I just finished breaking in my '01 Mojave so tonight I was able to ride around on the snow trails at full throttle. What a difference! My quad makes great power when it is revved out. It has power at top end where my old 250X went flat. This brings me to my conclusion that most people (magazines included) don't know how to ride a Mojave so they come away unimpressed with it. I'm not trying to say that the Mojave is going to rip your arms off, or make Raptor like power but it does not deserve the bashing it has been getting from the rags these days.

Back when my brother had his '94 Mojave and I had my 250X I had trouble adapting to his Mojave's power since I wasn't used to revving a machine out. His Mojave felt underpowered and seemed to lack low end. But, if you ride the Mojave like a two stoke then it is pretty impressive. The quad just doesn't respond to short shifting it like most four strokes, this baby's got to rev to make power.

Back then we drag raced up to top speed and my 250X would always beat him. Then I remembered that he had 20" tall Blackwaters while mine had 22" tires. This explains why his machine was quicker out of the hole but I would get him at top speed. One of my old 3&4 Wheel Action magazines found the top speed for an '87 Mojave to be 57.8 mph on an asphalt drag strip. Not too shabby.

If you are considering buying a Mojave you really need to ride one the correct way to appreciate it. I boght mine because I wanted an inexpensive sport quad that had reverse gear. If I lived in the desert with wide open spaces I'd probably have purchased something else. For the woods, snow and tight conditions I think the Mojave is excellent.

 

I bought my first Mojave in '87 (I currently have a Y2K). Back then it won all of the shoot-outs going up against the same bikes that today are given much better press. Shows you how subjective magazine reviews are. I gave up on them along time ago!

 

There is still no 250cc still being made that a Mojave will not beat,that's why they always put it against a 300ex and 350 Warriors in the shootouts.
Could you imagine a 250Ex up against a 300ex or Warrior LOL I would like to see that one.

 

i agree with you guys all the way.. I bought my 99 mojave about one month ago and i love it i live in Las Vegas area and out here in the desert you need the top end so i went and bought from Rocky Mountain a 13 tooth frt. sproket .first gear is so tite that its almost usless try this next time your on a flat spot take off normaly in second gear it feel like a normal first gear should be. but when this bike was set up in the late 80s it was there version of a motocross bike ... anyway i cant say enough about mine im 5-10 and 210 and it has plenty of power for me.. but im 38 and my jumping days are long gone... take care and i hope they make this machine for some years to come. after all my neb. down the street just bought his wife a bayou 220 and hes going to but a lakota soon so well have kawaissss in the neb hood for years to come Jim

 

i also have a 01 mojave and i'm not impressed with the power of the warriors and 300exlax i've ice raced against. i've only had 1 warrior that was faster than me on the ice (and it wasn't on the straights) and that was because the guy was a really good rider. i wish i had a dollar for every person that tells me how surprised they are that the little 250 mojave runs as good as it does. they all read the rags and think , okay here's a quad i can beat and then they're the ones getting passed.
the only 2 complaints i have is, the short wheel base(makes it hard for hill climbing and sliding on the ice) and the placement of the handle bars.
on tight turns they hit my knees. but other than that, it's a good quad.
one other thing. the mojave loves to fly. when i go riding with the boys, and we find a good jump, the mojave comes out on top. it really has good balance in the air. and the landings are not to harsh considering i'm 6'0" and 195lb.
just my 2 cents...

 

i also have a mojave and love it. In the rags when they have a shoot out look all through the mag and the company that has the most adds (biggest) is the winer now i am shure that they would not say something stupid like a mojave killed the 400ex's banshees or 250rs ect. But that is stuff that would make people cancel there subscription.

 

 

There is only three catagorier the matter and that is,ride quality,power and price.If a machine win those three and still loses someone was paid off somewhere.

 

i was looking at 2000 mojave befor i got my ex,the only reason i got my ex is cuz it was used and it was 3700.i havent ridden with anyone that has a mojave,but i hope too.

 

I have a 1988 MoJave . Its my 1st & only bike so far . I have had her 4 , 5 years . No big problems , just carb problems when she sat a few winters ago & a shift problem a bit bac . When I meet riders , I get respect owning a MoJave . I dont often read bike magazines , so I dunno about all that Mojave bashing stuff , I dont like the sound of it tho . I like mine for the tight cornering, 2 . & u r rite , u have 2 ride it @ top idle 2 get the best of her . Since she was my 1st bike ,I "babyed her" . The guys said , "u have a MoJave , u can do better than that" . They were absolutly rite , u have 2 "redline" it . It worth the power u get & shes built 4 that type of riding.& like the other rider said , MoJave's from the 80's have kinda motorcross engines , mine is a 88 , so u gotta "redline" baby ................................ redline