honestly.. if the thing wasnt *** ugly it prolly wouldnt be to bad.. but you all bitch about polaris weight.. what about a raptor and ds...

 

the predator isnt too much heavier than the rappy, in my opinion (girls dotn take this offensively hehe), if you think a pred is too heavy, man up and grow some muscle, look at me, im 14, and i can throw a pred around pretty well.

 

the raptor is heavier once gass oil and coolant are added.

 

Duneme, that is a good point, don't forget to check out the DS. Another great dune machine. Just be careful if you ride too narrow of a trail system, cause with it's wide stability, comes tight trail clearance problems. If you mainly do fireroads, then it shouldn't be a problem.

 

Boatguy, I am curious as to why you are not considering the DS650? As far as decideing between the other two, the pred is built for mx or Xcountry racing, period. The Rappy is built as a torquey trail bike. All of the stuff that comes with the Pred as stock is there to make it a better racer. I believe the DS is made to be the foutstroke king of the dunes and dessert. Which of these best matches your type of riding?

Also, it is not a bad idea to get the same kind as what your freind has. He would be able to share a lot of insight mechanically.

One other thing, lets not forget that all three mentioned above are All Terrain Vehicles and will do just fine where ever you ride. I believe whichever one you choose, you wont be sorry. I am 6'2" and 190. My first quad was an old Blaster just a few years ago.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img] Yes it was too small for me and I probably looked funny on it, but I had a lot of fun and got a better idea of what I wanted to get next.

As far as being able to just whip it around instead of using reverse, I think most guys would do that even if they had reverse if they are able to. You just dont always have that option on tight trails.

Bottom line, you cant go wrong with either one.

 

I recently took a trip to Northern Wisconsin to do some riding. I was on my Predator, there was a 400ex, Z400 and a Raptor. Running through some rocky areas and some areas in need of serious grooming - 5 straight miles of whoops!!! - myself and the guy on the Z were the only two without any arm pump at all. The suspension on the Raptor and 400ex are just flat out not good enough. The steering on the Predator make a lot of difference. Everyone who rode mine like the way it went around corners on the rocky areas without jetting back and forth like thiers did. Again, it just depends on what you want to do with it. Mine is an 03, and the only problem I have had with it is one of the rear fender mount bars, the weld broke on the frame. Little tac with the wire welder and back to normal. Oh ya, another problem, not enought time in the world to ride as much as I would like to!!

 

Thanks to all of the replies.

I have now changed my mind to the Predator of Yfz 450. Any comments on this. This is based on the suspension of both. It seems that both have killer suspension, so now I have to figure it out. I have realized that I keep coming back to the Predator, but I want to make sure that when I buy this, I'm not missing anything in other bikes. My concern with the yfz450 is how will it feel after riding for 50-60 miles or so at one time. I also like the DS, but the sales guys (even if they sell them as well) tell me for what I want, it is not the best.

Once again thank you for your comments and I appreciate them, they have helped.

 

The YFZ is more of a race ready quad. If you plan on riding for long trips or out all day, I encourage you to stop by your dealer and sit on both and take them for a spin. Your butt will tell you what to get. The YFZ has one of the HARDEST seats I have ever sat on. Yamaha's dirtbikes are the same way.

 

I agree, if your going to mx race, the YFZ would be the better choice. But for the price difference, the Predator is a better quad for the price for what you want to do with it.

 

if going going on long rides.. your gonna want a soft seat... not a rock hard dirtbike seat like the 450 has... the pred has a softer seat and is more comfortable.
if your gonna race.. get a 450.. it is a much beter race quad.