Im sick of people buying a banshee then putting 25 grand into it. Someones got to come out with a 500cc two stroke dune racer

 

One thing that realy pi$$es me off about yamaha is that most of their quads are too narrow and tippy!! look at the raptor, grizz, and the Kodiak!! make a wider stable quad yamaha!!!!

I am currently looking at wheel spacers for my KOD.

 

Yeah I don't understand the logic behind that either. I mean the bigger engine is going to make it heavier any way so why make it taller and narrower? I know the claim is that it makes it a better trail bike but 400exs Z400s etc are all great trail bikes and they are wider and have a lower seat height. Make it about 45 - 46 inches wide and lower it at least an inch and you would be rippin' on a Yamy

 

But you just cant keep going wider, especially in wooded areas. It becomes too wide to ride, but I see your points, I owned a Beartracker and every corner would be on 2 wheels and me counterleaning.

 

I hear ya man. I'm not saying 50 inches or anything but I think 46 would be perfect especially with a slightly lower seat height. I think the Predator is like 47 - 47.5 inches wide and those guys are having a blast in the woods. To be honest SparkyEX's Cannibal is 50 inches wide now and we ride it in the woods. We are careful and keep an eye out for tight spots but we do make it through a lot of stuff so I don't think 46 would be a problem for the raptor or banshee. I think you could gain a lot of speed in the corners if they were that wide stock.

 

I can see your point diggler, with raptors, everyones buying them, then spending 2+ grand on +2" A-arms and a +4" swingarm. They could save people a lot of money by just making these stock

 

I don't think Honda would hesitate to dump the 400ex over a new crf450 quad. 400ex sales are down & they could always upgrade the 300ex to a 350 or something to narrow the gap.

As far as Yamaha dumping the Raptor for a new 450f quad, I don't think they need to because their are still a lot of people who like the comfort & torque of a Raptor while the new 450f would be more of a racer. Especially if Honda intends to put out a 650 quad. Yamaha has to dump the Banshee sooner or later so why not do it with a new 450f?

Its like a chess game & once it leaks out that one will officially release a quad I'm sure the other is not far behind.

 

Why would Yamaha dump the Raptor it makes money. What I'm saying is if the new Honda comes out and cuts into Raptor sales then Yamaha could make there own 400cc class quad to compete with it and sell both just like Kawasaki is doing with the KFX400 and KFX700. There is the two distinct sport markets there with the big bores and the 400cc ranged quad.

I don't see why they would bother to upgrade the 300ex it's heavier than the 400ex it has balloon tires all the way around along with less suspension and although it has reverse the design of the reverse sucks. It also doesn't make much more hp than the 250ex. I say put sport tires, 300ex style suspension and 2 or 3 more hp on the 250ex and get rid of the 300ex and then lower the price of the 400ex by $600 - $1000 so people would have an excuse to bey them instead of a kfx or z because they could do it cheaper. They could upgrade the 400ex but I think it would clash with the price of the new sport quad.

 

I still like the idea of the cr250 motor but 2-strokes wont be around long so I am thinking that 450 will happen