I ride a full mx race raptor with the works......i friend from my neighborhood had his predator out and he was dragging across a field behind a house......15 minutes later i join in the fun....we chatted for a while as i inspected his ride.....i liked what i saw.....nice fit and finish, except for the plastic / tank interface.....i.e. lack there of.....anyway....he wants to see how fast his predator is relative to my raptor......now obviously he is stock and other than the frame and plastic i am not even close to being stock, especially the motor....well i was surprised at how fast the predator is.....gentlemen...dont be fooled by the predator....this machine is for real.....from a fully stopped start, we would pull off side by side......but once i hit 3rd gear, ( i start in 2nd), i would just pull away from him....but not like he was stopped....at the end of the field....approximately 300 feet i would be about 10 lengths ahead....now dont get you nickers in a twist i am aware of the performance difference between his quad and mine....i am just here to let everyone know that, i personally raced a predator, and that i like the predator and it's a fast quad....i didnt get the chance to ride it...but do know by the way he was shifting it....that i does have nochy trany.....i would know this cause i have a '01 raptor......so....to all that have a predator...you guys have a great quad.....i just hope that it's realiable......and it's doesn't have the raptor issues........OH yea....just for the record.....i have 3 years on my raptor and neva had a trany issue, tho i changed to the Samcoe gears when i had the motor work done, and i have neva broke my one-way starter gear/clutch.........knock on wood.........hehehehehehe

herbdon out............

 

Great info. A buds looking at upgrading his Rap trans. Is the Samcoe equipment the way to go? Also tell him once he gets a little time on the Predator trans, she smoothens out quite a bit. There are a lot of comments about the plastic, mostly bad. When you get some time on the machine, the normal wear area (as on most quads) is that tank area...shifting wt over from side to side. The rest of your plastic stays like new, and all you have to do is change out those "wear" panels.

 

While i am not a polaris fan i did see first hand that they make really good power where you want it racing. I think that a few simple mads (cdi box, intake cam, exhaust and airbox) and it will not have to hide from anyone.

 

From 2 well respected Raptor owners, its great to hear compliments like this. Yes the predator will garner, and IS due, the respect as a worthy aggressive big displacement sport quad.

The pred is a great machine that will most likely slowly change the public opinion of Polaris being only a full floor-boarded auto tranny single brake lever over-weight quad company.

I'm totally enjoying my pred after coming off of 4 other yamaha quads, I'm anxious to see what the new 450 class breed machines will be like......

Look at all the money that Herbdon has into his a-arms and suspension (great stuff too, don't get me wrong) but then again the Preddy comes with most of that stuff stock from the factory as well as braided steel brake lines. And for his full race bred 690 Sparks motor against a stock 500cc, thats great to hear that the predator "stayed up" near you.

Stock to Stock, IMHO the pred is a much better handling and stock equipped machine, and $600 cheaper than a Raptor off the showroom floor too.

Thanks guys for the tip of the hat..... I think that the Pred and Polaris will always still be the underdog though......but who doesn't sometimes like to see the underdog win!

Bring on Goliath says David...........

<grins>

 

I am not sure that i could get used to hearing a predator out running a raptor, DS, Z400 and cannondale. The guy on the predator will have to be on his toes because if he hits the rev limiter game over. I think the predator is going to be a fun dune machine with all of its power up top. It will be interesting to see what the aftermaket does for. A person who does r &d at hotcams says polaris pretty much maxed out the cam so a new cam is not going to make a dramitic change. I do not know the exact comp ratio but it is over 10-1 i think. So there will no be a large jump there. So the choices look like a cdi box that goes to 10k or 11k and Bore than baby. Most of the rappys that i see Piped/jetted/air box make about 43hp and the predator makes almost 40 stock. That is going to be some good racing

 

10.8:1 is the compression ratio according to my owners mauual. I went to Pismo on Tues and suprised quite a few people. I have a buddy with a 400 ex with $3500 in the motor and beat him a couple of times, the rest I was right on his tail, not bad for a stock bike. I raced a Raptor and smoked him every time but he didnt have paddles. The only bike that constantly beat me was a pumped Banshee. This is my first sport quad and the first time I had it out. Needless to say I am quite pleased with my purchase. I had so much fun I am going back on Sat for a 2.5 hour drive there, ride and 2.5 hours back in a matter of 10 hours, gotta love it.

 

I ride a Sparks 690 that is trick, but I am very impressed w/ the Predator. For a stock quad it is very nice and fast. I will give Polaris one thumb up for making a real hi-performance quad. Not to belittle the Predator, but I got a chance to ride a Cannondale Cannibal the other night. Lets just say, I am still[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

My buddy has a canondale cannibal and he is a much more experienced rider than myself. Last night we drag raced down a dirt road and my predator took him by 1-2 bikes right out of the hole and pulled a little more over about 400 yards. All I have done is W/B slip on and got a 39 tooth rear.


Jeff

03 PRED
W/B slip on
39 tooth rear sprocket(black)
PRM radiator scoops
shock covers(black)

 

There is a reason cannondale went belly up, and it was not cause the quad was the best in the world

The predator motor in the cannondale frame. No that would be a nice quad

 

I was impressed w/ the fit and finish. The handling and chassis are top notch on the Cannondale. If I could put my motor in a Cannondale chassis I would be king of the world. Just think, only a few years ago we only had the 400ex as a hi-performance 4-stroke.