hahahha yeah i saw that too.....i didnt see any1 else respond to it, so i didnt say anything but yeah that is alittle messed up

 

Before people talk about the "awesome, uncontrollable, and downright insane" power of a stock quadzilla, they need to actually ride one. It is NOT that fast, and you will get almost the same thrill from a stock Banshee, Tecate, or YFZ 450. They are not unearthly death machines, ment only for ProClass riders. Most of the Zillas reputation is formed by those who have never ridden one. I am a Zilla nut as much as anyone, and it is one of my favorite quads, but ask any of the seasoned 500 members on this board (Duneaddict, UKZilla, ZigZilla, ect, and they will all agree that a stock 500, leaves a lot on the table as far as power is concerned. They have great potential, but rocket ships they are not.

Im sure there were lawsuits against Suzuki, but no more than the other big 3 companies. If you think for a second that Suzuki killed the Zilla because of injury, then you are delusional. If so, how do you explain the extinction of EVERY other sport quad (with the exception of Yamaha) within the next 2 years? I suppose those were injury lawsuit related also. The cold fact is this, the early 90s were not profitable times for sport quads, and only until the late 90s did the market resurface. I suppose some of you think there are a lot of new sport quads out there now only because the Mfg. are just now getting the lawsuits paid off. Did GM discontinue the F-body lineup because of wrecks? or could it possibly be that they were making very little profit on the Camaros, TAs, and Firebirds? I choose to believe the latter. If customers stopped buying sport quads today, I can promise you that within the next year or so all of the big 4 would stop producing sport quads.

And 10 years from now, people would ask "Why did Yamaha kill the YFZ450" and some goon would swear that it was the be all end all of sport quads, uncontrollable, 200hp monster, owned by those of us with ice in their veins.

 

point well taken. As I said I think its def gotten a bad rap because of the many who have owned it or even just 'test drove' it to their own demise. I'm getting a YZ450F as soon as my buddy saves up enough lute for his downpayment. I'm fired up I have 7500 on my Yamaha card that I can get 3.9 percent financing for 2 years.

But again just like anything you are right...it'll probably disappear just like the other great quads and leave all of our heads spinning with unanswered questions. I say just ride now...question later.

-Mike

 

Take a look into the Yammy forums,you wont have to wait ten years...

 

haha isant that the truth!.. They stopped making all race Atv's beacuase no one bought them its simple as that I wont doubt that theyn wont bring back a fully raced out R if the 2 stroke law doesent end up happening

 

I couldn't agree with you more. Thank you for being honest about your experiences with your Zillas. I've owned four, and they are everything you stated. Yes, they're fast, but not so fast that your skin burns when you're tapped-out or so powerful that you leave two-foot deep ruts everywhere you go. I bought my first one because of the mystique and the fact that it had perfect ergonomics for me. I was impressed, but not scared to death by it. Most of people's perception of its brutality comes from the fact that it has a ton of torque and can really pull hard through the midrange, even while in stock, choked-up form. When they romped on it and felt like they were gonna fall off the back, they closed the throttle and said "no thanks," never really feeling how the power mellows out just past the midrange. Compared to a 250R, it has a much thicker and stronger powerband, but is not so powerful that you dislocate joints and go blind because light can't keep up. I had a starry-eyed kid come up and look at one of mine that I was selling, and everything he knew about them said that he had bought all of the Zillas wive's tales, hook, line, and sinker. It's amazimng how over time, people tend to blow things out of proportion.

 

All manufacturers except Yamaha entered into the "voluntary" 10 year consent decree too aviod law suits. It's as simple as that. After the decree was over, Honda introduced the 400ex.....and it all got started again.
Gary

 

Exactly right Gary! This was a voluntary act by all the mfgr's to avoid lawsuits.... (Insert your comment on the screwed up justice system here)
All the other theory's about why production was stopped are merely speculation. Yamaha was the only company that had the ballz enough to march forward. Although they did so very quietly by not making ANY improvements or design changes to the banshee other than plastic color/graphics.

 

Well ...if it was for just 10yr pause in production....I'd like to see them {SUZUKI}BRING BACK THE
LT500-LT250R'S in an UPDATED form!!!!
They {SUZUKI} gotta see that people still CRAVE for those particular machines still to this day!!

 

Well I hear that Yamaha is going to stop producing the Banshee in 2006! People are going to be saying this about the Banshee. I hear that Yamaha would have to spend to much money making the engine more environmentally friendly. They are going to focus there efforts on the YFZ 450 instead. All quads will be overshadowed by new technology. Its like the vintage cars. Everyone will want to own one cause that is where they had their best experiences. It is a never ending cycle.