I just returned from the Utah ATV jamboree and rode over 500 miles on my ds 650 and a buddy drove from Indiana bringing his new raptor with him.After putting both machines through torture such as crossing streams deep enough to touch the gas tank and mud so thick you couldnt identify what type of quad you were riding neither suffered a single break down.Yes we had to race and on a long strech of deserted highway the ds pulled the hole shot but the raptor caught up in third gear and passed me in fourth I passed him back and was clearly ahead at the end.We swapped quads several times and the raptor is a very good machine.I have never ridden a 4 stroke that would rev as high as the raptor. It never seemed to quit pulling.On the second day the raptors engine started spitting and sputtering and the air filter was completely plugged,this may be a problem because on the last day it plugged again.On the hill climbs the DS was clearly superior,he just couldnt keep the front end down and I would just power to the top.On very tight trails he had the advantage because the raptor is quite small and if youre a large or tall guy or gal you may feel cramped.Isnt it great that we have such great machines to choose from and the future only looks beeter
Bearman

 

Thanks for an honest and informative opinion.
you might advise him to get an outerwear for extremely dusty conditions.

 

Thanks for the informative post. It is nice to have good choices in the performance atv market.

 

Good post, Bearman!!! Honest and sincere. I would hope that more people would post stories like yours more often.

 

What no smart *** remarks and product bashing. Am i on the right chat page?

Thank god everyone settled down.

 

I CHECKED OUT YOUR SITE YAMARAPTOR
NICE
BUT....YOU SHOULD GET THE RIGHT SPECS FOR THE DS

 

this could possibly be the best post I have seen regarding this rivarly between the DS and the raptor, thank you very much for the unbiased info.

 

those specs are right off of the bombardier comparison pages. they are right.

 

YAMARAPTOR IN YOUR SPECS YOU SAY THAT THE RAPTOR IS LIQUID COOLED FAN ASSIST AND YOU DO NOT SAY THAT FOR THE DS YOU SAY LIQUID COOLED,ONLY

 

Sorry, but I only used the materials directly from the bombardier comparison guide, although they mention water cooling they never mention the fan. The weekend I rode a DS I never thought to look for a fan, but Im sure you guys would know.