first of all i am a 13 year old with 3 years of riding experience. i ride dunes and trails, but mostly dunes. i currently have an '86 yamaha moto-4 225cc. ive outgrown this quad and i am looking to upgrade to a faster machine. my 2 choices are the suzuki z400 or the yamaha raptor 660r. my question is: which one is the better duner? im looking for which one is a better sand drag racer, which is a better hillclimber, which is faster, which handles better, and which has all around better dune performance. also, im not gonna modify the quad or put paddles on it, so this applies to the stock machine with the stock tires. thanks for any help, guys, i really appreciate it.

 

without paddles your not going to be able to climb hills, drag race or go fast in sand- ???? what are you thinking????

 

which one is a better sand drag racer? YFZ 450

which is a better hillclimber? YFZ 450

which is faster? YFZ 450

which handles better? YFZ 450

and which has all around better dune performance? YFZ 450


For a 13 year old kid the YFZ is the perfect sized ATV, and it is wicked fast. My son started riding when he was nine years old, on a Honda TRX90. Then we moved him to a Honda 250EX when he was ten years old. When he turned eleven we moved him up to a Honda 400 EX. And at age 13 we moved him to a YFZ 450. He loves the YFZ, and thinks it is the all time perfect ATV for him. He has never crashed it or had any problems handling the power, despite being somewhat of a hot dog, and frequently riding wheelies for a quarter mile at a time. The only problem with his YFZ is that it beats my DS650 in drag races, hill climbs, and just about anything else as well. Too bad the YFZ is so stinking small that I cant ride it worth a crap, but for a kid it is awesome.

Good luck.

 

Outer limit, I agree with you on the size thing, but by which standards are you saying the yfz is a better duner. The rough riding, squirly natured, 450 seems along way off on the list of dune quads. And faster thats meer speculation. Everybody has something faster than somebody else. And handles better, are we talking about the dunes here or an mx track. I am saddend by your lack of respect to your own quad. Need to bring that thing down here so I can fix that thing up and make you change your mind. Keep in mind your kids weight advantage. Dont mistake that for better performance.

 

Viper,
I think you misunderstood my response. The original question was about which ATV would work better for a 13 year old boy. Hands down the YFZ is a better duner for a 13 year old than a DS is. My son can ride my DS, but he doesn't feel comfortable on it, and is not as fast on the DS as he is on his YFZ. On the other hand, I am not as fast on his YFZ as I am on my DS, and for an adult sized rider there is no contest, the DS is better. If I were buying a dune ATV for myself it would be the DS, and only the DS. I've had the rest, and they suck compared to a DS. But if I were buying a dune ATV for a very experienced 13 year old boy, it would NOT be the DS, but rather, the YFZ.

Hopefully that clarifys things somewhat. And I would love to see what you have done to your DS to make it run stronger, and to be able to do the same mods to mine.

 

and the choices are raptor or z400.

Raptor with paddles. or you'll get beat by z400's with them. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

i think the banshee is the best overall performance on the dunes, put sum paddles +2 swingarm, well thats what my friends got, i think its the best duner

 

AH yes, I'm with you now. And agreed.

 

i would really consider a yfz or ds 650 if they had reverse. sadly, they dont, and theres no way im buying a quad with no reverse gear.

 

Cant blame you there, you should just stick with that z400 and put money into that when you can, I have seen a few of those that ran well.