Hello all,

Yes I know this is a cannondale forum, I own a speed and if I go anywhere else all I will get is brand wars. Anyway my girlfriend wants to get into quads but has never been on anything but a utility. We are considering a blaster (cheap, learn manual clutch, easily modded) 250ex(like hondas ease of maintenance and reliability, more expensive, auto clutch) trailblazer ( find them real cheap used). Well I guess my question would be what would you consider, also what do you think, it would be better to get her associated with a manual clutch now, or get something like the 250ex then maybe upgrade to a 400ex or something a couple years down the road. sorry so long, any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Josh

 

I am running in to the same scenerio, my girl wnats to hangout more and she thinks getting in to quads will help, I dont mind if she rides with me as long as I dont haveto wait for her, but I was thinking of a 300Ex or a 400EX, they are easy to maintain and not too powerful for her, but man I want a blaze soooooo bad, I should give her my cannibal and get me Blaze! thats my vote, think shell agree??? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img])

 

I'd find a good used 400EX, Stock, they are one of the easiest to ride/learn on, will grow with her. They are easy to hop up and if she doesn't like it you can sell it and get all your money back. Or after she learns she can have your cannibal.

Just a thought.

Smitty

 

BTW, money is an issue...i wish i could of got a moto, but my speed rocks. we would like to keep it around 3500-4000 grand for her. Also she is small 5'3 120#s. just some info

thanks,
josh

 

You're girl friend might not like the kick start feature of the Blaster although for the $$, they are a good buy, my son learned on one. Also you might want to look at the Warrior, it's been around for a while and it's bullet proof.

 

It all depends upon what she wants to do with it. If she's a new rider then I'd go for the Trail Blazer. It's easy to ride, easy to start, decent power, easily modified, very comfortable to ride, and pretty much a bullet proof quad. If she is, in fact, a new rider then this quad will give her a chance to learn riding technique. She can pay attention to the trail and those up coming trees rather than worrying about if she's in the right gear or not.

Plus they are very cheap to own, new or used. I'm not saying the Yamaha or Honda machines are bad, but if it was my girlfriend, I'd put her on a Trail Blazer.

 

I got my girlfriend a 250EX.... it requires the least amount of maintenance and will be the most dependable

she can still do small jumps, pop wheelies, do donuts, play in the mud.... all the things most girls like to do!

and it's cheap!

I reversed the front wheels, put a K&N airfilter, removed the spark arrestor screen, and upsixed the main jet... I'd like to put 400EX rear tires on it for better sliding abilities soon

 

I've got a trailblazer that my kids ride, 13 year old son and 15 year old daughter. I recently put an RCR stage 1 kit that helped performance quite a bit.

Pros:
Easy and comfortable to ride and learn on.
Bullet proof - I've had mine 2 years with zero problems.
handles the trails well
fine on small jumps
Cheap - MSRP $3400
easy and cheap to mod.
Much better suspension travel than Blaster or 250ex

Cons:
if she likes aggressive riding she will outgrow it quick
hard, not impossible, to wheelie.
wouldn't take it on big jumps
mods can only get you so far.
Heavy

My son is ready to move up, my daughter loves it.

 

I unfortunately went in the reverse order. I got my girlfriends quad first, 400EX, and ended up owing more on taxes than I thought, so I'm still quadless. I feel the Blaster is probably one of the most user friendly two stroke around but decided on the 400EX for her because the four stroke is very forgiving in the learning process and will never have to be modified or upgraded to a new machine as her ability grows. We can keep it stock and reliable and there is more power than she will probably ever need.
She has never rode a quad or dirtbike before but is coming along very well. She can drive a stick-shift so the transition was fairly smooth.
BTW, she also is about 5'3" and around 120#.I've only had her ride in open flat areas with few obsticles 'til she feels more relaxed and confident. Maybe there is a used one that would fall in the price range you're looking at. My vote anyway! good luck!

 

300ex it has all those girly features that she might like, (electric start, reverse, lip stick holder) lol jk they are nice machines and woman seem to like four strokes more. Beats me