There is a running joke about how DS owners never lose to a Raptor & how Raptor guys never lose to a DS. Well I'm here to tell you I finally lost to a Raptor yesterday. I've raced 4 or 5 of them & faired well so far. Yesterday I raced one & lost. So I explained to him about how bad that end of the feild was & I spun etc. & if he'd mind racing again. He said no problem. From the other end I still spun bad but I ended up catching & passing him that time. So that how close it was, racing from a different start point changed the outcome of the race. These 2 quads are close in a drag. Anything from traction to riderweight could make a difference. The end of the track was so tore I was getting whooped by 400EX's until my 4th gear. Anyone looking for new tires don't by Kenda Dominators. (stock tires on a DS) They may look like Holeshots, but they don't grab like Holeshots!
On another note. There is also a rumor in the Honda forum about yellow 400EX's being faster than red ones. All I know is this was the fastest Raptor I've raced yet & it was black & white & the others were blue. Hmmm, I wonder if the black & white ones are faster??? Raptor owners....Black & White faster? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I went out to the garage and talked to my black/white Raptor about what Andrew Thomas had written on his post. My black/white Raptor as it burped out the exhaust pipe said "Its clear as black and white who's faster". I have also done research into the ATV paint colors and black/white colors are more stable and therefore would be faster for that reason alone. Chet

 

Andrew, are you saying that the Raptor and DS are so close that either could win? Or can only an exceptional running Raptor take your DS?

It's not the white and black Raptor's that are "super" fast, it's the blue ones with a production # between 1600-1675. Like mine[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

I should probably say that my previous post was in good humor....hard to joke around punching on a keyboard.

 

It was a good joke garyc660R and I got it. Good post Andrew, I have felt this way all along. There are 4 things that made me buy my Raptor. The lower weight, the lower price, reverse, and most importantly it fits in the back of my truck. The DS is almost as big as my truck.

Although if a got a second quad, wich would require a trailer anyway, the $1,200 that Bombardier is taking off 2001's. Along with the extra $1,000 that the local dealer is removing puts the DS at $5,099. All the sudden the 400EX, and Raptor look way overpriced. Ahhh competition is good for the consumer!!!!!

By the way my blue raptor is the fastest even unmodified with my 225 pound butt on it. It regularly smokes Vipers and F-50 Ferrari's. hehehe

 

Gary,
Actually the first time I raced a Raptor I expected to get beat. All the mags etc said it was very fast. So when I won I was surprised. I had a couple of other close races with Raptors on this same track. It seems that the worse the traction is on the starting line (getting worse because of the dry 90+ degree temps) The better the Raptors fare. If I can hook on the DS & we are even through 1st, 2nd 3rd etc I win, But when I have to look at the back of a Raptor until my 4th gear it's tough to catch up.
Also, The guy says, "how big were the Raptor riders?" I said, "well you are kinda thin"... This guy was 110 lbs!
As far as Black & White ones being faster, I'll say this. I just figured they were all white, & that after riding fast for while the white peeled off & a black nose showed through[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
It's like RaptoryFM660R said... Must be something with molecules being more slippery...

Either way, Blue or Black & White Raptor and/or Yellow or Black DS, these quads are close in a straight line.

 

Andrew, just had another drag race this weekend. Not with my brother on his DS this time. This time I raced my other brother (who now owns my old Quadzilla). I took the hole shot just like I did with my other brother on the DS pulled out a quad length or so and by the time I hit third he was 2 lengths ahead and pulling away. This was not even close. I pulled the same holeshot on the DS and it never gained on me. Not quite the same story with the big 2 stoke (damn I built that fast). I could feel the DS and Raptor were not nearly as fast as the 500, but thought if I could jump out of the hole, I might have a shot....wrong. By the way I weigh 190lbs, brother on the DS 155 lbs, brother on the LT500 165 lbs. Also I sorta raced my other friend on his 250R, he took off first I chased him down and got beside but ran out of room before I could get by it's a 86 basically stock but still very fast. Then my brother on the Quadzilla raced a guy on a 400 Ex....lol. That one was sad, I think he could have towed that one faster than it went on it's own. Mind you this was strictly a straight line down a dirt road no track or nothing and I know the 400 handles excellent just doesn't do well drag racing a big 2 stroke..as it's not supposed to.

Nocando

 

I want to drag a DS 650 but we can't find one around here. We all have raptors. I guess as cheap as they sell them for, maybe we can all chip in and buy one. I have not seen a mag that says the ds is faster. I have seen one that said it went a 1/2 mph on top speed though. I have seen and been in a lot of drags and generally the one with the holeshot wins, does not really matter the quad.