I'd never buy a first year anything, yes alot of people say that, don't mean to be a broken record, but its the truth, almost ALL first year models have things that get addresses and modified and improved on, some are bigger deals than others of course.

the DS650 had several things changed in the first year - brake lines, self priming oil line (this was a big deal), and a couple other minor things
ALL 1st year raptors have a transmission that either has or will fail
the honda 450 immediately realized it had to make changes to get back into the class of the yfz after it showed up and seferal motor mods were done
the YFZ had its share of first year problems, the first to mind being the electrical issues
the Z400 had minor things, for example the seat wouldn't stay of all things, sounds minor but many of race was lost because of this, as seats were littering the tracks
Cannondale had flywheels flying apart

most of these things can be fixed by you after the fact, so its not the end of the world if you get a first year model and then end up having stuff to fix or modify on it, but just my opinion that I would rather wait and see how they fair before I commit to something that may cost me a grand and a bad wreck down the road like the Raptos that raped so many people in '01.

 

good point hightower this is true and I have heard about the tranny problems and for buying something that is expensive like quads you want it to be almost perfect and not have engine or any other troubles...so I guess you have a good point and it is better to see how they perform and see what changes will be made.

 

I purchased one of the first 100 400ex's delivered. Picked the 1999 model up in 11-98. I had absolutely ZERO problems, sold it to a friend and they still have it 6 years later. Not one single failure.

With all the testing and technology they have at their disposal, there should be no way they have major 1st year issues like the Rappy tranny or the LTZ linkage mount.

TPR