My 04 TLD Predator ended up totaled so I am in the market for a new quad. I ride primarily sand dunes and considered the 450's and Raptor as well as another Predator. I guess Raptor is pretty old technology and no real benefit over Preds, now that Preds have reverse! Still considering the Yamaha 450 but seriously leaning toward another Pred. I was mostly happy with my 04 excepting the usual complaint of the excess weight, and that it was very difficult to keep the front end down when climbing a very steep dune. Probably result of shorter swing arm. I was always pleased with the power. But I do question the durability as I thought mine should have held up a little better-I did have a good roll over and an endo, results were bent steering stem, bars, frames, and welds cracked on the a-arms (totaled). Probably result of such a heavy bike going over too many times I suppose.

Anyway, question is should I go with the Standard or TLD for primarily dune riding? Anybody with experience with the '05's in the dunes? As nice as the radials would be for the infrequent trails rides, will spend majority on sand tires. Are the upgraded shocks/suspension on the TLD primarily beneficial to very hard riding/racing or will I noticed an enhanced ride/performance with moderate+ riding? And I guess big question is the close ratio tranny a benefit for dune climbing or would the regular be better? Im thinking the close ratio would be better? The orange doesnt particularly do it for me vs the red, but I prefer the best performer and dont mind paying a couple hundred extra if the package will be appropriate for my application. Thanks in advance for any input on these issues, great forum, lots of info!

 

Go with the limited edition. White plastic and standard trans along with the pp exhaust and tld shock package.

 

I wish they had the LE when I got mine, I would have got it. All you should have to do is a sprocket change, and then you can play in the sand.

 

I agree Raj..I would have bought the LE too...these razr radials are good in any terrain.

 

Ok, here's the usual statement/question: I went to the Polaris web site and I didnt see anything about the LE Preditor, any links?
And oh, whats a quadracycle?

 

Yea, I like the white of the LE. I already have the PurePolaris canister from my old one and the LE's seem to be a little hard to come by. Im thinking that close gear ratio might be the way to go, seems they just put gears 1-4 closer together with a big jump to 5 so you just need to rev the **** out of it in 4th to hit 5th right. I can deal with that, looks like the close gear ratio provides good acceleration.

 

The Gap From 4th to 5th is Not A Major Issue unless a high speed drag race!!

 

I'm switching over... I'm going to advocate for the STD tranny, which would be for an LE if you can find one. My cousin beat me drag racing no matter what tire, sprocket combo I had on pavement, and he can't shift for crap. He has a bone stock '04. I've obviously got some tuning to do to my bike, but I think the tranny was hurtin me too. Proof positive these things are good straight out of the box, and I've just shot myself in the foot spending thousands of $$$$... The only STD that you'll ever love... ha ha ok, so it wasn't that funny after all..

 

I saw an LE this weekend sitting on the sales floor at Dixon Polaris, California. Asking MSRP. I didn't have a chance to ride it.
Sweet looking machine....I am not crazy about the plain black seat, but maybe Cascade or someone could trick that out a bit. It needs some matching red in the seat cover. I wonder if the seat is still the same in 03, 04, and 05?

 

The 05 seat is some what thicker, then the 03 & 04.