hey guys, i am in the process of buying a sport quad and i need to know a few things...mainly i am going to be ridding on trails tracks and mud.my biggest concern is the mud.which sport quad do you guys think will mud best ..also i want a manual clutch .so the scrambler isnt my first choice.no effence to polaris cause i love them.but my top two choices are the 400ex..and the raptor..what would you guys pick if you had this cohice,,thanks for any replies..:mike

 

2 Reasons I say the Raptor 1 more power, 2 Reverse (Big Part)

 

The Raptor and 400EX both lack the ground clearance to do any serious mudding. I used to ride with buddies that had both. They would rag on me for having a heavy, automatic quad (99 Sport). As soon as we would get to a spot with mud over 4 inches deep, I would go right through, with ease. We would then wait, as they each tried to pass through it, only to get maybe half way through, then get stuck, and start rocking their quad back and forth, left and right. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, they would start going around the smallest of puddles.

 

I put a set of 22' rears and 23' front Bandits on a co-workers Raptor for this weekend and It aleviated his bike from caseing out in most of the mud and all of the dry ruts, Before with the 20's He was having a hard time getting up rutted out spots because the swing arm and frame would simply bottom out, It kinda sucked buying new tires for a bike that had about 4 hours on it but like Quadfather said even riding in dry weather Wayne National forest has some pretty rutted out sections that the stockers just couldnt handle.

 

my first choice would have to be under 500 pounds, so that knocks polaris out of it, and second it would have to have a manual clutch, opps knocks plaris out again, and regular pegs, damn sorry polaris is out again.

 

Todd400:

That reminds me of the last time we went to Wayne National Forest. My buddy took a his brand new Raptor. We parked at the concrete bridge, and headed down Snake Hollow. We had more time getting his quad out of mud puddles than we did riding. Near the end of the trail, he got stuck again. He was doing his best to get it out without any help, reving and rocking. When he gave up, and let off the gas, it backfired and blew the carb boots off. We had to let it cool for about an hour so we could work on it. We got it up and running, and it hasn't happened since.

 

3TV,

I beg to differ, the Polaris Scramblers ARE true SPORT quads. The Raptors, Banshees, DS 650s and 400EXs are HIGH PERFORMANCE machines. With the word "sport" used so much in our past time, it sometimes get confusing. Basically, high performance machines are just that, high performance machines. They have a much better power to weight ratio than the sport class machines. Sport machines don't have the kind of power to weight ratio needed to make it into the high performance class. Therefore, I don't consider the Scramblers to be high performance machines.

 

Excellent reply Mike[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Hey Mike~
Good reply. There is a difference between the SPORT machine and the HIGH PERFORMANCE machine. Since I got my DS650 a month ago, I have found that the scrambler is light years behind what a newly designed machine is capable of. The Scrambler is within reach power-wise, it can surpass what the stock DS puts out with some moderate engine mods. Suspension and handling is one area I don't think the Scrambler could ever compare with a "high performance" machine. The weight hinders its performance and the front struts are not nearly up to par with modern a-arms. Of course, I am now riding the machine with the most suspension travel of any ATV ever produced. The last big difference is in the Transmission. My Scrambler has a clutch kit and the carb is tuned pretty good, but it still does not have hearly the snap of the DS. Blip the throttle on the DS and the tires will spin. Blip the throttle on the Scrambler and you hear the engine rev, but little tire movement. So is the manual clutch a better design? Not necessarily. Whatever tickles your ***** I guess. After riding the DS for about 6 weeks now, I don't have fun on a Scrambler anymore. The handling is just plain horrible, the power isn't as impressive anymore, and hell, the seat isn't even as comfortable! When the day comes that Polaris decides to join the HIGH PERFORMANCE crowd, they better make VAST improvements to have any chance of being competative. Psssssst, Hey Polaris, I know you read this, a manual clutch can be a good thing on a high performance machine![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Be patient Polaris loyals...........It's coming!!

KT