Looking at both, price is more or less the same. I have some experience on the 700 and I love it ( Kawasaki fan to start with), but the Predator is intriguing me for some reason. I like the auto tranny and shaft drive for everyday riding / durability, but will this be a liability if I wanna do some racing? I also hear the Troy Lee Predator has weird gearing..that the one I was looking at, so would I be ahead to get the standard issue? I am looking for 75% trail riding and 25% racing. I already have a Brute 650 for hunting and mudding...and its awesome.

 

Ive got a buddy with a troy lee predator and I eat him alive on my v-force everytime we run. I dont know much else about the predator, but all I can say is that the kawi will punish it everytime.

 

The gearing in the predator tld is different then the standerd...partially why kfxand is eating them alive...it is geard for a better powerband through 2-4 gears...1 and 5th are the same as the standerd wide gear ratio....I still would wait to see what polaris brings out for 06'

 

I have 2 buddies with preds and i just bought a 700 for everyday ridding the 700 is definately better but for racing the pred is better, but you wont go wrong with the pred for every day trail riding either, that is what they use them for, if you get the pred buy the troy lee.

 

I would highly suggest figuring out where you're going to ride before buying the TLD Predator. 5th gear is a long stretch from 4th. For me, the standard Predator is the better buy.

I've got experience on both machines, although neither machine is stock. Both are jetted and piped. In a drag race, I can always take the Predator by a quad length or two. The 700 has a plusher ride, but the Predator's rear suspension is much better than the 700's (but with an $800 Elka rear shock you can even the score -- almost).

Since you're going to be doing mostly trail riding, I would go with the 700. But if you want to be competitive on an MX course, get the Predator. It'll fly through the whoops of an MX course a lot better than the 700.

Check out my last picture. We got a lot of air-time out of this Predator. It flys real nice. You won't go wrong with either machine.

 

in less then 18hours, polaris will be putting out the 2006 line up on their site. Just so you know