Okay, Yamaha really blew it on being one of the only 7" rim sizes out there, plus the tiny 16" tires. Ground clearance is simply too low. rockymountainatv.com has a set of 8" rims with the Yamaha bolt pattern. I'd like to put these on with 20x7-8 Cheng Shin knobbys. Will this make it too unstable and tippy, going from the factory size of 16x (7??)-7, to the taller tire and rim? Any other suggested tire size that will make me taller, wider and still be turned over adequately by 80cc engine? What's the perfect combo?

Anyone else find the 80 bottoms out too easy on trails? Whadya do?

 

To the best of my knowledge, Yahama put 18x7x7 on all badgers and Raptor80's from the factory. The 7" wheels really hurt your tire choices. The older Champs and maybe the moto4's had 8" wheels and run alot bigger tires. Probably the easiest way around your problem is to switch the rear wheels, then get something like a 20x7x8. Good luck!!

 

I can't speak from experience, but it sounds interesting.. Let me know how it turns out...
I would think it might make it a little more tippy, as it changes the center of gravity. You might go ahead and go with the wider adaptors and it might just equal out... hard to say... In some respects, lower may be better from a stability standpoint. I wonder if bigger tires and more clearance is counter productive to that...

 

I posted ages ago about the wheel adaptors for the Raptor 80. I think I looked for them and couldn't find them. I may do what fishslab did for his LT80, and just customize/fabricate a set. I think there's no doubt it gets tippier, but the kids really learn that and adjust their riding accordingly.It's only a problem on high speed cornering, which seems likely while racing only. We don't race. I'm gonna try the 20x7-8. I just thought there might be something a tad wider, maybe a 20x8-8, but is that size too hard for the current gear ratio to turn??

funny, on this forum there seem to be very few with the Raptor 80. more people seem to opt for the Eton, Kasea, Polaris and suzuki. The Yamaha seems way down on everyone's list. consequently, there's very few people to ask stuff about this particular quad. YET, the Yamaha forum has thousands more posts than any other forum!go figure. I guess y'all think the raptor 80 is a piece of crap, but I'm/my kids are really happy with it!

 

Nah, the Raptor 80 is a damn good piece... It has been around forever with a different name and plastic. the motor is bulletproof, and you will not see too many kids capable of bending that front end if they bonk a tree with it. Plus it is a four stroke, when many choose to go with a 2 stroke.

You see modifications happening to other brands for a reason.. think about it...

I think the real reason is that because the Yamaha is heavy compared to others, it doesn't exactly lend itself to the racing crowd. You put kids on them and compare against other makes, and it has been my experience that the kids like the Raptor over the others because it "fits" them better, and I believe the weight may be an advantage in the stability department.

Now in my post above, I suggested you do a Yahoo search... I did, and found several manufacturers. On at least two occasions, although I didn't see the Raptor 80 named, I called them and they indicated they had some that fit it... so the web pages may not always be an accurate guage... but calling them can confirm. Costs appear to be around $50.

And yes, the kid's will bottom out with me on board... of course I weigh in at around 300 lbs... and that is severly overweight for the bike... I don't notice it as much when the 8 year old is on it... but he isn't jumping with it either. If you are experiencing the hammer effect, I'd point fingers at the shocks. They are pretty useless pieces in my book.. but again, we are not racing it.. so it works just fine putting around out on the trails.

Bigger tires may make it more unstable if they have a tendancy to bounce... so keep close tabs on air pressures. I don't see this as a big deal going to a larger rim.

 

I think the Yahama is a very good starter quad. Probably the best if you stop and really think about it. But I found that my kids outgrew the performance of it. That my not have been so obvious if they didn't ride with other kids on different qauds that will run off and leave them. Then at that point, there is not much a person can do to change it. Thats the real reason you don't see many modded Yamaha's. Some of the other brands have an almost endless supply of mods available to make the quad the way YOU want it. Speaking of mods, you could get a set of rear wheels that are 8x8 or 8x7 and then put a bigger tire on it and do both, widen it out just alittle and get the 8" wheel. Two Douglas blue label's will run you around the 50 buck range and bolt right on. One thing about the tires, You can get a taller but not as wide of a tire by using a front tire for the rear. Say like a 20x7x8 Fasttreker front tire works well on the rear.

And yes, the Yahama bottoms out in place the LT didn't. What I would do is push, sometimes pull!! LOL!!!!!

 

I know this is obvious, but did you take the restrictor pipe out of the exhaust yet?

 

I never knew there was one (restrictor) on the Yamaha. I bought mine used so maybe dealer or previous owner already did this, although previous owner wasn't very mechanically inclined. Please tell me more about where to look/ how to remove.

Asfasasu, I checked with rockymountain awhile ago and they do have the 8" rim for the Raptor 80. They also sell 20x7-8 Cheng Shin knobby which are decent tires for cheap. I think I'll put a set of those on the front. Now to find something 1" wider for the rear.

We also have a 93 LT80 and I've rebuilt the top end including rebore. Everything is stock on it. The only thing i haven't tackled (yet) is to take apart, inspect and service clutches. The LT80 is not as fast in a stock to stock comparison to the Yamaha 80, unless i get more speed after i do the clutch service. I think I must be short some power there, because everyone tells me the LT80 screams, and always refers to it as a "racing" quad. I'd say my top speed is 20MPH. The plug was getting pretty fouled, so I put needle on the leanest setting (it was the only setting I had left). I still run injected, not pre-mixed. The kids wouldn't ride LT80 the last trip, which surprised me as i thought they'd prefer the ease of gas and go, over shifting the Raptor. Pull start vs. electric was also a factor (my LT starter has packed it in after getting new brushes and working briefly-maybe 50 starts). I wish Yamaha would have designed a back-up starter system ( just for piece of mind).

I think they're both good quads, and i think the Suzuki would actually be the better starter quad with no gears to worry about, and it seems a little smaller. There's no race circuit here, but top speed would be nice to keep up on some of the longer rides on logging roads.

 

The raptor 80 has a removeable baffle that can be removed for more speed when teh kid is ready for it... It is just behind the plate on the inside the muffler I think. You can go to www.yamaha.com and look it up in their online parts catalog for the Raptor 80. removal should be straight forward. Your owner's manual should have something on it too.

Supposed to pick up the power some....

 

Thanks for the link. I checked their parts catalog. There is nothing remotely close to any exhaust restrictor shown on their schematic diagram, nor is their anything on the parts list. Basically, it's the pipe and the "inner pipe". The inner pipe appears to be a spark arrestor you probably clean. No baffle or other parts shown. They list a total of 10 parts which includes all the different screws and washers.