Still havent picked up a quad yet, but glad I waited, now looking at the '06 Predator GNCC Edition. Cool looking bike. But since its been a few months and more '05's and '06 's are out there, back to an update of my original question (sort of). How is the 05/06 TLD close ratio tranny working in the dunes for those of you that have them? Had pretty much made up my mind it was appropriate, I spent most of the time in 1-4 on my '04 anyway, but just read a post in predatorowners.com where somebody hated the close gears in the dunes (sand robbbing all the torque and making 5th unusable). Just looking for a little more confirmation one way or the other. Thanks.

 

i have a GNCC, love it, the close ratio tranny is the best thing thats ever happend to the pred. and just know, with all the mods available, the pred is the fastest one out there by far, even faster than a modded up banshee, yfz450 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

BUT as far as your dune climbing, id take a fine look at the Raptor 700r, that thing has more torque than my tractor [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

 

If your concern is solely drag racing and nothing else then I suppose you would want to have the tranny done anyway. If your'e just playing around and want a decent sand duner/trail ride bike I would go with the TLD as the bike comes with way better shocks and a few other small mods. You will become used to the bikes performance after riding it a while. You can always change the sprocket set-up and tire sizing for quick riding style changes. I I belive Dirt Wheels did a sprocket tire combo test a few months ago to help with drag performance.

 

Not to start an all out war here but maybe the new 700R Raptor is the way to go! EFI no jetting, and plenty of low end torque, and a new suspension that is heads and tails above my 04 Raptor. It's a completely differnt bike and it's lighter then the Predator.

 

As some others have said, I went with the LE because I wanted STD tranny just for that reason. I also heard that you shift a BUNCH more with the close ratio in the sand than you need to with the STD.

You might be able to save a few bucks by going with an '05 also. If you can't get the LE, or want the TLD, maybe put a different rev box in it to offset the gap.

 

Hmmmmm. I guess I should consider myself lucky the biggest question in my life right now is which brand-new quad to get? I really considered the new 700r and I think its leaps and bounds above the old raptor, but I really like the way that Pred motor spins up. Torque is good to get those tires spinning in the sand but once you get em going you want to keep em spinning fast and I think the Pred winds better than the 700r. Plus hard to beat the Pred suspension out of the box. Yea, I figured I'd get that CDI box with the close ratio to close the 4-5 gap, but I dont recall spending alot of time in 5th anyway and I really dont care about drag racing, just want to tear around the dunes and hills like a madman. I would think the close ratio would make the power more useable, but I dont want to spend the whole day shifting and never in the right gear either. Guess it comes down to a matter of preference............

 

If I were buying primarily for duning it would be the standard trans, the tld is more for tight trails woods riding where you don't use 5th gear. If you get the chance ride them both and then you'll know what's right for you....

 

i run alot of tight trails that have alot of short 90 degree turns in them and throughout the whole thing with the TLD box, i never get out of 3erd till the straight'a'ways when the motor starts spooling up and it shows its angy eyes [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]