well thats what the majority of my ridding is fast wide open ridding im thinkin 450 now thanks 4 all of ur advice very helpful

 

Z400 gets fuel injection next year! It's no slouch. Faster than the EX because it is water cooled.....

Remember, your buddy on the KFX700 is paying the price big time....he has to ride a 516+ pound pig! You on the other hand, can have a 350-400 pound "real" sport quad!

 

I would go to a the 700 Raptor, or get KFX 450, Or the DS 450. Just my 2 cents. I would go and sit on some machines and price them out and see if you can ride them too.

 

Among all the 450s I've driven, I'd have to say I prefer the KFX 450, mainly because of its power, suspension, and reverse. The 450s nowadays are very damn close, things like reverse and suspension can make the decision much easier. The overall weight of each 450 is honestly too close to matter, it depends how it handles and soaks up the bumps, you way learn more about a quad from the ride than from just a bunch of writing. Like I was surprised when I rode a 2002 Can-Am DS650 Baja, heavy sport quad, but you barely notice the weight while driving, thanks to the suspension. You notice the weight when pulling it out after getting stuck, but thats the only time. It offered a better ride than the Raptor 700 in my opinion, I also loved the power output of the Rotax engine in the DS650, it is definitely addicting, but I digress.

 

the big problem with my YFZ450 is rocks. Rocks absolutley kill you on it ... I even have full skid plates ... When I first got the quad, I tore up my swingarm skid plate in about 4 months ... I've since learned how to navigate rocks a lot better, but if you try riding that quad in the rocks you WILL bang the sprocket or skid plate you hvae back there off the rocks ...

However, even if I had the Raptor, that would still be the main problem with the straight rear axle.

If I had it to do over again I'd have bought the Raptor 700, but that's more to do with the fact that I weigh 250-lbs than any downfall of the YFZ450 ...

I dunno, even with all that said, I've taken my YFZ450 from the dunes to the dirt to the mountains, and the better I get on it the more I like it.

One day I'll have to ride a Raptor and compare ... I am putting TCS shocks on my YFZ tomorrow, so hopefully that'll help out a bunch ....

I think honestly though, you can pretty well do everything with a YFZ you can with a Raptor, it's just that in some situations the Raptor is gonna be better once yous tart modding it out to build a dune machine or whatever ...

The YFZ does well in basically everything but rocks IMO ...

 

Been riding for 8 years. Feel in love w/ yfz450. If you go to a 400 it will be nice for a while but then you'll be craving more power. go big, then your friend will be playing catch up.

 

i would rather stay away from the 450s cuz iv heard of all the problems ppl have been having with the early models which is what i would be getting iv visited other forums and a whole crap load of ppl have been having problems and this is what they narrowed it down 2: trx450 has a weak crank bearing and the yfz450s were not getting enough oil 2 the piston thats y i dont wana get a 450 so my next choice is the 400ex which i have heard from some one that thare friend has cracked the head because it was hot and he went in water so id rater stay away from that sooo in conclusion the only other choice i have is the z400 which i have 2 stay away from 03 and 04s cuz they had problems with the frame MAN I CANT BELIEVE OUT OF ALL THOSE MACHINES NOT ONE WAS PROBLEM FREE!!!!!!!! i just dont get it

 

Mojave man did you ever consider on getting a DS650. That is what I ride, great bike all around. I live in Wisconsin and ride alot of trails, not alot of open spaces up here like Cal.

 

yea actually i did consider the ds but i kindof illimiated it becuz of the lack of used ones here in pa plus no revrse and it fairly heavy from what i hear

 

Yes they are abit heavy, but you don't need reverse i'm always going forward. The only time i need reverse is when i pull it off the trailer. i just thought I would throw another quad out there for ya. Just so you know I only weigh about 155 pounds and I have no problem moving the beast around.