Sorry folks, I forgot to ask the reverse Q. So impressed with everything else. With all the woods blasting I do, I do know the value of it, but after each lap, this thing just kept getting faster and faster. I can't explain the smoothness of how well everything works in harmony. They didn't just get the most powerful motor, they didn't just make it handle great, they didn't just tune the suspension perfectly.....they did it all, and it ALL fits incredibly nicely together. A day after, and I'm still grinin' like an idiot.

I'll get off the soapbox now, sorry if you're sick of hearing about it.

Predator, ride one, who cares what brand is your fave, just ride one.

Ken....I don't sell them, I don't get paid to write about them.....heck I couldn't even find an extra Predator T-shirt to nab....

 

<<
Again, it can be the most revolutionary quad since the 250R (much like the Cannondale was), but it will ONLY be a runner up for quad of the year. Sorry Polaris, again, but you don't spend enough advertising dollars with us for us to make you &quot;Quad of the Year&quot;.
This, of course, will apply to only the two &quot;Hi Torque&quot; rags. Have no fear, the truth will come out in ATV Sport, who I consider the &quot;Gun Tests&quot; of ATV magazines. Frankly, I think they should give away the two &quot;hi torque&quot; rags like brochures. They only seem to be like advertizements for the &quot;big four&quot; Japanese companies. >>



Mike, you are so on the friekin' money!. This is the truth. I glanced at another mag this month with a BIG headline that read &quot;The Suzuki Z400... THE QUAD THAT EVERYONE WANTS&quot;.

EXCUSE ME???!!!! What the hell is that? That is nothing but BLATANT advertising. Page after page of Hi-torque publications is Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda , Suzuki, Yamaha over and over and over. Oh yeah, and the Z400 is NOT the quad I want.

Magazines cater to those who spend money advertising in them. It's that simple.

Whenever it comes to magazine &quot;shootouts&quot; , I never believe what I read. It's usually complete crap tailored to maintain the advertsing dollars. If it doesn't favor the big advertisers, it doesn't go to print. It's that simple.

I read the shootout with the Cannondale, Suzuki and Honda and it was laughable. Get real. I guess they underestimate the intelligence of their readers........ or are they really that naive???

FH

 

Fishing Herb,

Yeah, it seems the shootouts are based more on &quot;cubic advertising dollars&quot; (or yen) than cubic centimeters. I will admit that ATV Sport pulled a bonehead stunt like this once. They compared the Banshee, 400EX, DS 650 and the 500 Scrambler in the same test. Yeah, right! Like the Scrambler 500 is even in the same game as the others, let alone the same league. Well, after all of the negative press they got over that particular &quot;test&quot;, they stopped doing tests like that. You just can't compare apples and oranges.

 

i also agrre that the no reverse was a bad idea but if i really think about it i hardly ever use reverse so it would be a big deal to me and im sure it will have tons of power and great handling and i also hope it makes the cover of dirtwheels

 

One true test of their bias, is to see how many magazine covers it makes. The 400 EX was on their covers for about 6 months, the Cannondale was only on their covers for a month or so. The Raptor was on their cover for about the same 6 months, but the DS was on their covers for about two. This is, of course not only the stock machines, but all the ones that have been modified too.

 

Well, I am sure that the Predator will get knocked for at least one thing - WEIGHT. I believe it lists dry somewhere around 420lbs. It isn't like Polaris stuffed lead behind this machines airbox or something, it just comes with the territory when building a larger machine. At any rate, it is the only strike that I see against the machine right now.

 

Here is the text of a letter I sent to them. See if you agree with their response.



&gt; ----------
&gt; From: hal9000
&gt; Sent: Saturday, August 3, 2002 8:39 PM
&gt; To: atv@hi-torque.com
&gt; Subject: Question
&gt;
&gt; D.J.,
&gt;
&gt; Why do you and your sister publication Dirtwheels, never give an even
&gt; break to a machine that is made in North America? I doubt that even after
&gt; riding the new Polaris Predator that it will be named &quot;Quad of the Year&quot;,
&gt; even if it does turn out to be better than the Suzuki LTZ 400. I'd be
&gt; willing to bet that advertising dollars of the Japanese magazines won't
&gt; let you name it as even the best &quot;High Performance&quot; machine, let alone
&gt; &quot;Quad of the Year&quot;. Is this true, or is every Polaris owner on the ATV
&gt; Connection imagining things.

Their reply was:


Mike,
We'll run your letter...and watch for you cool site as a Link Of The Day at
our Website soon.
-DJ
&gt;

Alaska YFM,

I'm almost sure they could have shaved a few pounds from it if they would have made it as narrow as the Raptor. Not bustin' on the Raptor, now, but stating a few facts. Still, I doubt if they could have shaved that much from it (35-40 lbs) Perhaps the fact that they are using .190 aluminum wheels and premium tires might have something to do with the extra weight. Not to mention they aren't exactly using that many aluminum parts for it either.

 

Chero I agree with everything you said.About a month back the predators came to the local track they even ran the practice.I got behind one to see how much he had.It goes real good!He wasnt pulling away but I wasnt gaining on him either.The quad doesnt feel heavy I dont believe that it weighs 500lbs.I had no problem lifting the front or the back.It is WAY lighter than a DS.and its USA USA USA!!!

 

Interesting stuff!!! Dirt Wheels hasn't even changed their web-site to put any Predator info on it yet. ATV Sport/ATV News has. Between the two....hmmm, I wonder who'll get my subscription dollars.

Good stuff Mike.


Ken