<< Blown the carbs off your Raptor lately? Did you replace your weak axle yet? How are the gears holding up? Ooops here I go again...
Ken >>



The tranny part I'll give you, the first year of one model having a tranny problem won't give an entire manufacturer a bad rap, though.

 

So you're saying the carb flops, and the broken axles my buds have had are a figment of mine and their imagination (by the way, I like Raptors, just driving the point home, again, that they all have burps).

Ken....used to race for Chevrolet, then worked for Ford, now I drive a Dodge.

 

White 347LX,

While you do have a point about Polaris machines being somewhat less than relable, this is a whole new machine. It isn't based on any of their other designs. While they do still have parts from other machines on their prototypes (mainly the throttle, coolant over flow bottle, and switches) these are just minor things that usually don't cause failures.

Every new design has it's bugs to be worked out, but they have been working them out from what sources say is three years. If you're lucky, the Japanese will only test a machine for a year before putting it into production. That is from design stage to production stage.

With this kind of testing, I wouldn't doubt if this completely new machine gave them a good reputeation.

 

Mike,

I am pretty confident that Dirtwheels WILL bring up Polaris reliability as a factor in the shoot-out, that is pretty much a given. I believe that they should not judge first-year reliability any harsher than the other sport quads in their first year of production. Why, you ask? Well, take a look at the pains Polaris has used in distancing this sport quad from their name and other ATV line. They are doing the same thing with the Predator series that they did with the Victory street cruisers. They want a seperate entity, perhaps even a clean slate.

Either way, it is obvious that they are shooting for a different crowd of people here. If Polaris wasn't, they would market it as a Polaris and not as a Predator.

I still say Dirtwheels blows goats...

 

I hope to see one at Sand Mt. NV this Fall. I am very interested in seeing how it performs up the steep dunes.

I would expect it to have first year issues as the Z400 has some and as the Raptor had some.

Unfortunately, the California Predator will probably be so de-tuned to get the Green-Sticker it will need to be modified to climb the hill (the Raptor has the same issue - not bashing Polaris here these are known facts.)

I have not heard much about the Bombardier 400-500cc quad due out this fall. If it still comes out I would love to see a shoot out done by actual owners of these quads at a hill like Sand Mt., NV where the results would be there for everyone to see.

So, let me throw out an invitation to any possible Predator owners, Oct. 11-14th at Sand Mt. NV, bring your new quad and so we can admire its construction and compare it to other quads in its class. Any new Bombardier 400-500cc owners, Cannondale owners, Z400 owners, Raptor owners and DS 650 owners come too. Would be best to compare stock vs. stock quads to see how they all do.

 

&quot;So you're saying the carb flops, and the broken axles my buds have had are a figment of mine and their imagination (by the way, I like Raptors, just driving the point home, again, that they all have burps).&quot;

Not saying those problems don't exist, just that I haven't personally seen them. I was really getting to a point here, but Mike Chero beat me to it![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Around 10 years ago, Dirtwheels did test a stand up watercraft. Just to let you guys know.