I don't care if you all can beat me in the woods, m/x-ing, or out on the dunes. I have one heck of a good time riding my Banshee on any terrain. When I hit the throttle the thing just lites up and goes! It is something I've never experienced on any another machine. Sometimes I feel like I am riding around on one of those souped up lumberjack chainsaws. Brrraghhhg Brrrr bRAADAGHGRR!! :-)

Why does recommending a quad always have to be based on split seconds and which machine will give you bigger braggin' rights?

Pick a machine that fits your riding style.
Several years ago I wanted a 250R badly. I thought, "Why would you want one of those Banshees or a 500! What are you nuts!"

Now, even though I don't consider myself nuts, I love the Banshee. The thing screams and rips everywhere it goes!! Just recently I saw a Kid on a 400EX catchin' big air and flyin' around the track like he was on a 2-wheeler. Boy did that look like fun! He was a way better rider than I was. It wouldn't have mattered what machine he was on. He liked the 400EX, I liked my Banshee. We both had a good time chasin' eachother around the track and catchin' air.

 

Not to discount any of the previous posts, some made very good points, but the only way for anyone to answer the question "which quad is best" is to actually ride them, and answer the question yourself. And really, this year being one of the best years ever as far as current model quads is concerned, you can't go wrong, they are all good machines in their own right. If you are a decent rider and ride/practice enough, you will get better, faster, and have more fun with every ride.

Personally, I'm going to purchase a 400ex, but only because it will suit my riding style, riding buddies, and terrain better than anything else, even better than the '86 250R I just sold. Maybe by the time I save up the cash, Honda and the others will have even more options available, will wait and see...

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Hey DS_650 TX do you own a DS650 or are you a bandwagon rider who hopes daddy can by you a new quad?
Oh and i thank the choice of which to get all depends upon the rider and his or her preferences.

 

Hey Banshee97 I bet you $10.00 if you would have purchased a 250r instead of your banshee you would probably be 10 spots ahead of where you finished that race!!!

 

hey cctman that would be kind of hard to come in 10 places higher if ihad a 250 especially when i come in 2 or 3rd

 

I'd just like to add to the drag race hoopla and the this quad is faster than that quad . . .

When I was in Glamis, I rode a '00 400EX with a FMF Powercore IV muffler. My dad rode a '86 or '87 TRX250R with FMF exhaust. We did a little racing on the Sand Highway, and in the end, he beat me. I could stay with him until he hit sixth gear, and they he was gone. Until those high speeds, we were right next to each other.

It was interesting to watch 4-strokes and 2-strokes hill-climb. I saw a number of 400EX vs. 250R climbs: the 400EX would get the jump on the 250R, due to low-end torque and/or rider ability. They'd be dead-even until half-way up the hill and then the 250R would pull ahead.

 

OK OK ...HERE IS THE DEAL..I HAVE A 97 BANSHEE AND I BOUGHT IT FOR THE SPEED AND HAD NEVER RIDDEN ONE BEFORE...I HAD TAKEN A RIDE ON A TRX AND ATC 250.AND I DIDNT LIKE EITHER...(NOT THAT I AM SAYING THAT THEY ARE BAD RIDES)I JUST WANTED FASTER...I RIDE PISMO BEACH QUITE OFTEN AND JUST GOT BACK ,WELL I WAS JUST MESSING AROUND ON A BIGGER THAN COMP HILL AND UP COMES LT500 AND A 250 AND A FEW ATC AND A 400...WELL THE GUY ON THE 500 THOUGHT HE WAS BAD..AND THE 250 JUST WATCHED..HEH THE ONLY ONE THAT CAME CLOSE WAS THE 400...THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS THAT RIDE TO HAVE FUN AND WHEN TIMES CALL RACE YOUR PANTS OFF I DID AND SPANKED ALL!!!I ALSO BELIEVE IT IS 80 - 20..YOU HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO CONTROL YOU BEAST WHATEVVER IT IS...JUST A THOUGH..

 

80 % rider and 20 % machine is very true.I raced a slightly mod warrior on my slightly mod 300ex and i won by 3 lenghts.Butthe guy couldn't start out in second n the sand.So another guy gets on he warrior that has more experience and beat me by 2 lenghts.
We're talking 800 ft. here.Felt good to win the 2 that i did though having never won against a warrior.

My opinion would be to get the 400 ex b/c you can let the bike almost jump and ride itself with little rider effort it will do good and with an experienced rider it will do great.And it always predictable,no surprises from the honda engineers.
Also where i ride, the fastest thing in a drag is a hopped up banshee than runs liked a scalded dog and the rider is very good on it climbing hills and jumping.Better then most other riders,and he's one of the nicest people out there.He's always tryng to help a particular guy with a polaris out run his banshee,but it aint happnin.

 

MADPOWER, you are exactly right. It is fun to compare machines, analyzing their good and bad points. However, somewhere in the misdt of that we forget why we ride. We ride to have a good time, to have fun. And racing is part of having fun. When I was in Glamis, I raced some guys (lost every race), but it made for good conversation back at camp. Like MADPOWER said, "ride to have fun."

 

Don't you just feel like a kid in a candy store. What oh what should I get? If you go through ATV magazine at your local grocery store you can probably add about 10,000$ of parts and accessories and get what you want out of any cycle.
I tried the raceable 250r with the burrr sound and power out of the turns.
I've owned a 250R with works shocks, 300cc bore, fatty pipe, air filters, rad valves, reed spacers, dura blue axle,etc.....
I loved it. It was a great bike. Plenty of power. I sold it and bought a banshee. Dont have any regrets or second thoughts. I wanted something different. Now I have a cycle that sounds like an Indy car with the pipe I've got on it. It is very fast and I'm happy with it. I still like the 250R but I'm not going to tell you which one is better because I'm not a proffesional rider that can turn 10 or 20 consecutive laps and say that this bike is better because of this and that one is better because of that. Maybe the guy that replied that sounded like he raced on the GNCC has the right answer"80/20". I like the looks and sounds of the 400 EX. Thats about all I'll go buy when deciding which one to buy becuse it's what ever makes you happy that counts. Personally I'm waiting on the boys in blue to get off their cans and put that YZF400 motor on the banshee frame. Not because I expect it to be able to beat anything of the line but because of the difference. Like the difference I expierenced when in Atlanta at the Supercross race last year. All you hear is "WING WING WING WIIINNG". Then you heard Henry. It was an unbelievable sound. Very deep throaty sound. When the pipe hit it silenced every thing else and all you could say was "man did you hear that".
Anyway, if you cant wait to see if Yamaha is going to put the 400 motor in quad frame to give you more choices then just get which ever one you like, not the one that everyone says is quicker off the line or gets to the top off the hill first or is faster out of the turn. Tryem all and get the one you like, because it's your money.
Oh yeah. If you want the fastest thing out there then buy a used banshee in good shape and buy the turbo kit discussed in this months Dirt Wheels magazine. From stock 40 horsies to 130 and up!!