I rode a 04 Predator today. I gotta admit, I changed my opinions of them. The rev fast and long. Powerband seems to be wider than a DS. I'm not knocking my yellow couch/schoolbus but I was impressed with the Predator.

Any you guys raced one stock for stock? I'm curious. I've read that one has eaten a 450R.... it impressed me today for sure. I think I might be ready to ditch the Raptor soon.

 

I have raced a couple and swapped wins with them in the sand. But on dirt and pavement I have not lost to one.

 

Hi there
My old roomate has a 2003 pred and I have a 2001 ds. To start with both stock the pred could get me off the line once I got to 3rd gear I was walking by him pretty easily. Then he put the pure polaris or white bros pipe and a higher rev limiter he still was getting me out of the hole, but by 4th gear I was passed him by a good distance. Then I installed a hmf slip-on and a K&N did some jetting and now its not even a challenge. Iam getting him out of the hole and leaving him behind. So I have been pretty impressed with the old ds I wont do anything else until my old roomate beats me.

 

Before i sold the 450R i raced a dale earnhart addition pred...i out weighed him by over 100lbs and we were neck and neck...whoever let out of the clutch first usally won....so im thinking if weight was even the pred would be a couple or three links behind the 450R and the ds....if every thing was equal...

 

I was just wondering cause I was really really impressed with the bike. I found a Raptor guy and raced him. Did two races, first I had a bad start almost stalled the machine. Next time up I really got into it.. blew him off the line and never saw him again. I was hoping he'd go for a 3rd round but didn't. It handled well and suspension was good. I was considering a 450R but a Predator seems more comfortable and powerband is very similar.

 

thebigshow Why did you sell your R?

 

my wife didnt care for the power it made...lol....we traded it for a v-force(she wanted an automatic) funny thing is , i ride the v-force more than i do my ds....i liked the 450r but it was hard to get comfortable on it....the footpegs seems to be to far back on the frame, but with a little gearing change it ran strong, i was really impressed with the power it put out.

 

A lot of my friends are egging me on to get a 450R. They say I ride more aggressively than I do on my DS or Raptor. I did like the Predator I rode and the powerband was awsome. It didn't have a whole lot of down low grunt but once that motor revs up, it pulls strong. I think I need to ride my DS (it's been down since July 4th) to rekindle it's love.

 

the predator is a nice machine

 

i raced a stock predator with my ds when it was stock. we raced three times and i am not kidding, we each won once and we tied once. I outweighed the guy by about 70 pounds, but i was still impressed, i thought i would smoke him![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]