I am buying my first quad and have narrowed it down between the 2007 Honda TRX250 or 2007 Yamaha Raptor 350. I have some riding experience but not alot. This will be for my wife (only rode quads once) and myself to share. I will most likely upgrade later in the future to a 450 size machine when I have more experience. Please give some advice and opinions.

 

The 250EX would be the perfect machine for your wife to learn on. You would probably get bored with it after a lil while though. I'd say go for the 350 Raptor but it's a manual clutch and might be hard for your wife to operate. Go to the dealer and make sure you and your wife ride both of them. Then make your decision after you've had some seat time on both.

 

Neither one....Honda 300EX! It is in the same class and has good suspension, but does have a manual clutch. Very well suited for smaller adults and advanced kids.

And, if you aren't small people, you can even start out on a 400EX...just take it real easy at first. Again, does have a manual clutch however. Both these are well suited for So. Calif. riding.

See my comments on the 250 here. Sweet machine, but you might appreciate plusher suspension: http://forums.atvconnection.com/mess...did/518791.cfm

The Raptor 350 is just a rework of the old Warrior. It has a very heavy and antiquated engine. I would pass this one up.

 

I went and purchased the Honda TRX250ex which I will ride while I hone my skills, then I will let my wife keep it because she definately needs the Auto clutch. When I am ready I will purchase a second quad for myself, either the Raptor 350 or the TRX400ex, mostley becuase they have reverse and are not too powerful for me, I am not a hot rodder but like to go the same places my friends do on thier dirt bikes. BTW I am 5' 10" 200lbs and 34 years old, can I get some Pros and Cons for both the Raptor 350, TRX300ex and TRX400ex please?

 

The Raptor is a warmed over Warrior. You were probably in diapers when I was riding a Warrior.....worst quad I ever owned. It has a heavy and absolutely antique (but reliable) engine. This machine's day has come and gone, so let it die a natural death.....

The 300EX is a sweet machine, but now that you tell us your size and weight....it is to small for you.

The 400EX is a peach! Great handling and ergonomics. One of the most trouble free and reliable machines there is. The engine has some hop up potential with some simple mods if you are ever ready for more power.

Also consider the Suzuki Z400. It is very much like the 400EX, but handles a little "lighter".. The big difference is the EX motor will lug and can be ridden slowly in the technical stuff, where the Z likes to rev and be ridden a little faster. The Z may ultimately prove to be as reliable as the EX, and is probably the best all around machine there is. The Z motor has lots of hop up potential.

I ride So. Calif. as do you. I have the 400EX for tight woods trail riding in the San Bernardino mountains, the Honda 450R for go fast riding in the open desert, and the Rancher 4wd for riding the local mountains, Sierras and Inyos (snow riding is sooo much fun!). (I recently sold a Z400, becasue it really didn't fill a "niche" in my stable that wasn't covered by the EX or the R.)

One note on the 250EX. Those rear tires are way lame. They are balooney and make the quad tippy. Change them out for something with a better profile. We are running ITP TracStar radials on ours and it really improves the ride, but even a pair of ITP Holeshots or something will make it a way more stable machine.........

 

How about the Raptor 700?

I know it has EFI and is Liquid cooled, how does the maintanence and reliablity demands compare to the 400ex? I know right now it may be alot quad for me, but I will be riding alot, most of my friends have dirt bikes and so far I can go any where they go but just not as fast. I know I should test ride both after I have been riding my 250ex a while but just want some more opions on these two quads as a future upgrade. Mostly concerned with the amount of maintenance, reliability and the Raptor having too much power me being a novice.

Again I am 5' 10" 200lbs and 34 years old and ride mostly desert trails (Cal City, Dove Springs, Gorman and some wooded areas such as Kennedy Meadows or trails North of Kern River. Oh and I ride mostley with people who ride dirt bikes, although last weekend we had buddy visiting us from Nevada who rode a Polaris 4x4 who had no problem keeping with the bikes.

Thanks in advance for your opinons and replies,
JL

 

I decided to go with the 2007 Raptor 700 Special Edition, going to pick it up this Thursday. Thanks for all the helpful replies.
Hesh.

 

Let us know how it worked out.........

 

So after 4 weeks of riding my wife's 07' TRX250ex and my friend's dirt bikes I finally picked up my 07' Raptor 700 Special Edition (Added full skid plates at the dealer).

My wife and I went out to Dove Springs (that's So. Cal. Desert) on Saturday and Rowher Flats (Texas Canyon to the locals) on Sunday for her first rides, not counting her ATV safety course, and my first rides on the Raptor 700.
We had a blast I took her through the sand wash and up and down some small but un even hills and she did great on her 250ex. As for me on the Raptor 700, I could not ask for anything more, wow this thing has a ton of torque, handles great, plus no choke or gas to turn on, just turn the key to on, hit the electric start and you are off! I love this EFI [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

If you have read this string of posts from the begining you can see I was having a hard time deciding on what to purchase.
Well I must say I do not think I could have picked a better combination of quads for my wife and I. Without the Sport Clutch (Auto Clutch) my wife would not have had such a great time, she is not and avid rider so the fact that the TRX250ex does not stall even when she come to a complete stop in gear is a blessing.
As for me the Raptor 700 with all that power and fantastic suspension I can lug it around at slow speeds with my wife without any hickups, but at the same time when I am out with the guys on thier dirt bikes I have no problem following them anywhere the trail is wide enough and keep up with them.

Thanks for you replies,
Jim (Hesher)

 

In the future, if your Wife wants more power, but still needs the auto clutch feature, check out the "z-Start" autoclutch by Rekluse.It's available for numerous different atv models and works just like the sport clutch on your 250EX.
www.rekluse.com