thinking about upgrading the 14 year old from a moto4 to a warrior or a 350 raptor. anybody have any input? I have not looked at sport quads at all.

 

You could consider a Blaster too. You can get a fully decked out one for 1800-2200.

If you decide to get a blaster the 2003+ ones are the only ones with good brakes unless they installed aftermarket hydraulic brakes on an older one.

Id say the rappy over the warrior if you are set on a 4 stroke.

 

If you are not set on brand loyalty, there are a ton of good used 400ex and Z400 quads out there, both great handling, sporty quads. The Raptor 350 is also a good trail/play quad, just dont see a lot of them out there for sale.

 

looking to stick with yamaha. anything but honda. The warrior is a manual clutch? is the roptor? I was looking at a blaster but it looks to small his is almost 6'0 tall.

What are things to look for with a for on this type of quad. I see a big range of prices. I got burt on my king quad how do you what nis junk out there.
buying used sucks

 

Warriors are a 6 speed manual clutch with reverse and electric start. while a good quad, it is a bit heavy compared to other sport quads. The Raptor 350 is an updated version of the Warrior, with better suspension and frame geometry. If your son is around the 6 foot mark, the Blaster may be a bit cramped, maybe keep an eye out for a good used Raptor 700, I like them better than the dual carbed 660, plus some of the earlier 660s had tranny and starter clutch problems. Remember, he is growing, both in size and skill, so he may find the 350 not as "sporty" when he gets used to the power. The EFI 700 is a larger framed, better suspension, and the liquid cooled motor will run longer and more reliably than the old school air cooled motor in the Warrior/Raptor 350. You will spend more, but will not need to mod it like you would the 350 for more power and better handling.

 

Warrior and Raptor are good quads and they are technically sport quads but Yamaha left out the sport and the air filter design is horrible, the 400ex is sportier and more reliable but if you don't like Hondas go with a Suzuki LTZ400, it may be as good if not better than the Honda.

 

The Warrior was made from '87 thru around '04 is probably why the price range is what it is. The Raptor 350 is basically a Warrior with new plastic. I would try to find a Raptor 350 because I have seen nice ones priced in the $1500 range on craigslist, and they look and feel better than the Warrior. These machines are built tough, and the simple engines last forever. Look for worn-out front-end bushings/bearings/ball joints and broken upper motor mounts.

 

hey raptor I like that try-z I had one back in the day. It was a blast! I rode with 4 r's they could not keep up they thought it was stock. mine was red and white but it was a 86.

 

Thanks, yeah mine is a '85 but I always liked the red & white '86 so I cloned mine to a '86. The true '86 are hard to come by because they have the 6 speed tranny and better suspension. I will probably regret trading but I just traded it for a '07 Suzuki Z400 that I'm going to try to sell and get my $$$ back that I had in the tri-z.