the Pred. The DS handled better but felt large to me on trails.
Not knocking anyones stuff just my thoughts. I really loved mine.
though i am excited to see what my Outlaw will do this summer after it's broke in.