It's clear to me that Yamaha designed the Raptor to be a general use/trail quad rather than a racing quad. It was obviously not built to be a racing quad so I don't know why the Yamaha guys talk about the racing qualities so much. If yamaha wanted it to be a racing quad they would have done many things differently. Yamaha is smart in that they know the market for a general purpose quad is larger than the market for a racing quad. It still looked too small though. Provided the quad stays together it should make for a decent quad even though it's seriously overpriced. Next.

 

you know i kind of agree with you. I am buying a raptor 2-20-01. I am buying it for general trail riding. I looked long and hard at the 400ex also. Local honda dealer said the 400 has a 300.00 rebate till the end of the month. 5100.00 out the door, not bad. The raptor is costing me 6800.00 out the door. I plan on keeping the raptor for 5 or six years. I would bet that the upkeep on the raptor will be a whole lot more than a ex during that period. Anyway i don't plan on beating the he44 OUT of it. So it will probably be my luck that next year honda will give the ex a bigger engine and reverse, since i am getting the raptor.Once done i won't look back so it dosenot really matter.I will also be getting the extended warranty for 3 years,something i would not have done had i bought a 400ex. Sometimes it cost more to have the newest,biggest toy in the neighborhood.