experience is very important, but there is a very important factor that must be taken into consideration: the quad is brand new. when the raptor was new, guys were rolling them over backwards for weeks after they bought them, inexperienced and racers alike. the problems is getting to know the charachteristics of the individual quad. my father had an ltz250r, a few 250r trikes, and 4 trx250r's before we bought our first raptor in model year 2002. but even though he had raced for years, when he got on the rappy he nearly rolled it over back on himself, which is no small feat considering he weighs around 275! once you get used to the tendencies of the individual quad, everything will fall back into place for experienced riders. you just have to get used to the quirks and biases of the new machine.