will they come out with one?

 

Honda better, 'cause they can't compete with the Z right now!! As for Suzuki making a 450, I doubt it. The Z will still sell well enough and is a good enough ride to keep people happy. Now a 650, hmmm, maybe............

 

Kawazuki doesn't have a high performance 650 motor to put into a quad right now. Both Kawasaki and Suzuki have a 650 motor for their dual sports, but the dr650se and the klr650 are not high performance compared to the mighty XR650.The dr650se and the klr650 might have 35 horse. But they are working on a rm-z 450 motocross engine for the MX bikes right now. They might even have the motor done. I don't know. Look for a 450 before a 650. If they get the rm-z450 done for 2005, look for a 450 quad in 2006,maybe!

 

Well if they do they better have a chassis and suspension (a factory race quad if you will) that will hold up to some rough and tough mx riders. I do recall seeing a prototype 450MX bike in a dirtrider I read months ago. They were talking about how good the 400 engine was but at the same saying that the engine itself needed to be lighter weight and be a 450.

 

Doubtful,
Suzuki went for the middle ground with the Z. Performance just short of a purpose built MX quad, with reverse. That way they sell a lot of quads for trail and recreation, plus the racers that want to upgrade just add the necessary parts for MX only use.
Looks like from the stats and price on the new Yamaha, it’s more of a pure MX machine. Initially Yamaha will sell a lot of them, but later on the sales will probably drop off.
A full on expensive race quad with a peaky power band and no reverse will not be everyone’s first choice. Just ask Cannondale how it worked out for them.We all talk big, but the percent of new quads that actually get raced in sanctioned events is probably less then 5%. The rest of the quads are used for recreational use, where things like reverse, user-friendly power bands, and cost all help motivate sales.

 

"Doubtful,
Suzuki went for the middle ground with the Z. Performance just short of a purpose built MX quad, with reverse. That way they sell a lot of quads for trail and recreation, plus the racers that want to upgrade just add the necessary parts for MX only use.
Looks like from the stats and price on the new Yamaha, it’s more of a pure MX machine. Initially Yamaha will sell a lot of them, but later on the sales will probably drop off.
A full on expensive race quad with a peaky power band and no reverse will not be everyone’s first choice. Just ask Cannondale how it worked out for them.We all talk big, but the percent of new quads that actually get raced in sanctioned events is probably less then 5%. The rest of the quads are used for recreational use, where things like reverse, user-friendly power bands, and cost all help motivate sales."


I agree 100%

 

I agree also, but I would add, that if Yamaha sells a truck load of them, and Raptor sales still remain high, then you will see a mx quad from more manufacturers.

 

"Monkey See Monkey Do"

 

Z's will continue to sell well do to the lower price and reverse. There are many more trail riders then racers. Mom and dad will like the 1300 dollar lower price for the kids... A 450 dirtbike is gonna be released in the next four months. The 250 fourstroke is a cylinder hacked off a GSXR1000 and we all know how that bike runs..The 450 dirtbike might have an aluminum frame. ATK is testing a bigbore 520cc+ twostroke powervalve desert/ dune machine...

 

I pretty much agree with the marjority of post here. I think the z400 will sell good still and if the yfz does do really well and keeps it's sells really high then suzuki might try to counter with something.

Sandneck which do you like best your ex or your suzuki?