time will probably favor the 450r

 

Go with the Predator dude.

 

lol i bet this helps its about 50/50 but in my opinion the 450r looks mean but doesnt have a electric starter. the pred is a little but heavier but has the electric start, reverse too (05 model) i would think that you would be happier with the pred...it also is more race modded from the factory

 

i still would say a yfz !

 

hey, were in the same boat.....

i currently have a ds, and want somthing somewhat similar (i DONT want a full blown race quad...or its just that much more time/money i have to spend undoing what the factory did! lol...such as softening up suspension, padding the seat, lowering gearing, or at least adding mods so low end dosnt chatter, most of these issues are off the yfz imo...which is why its not really in my running..)

i finaly rode an 04 pred today...was at a dealership so i only had enough room for top of second gear. Felt awkward, but i did get to sit on the 05 and it felt much better (referring to seat, asi t has less of a hole/dip in it, and the bars are an inch higher which feels much more natural)

i like the idea of the 450 being lighter, but never knew about the wet vs dry weights (very interesting if this in in fact true...)

i like the idea that the 450r is more powerful (right...? i thought the consensus was the 450r has a bike length or two on the predator, and the yfz has a bike length or two on the R?)

the suspension is definately a big plus on the predator... especially since the 05 tld (the one i would get if i got a pred) has the rezzies on the front now as well as the rear. I, too, am looking for somthing VERY reliable (both durable, and wont have failures that cause long down time) but i still want enough power so i can take yfz (of course this is after some mods...)


one thing i did notice on the predator is a lag in the powerband... (seems most of the power is concentrated in mid/high similar to the yfz/450r, but dosnt have the low end lugging like the R and yfz... but im sure a pipe/gearing can change that on any of the quads)

hmmmm the decisions we are forced to go through.... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

420ex, are you leaning toward one or the other? if so for what reasons? im sure we have different riding abilities, are different sizes, and ride different terrain...but im interested in your opinions, since we are both prospective buyers.

 

go with the 450r or the yfz, yfz has awesome suspension, and 450r is very bulky, it basically comes down to what kind of riding u do, if it were me, i wouldnt get the pred, cuz i dont like polaris lol

 

lol, well dont get me into the "i dont like polaris" thing...because i was the BIGGEST (and i mean BIGGEST) polaris hater i swear in all of IL 6 months ago.... i personally (personal opinion here...) dont care for nearly any of the polaris line-up except now the predator. (i just cant get used to the whole two stroke utilities, "sports" with floorboards, under powered for there weight (400-600) and the whole single brake lever for f/r....(i dont mind the sportsman series, as they seem pretty reliable and have proven good quads...but with my experience polaris had a reputation for quads thate fall apart, but looks like most of thier lineup is running pretty strong these days)
but i have now researched the predator and am finding out that a lot of people really like them.... (im really liking the whole partially upgraded from the factory, mainly the shocks)

i dont care for the yfz personally... all 3 of my main riding buddies have yfz in various stages of modding (one totally bone stock, all the way to one with 2K+ into suspension, pipe/cam/filter/fly wheel, and besides the whole ROCKET thing, still dont care for it!) the things on the yfz that get me, hard seat (i know, picky picky...but its one more thing i would have to change) exhaust header heat (for some reason on this quad more than any other, it blasts my leg...i guess id get used to it..) for me the thumb throttle is difficult to use comfortably... (could be changed by the i think 400ex throttle, which one buddy has and i like it a lot better, but stock gives me really bad fatigue) overall suspension (stock its set way too hard for my liking...for mx and jumping its nice, but not for rough woods, or putt-putting with the slower riders in our group, again could be changed with suspension adjustment) and one of the biggest things for me, is the overall comfort (combination of seat/suspension/power delivery) , i feel its a bit too small for me @ 6'2 240. feel like im really way up on top, instead of "in" the quad, and also dont care for the fact it has to be rev'd really hard to go slow through technical stuff. (which yes i know could be changed with a few power mods, and lower gearing if necessary)...
but my list of things to change is way too big to consider this quad)

ok enough venting on the yfz...back to the quads being compared.

 

I am leaning towards holding off til next fall and buying a brand new 05 predator, they should be down to around $5200 for the TLD around this time next year. A full race quad like the 450R is nice but I love the reverse feature of the predator, i know, i used to say "reverse is for pu$$ies" but it's nice to be able to just back the quad out of the garage instead of pulling or pushing it out. One thing I love about honda is their ergonomics and top notch craftsmanship, two things the pred is lacking. I hate the cheap plastic thumb throttle and brake resevoir on the pred, seems like they would break after repeated rollovers. I dont like the seating position on the 04's, although it makes sens why you sit like that after a pipe is installed, it's still pretty uncomfortable but I guessed they fixed it for 05. As for the YFZ, i dunno about that thing, I hear alot of bad things about their reliability and thats all I need is another piece of $hit that I have to work on every day. Whats the lowest OTD you guys have been able to find on a new 450R? My mind still isn't made up, hell, i have a whole year to look around. Thanks for all the replys!

 

420.....just to explain some things......first off, yes the brake and throttle are plastic, but they work very well, and no one(and I mean no one) has had problems with them in the polaris forum(not even hozed, he actually complemented them)...so don't worry about that.....other that those two things, the pred is top notch, you aren't going to break anything, that is for sure......

As for the seat, yes it is weird at first, but you will soon get used to it(like anything) and won't even notice it at all....I don't notice mine anymore......



Roost....not to start any fights or anything, but the 400 sports from Polaris are a very good quad......maybe not for mx, but dragging they are awesome.......(of course not in stock form).....but that motor has tons of power, capable of 85+ hp.......Anyways, enough about that....

 

ya i wasnt so much basing the 400 as a quad in general...but ive seen a lot of problems with scramblers/Tblazers/bosses and the entire explorere series)

but ya i have seen some wicked fast 400l's.... they stopped making that right? (i just now got wind that they made a trailblazer 400....is that basically the same as the 400l? and that too is gone right?)

sorry dont want to take too much away from the topic at hand*