I considering trading my 400EX in for a new Raptor. I was wondering if anybody has ridden both and tell me how they compare against each other. Do you think this is a good or bad move?

 

What kind of riding do you do?

 

double post

 

id get a raptor if it had after market a-arms, shocks, axle, carb, and pipe. the front end feels like its floating and their axles are weak along with the exhaust, carb, a-arms. stock for stock the raptor is faster on top (once you pass the bottom of 4th gear raptors are faster only bye a few mph) hope this helped you.

 

One of my good friends did the same thing 5 months ago. He traded in his 400EX for a Raptor. He said the only reason he likes the Raptor for trail riding is more power and reverse. He also will tell you it does not feel or handle like a 400EX does. This past weekend he took it to a local MX track...no good...he hated it (and yes, he has the Durablue +2 axle, Holeshots in the rear with spacers on the front...and the rear shock mount spun around).

Now on my opinion, I think the Raptor has a smoother ride, alot more power (but its not ALL useable power...keeps you on your toes) and its a nice feature to have reverse. I will agree with my friend though, as for the feel and handling, its not even close to a 400EX. If all you are doing is riding trails, the 400EX is the perfect quad. Now if you are into riding WFO on logging roads and wide open areas...Raptor will be your pick. My suggestion to you is to ride both and decide for yourself.

Now I know all those Yammy cry babies are going to come over here and start bashing again "Raptor handles just as good as a 400EX...blah, blah, blah..." Well, I am just telling you this as MY REAL WORLD OPINION. I've also been riding for 12+ years now, so I am familiar with riding quads...

Eric

 

aar0, They are both good machines, the 400ex stock handles a little better because the raptor has a narrow axle but if you go +2 or +4 then raptor handles just as good I feel exp if you put some razors on it. Power wise there is no comparison everyone saying they are the same up to 4th gear are crazy the raptor pulls harder down low and all the way up on top. If you pipe both the 400ex and the raptor the raptor gets a bigger hp gain and the differance is, well lets say its the biggest gain I have ever felt from just an exhaust. The 400ex is cheaper to fix example is plastic for ex is CHEAP and the raptor is in the same price range as the R's plastic rather expensive. The raptor has reverse which is nice. They are both nice if I were you I would go for the raptor since you already have a ex and try it out for a year or two and with the right mods the raptor as I stated before will handle just as good as the 400ex and one more thing stock for stock suspension the raptor is alot more plush and floats across woops and rough terrain my buddy took my raptor for a ride and he has a ex and the first thing he stated was how plush and nice the suspension felt he said he couldnt feel all the small bumps and etc where as on his ex he said it beats him up more on rough terrain.

 

xtreme165,

Off the subject, but I noticed in your signature that you will soon have a LRD 300cc motor for your R. What made you pick the 300 over the 310/330 or 350 and why LRD over CT, Trinity, PSI, etc...

Thanks,

 

Birdofprey,
I am going with the LRD 300cc kit mainly because of the price it isnt that $$$. Plus I race xc on my bike and quad both so I've read that it has great smooth power, this is the motor that Bill Balance uses and it works good for him so I figured I'd give it a try! I havent ordered it yet (Getting married and trying to get honeymoon $$ together) but I will be ordering it soon, my dealer just got set up with LRD and he gives me dealer cost so I shouldnt have to much in it. I have heard that Trinity's customer service isnt that good so this is why I didnt try them and I've also heard some bad motor jobs by CT but I've not had and experiance with any of the companies so I dont know for sure, this is just what I've been told and read so I'm just going to go with LRD for the price and I feel the 300 kit will be perfect for xc racing. All by the way NICE R!

 

The raptor will handle as good as a 400ex with the right mods! I know this because I have both of them sitting in my garauge and with the mods I had on my raptor it handled at least as good as the ex! I am not partial to any brand I just love to ride/race bikes and quads. With TCS shocks and lingage flipped the raptors ride height is the same as the 400ex and with a +4 LS axle its a little wider in the rear end but the front end on both the raptor and the ex are exactley the same width, I dont care what the mags say measure the front for your self and you'll see the width is the same. Stock for stock the ex does handle better because of the width in the rear end and the ride height on the raptor is tall when in stock form. With the correct exhaust you dont even need to gear the raptor down, you can bring the power down from 5-6000 rpm to 2-3000rpm so it will lug in 3rd gear in the woods at a nice pace. I feel it what you want to put money in either chasis or engine and with to much engine work things tend to be unreliable so this is why I would go with the raptor if the 400ex doesnt have enough power for who ever is riding it. I do feel that the ex has proven itself to be virtually indestructable you can beat the heck out of it and it stays together and the raptor hasnt been out long enough to tell for sure but mine held up fine. I agreee with vxvr6 in one aspect ride them both and check out the power of the raptor and you already know how the ex handles because you own one, as I stated before you'll be happy with either quad.

 

xtreme...

I have a question for you. My buddy turned his shock mount around as well. During his moto-x racing, he noticed that he bottomed out ALOT more (or atleast it sounded like it). When he got home, he pulled that shock mount off and noticed it was rubbing somewhere. Have you had any problems or heard of any problems with this?

Thanks... (sorry guys for the off-topic post)

Eric