i guess its my fault for looking in the suzuki forum, but bias had reared its ugly head. if you are going to give the guy advice, make it truthfull. dont exaggerate downfalls for either machine for the purpose of making the other look better.

i posted this in another forum with the same question:

The primary concern is the type of riding you will do. If you are looking to race everything on wheels in straight lines then the raptor is your best bet. it does make arguably 7 hp more than the z (28 vs 35) or so. dont yell at me for the hp marks, they are approximate. in cal the raptor makes 33 though.

If you ride in hairpin trails and plan extensive mx tracking, then the z might be best for you. it does handle somewhat better thanks to a lower center of gravity and a wider for its size stance. however, the raptor is no slouch in the handling department either, being perfectly suitable for the vast majority of trail riding.

The raptor is a faster machine and handles well. The z gives up noticable hp for a moderate handling increase. as a person who likes to race and ride, the power of the 660 far exceeds any minor handling loss.

ps, i got mine for 6100 out the door in may, the day after the first batch of 03's arrived. so the price diff isnt really a concern

 

Pretty much any Yamaha dealer will match the price of a Z400 if you tell them that you are thinking about one of them, so this whole price consideration is pointless. And as Maddog56 said, the Raptor handles fine. Even Dirt Wheels said that "It would take a professional rider to tell the difference between the handling of the 400ex and the Raptor" The "tippyness" of the Raptor has been blown out of proportion. Someone looked at the height and width of the two bikes and noticed that the Raptor was a little taller and narrower than the 400ex and made the statement that the Raptor would tip before the 400ex. If you listen to everyone on this forum, most of them that have never ridden a Raptor, they will have you believe that the Raptor is incapable of going around a corner with out flipping over! The fact is that if you push a Raptor and a Z400 or 400ex around a corner at the extreme, that the Raptor will raise a tire slightly before the Z400 or 400ex, that does not mean that it will tip over, and chances are that if you are pushing them both that hard, that the Z400 is going to lift a tire in the exact same situation anyway simply because you are trying to go a little faster than the Raptor. So with the Raptor, you slow down a little more for a hairpin, most likely you will be more than far enough in front of a Z400 on the trail at this point that this will not matter in the first place. Then if he does happen to sneak around you in the turn, (which would have to be a turn that was wide enough for two quads to begin with, so it probably wouldn't be a hair pin anyway) you will catch him very quickly on the straight. I haven't lifted a tire yet, but I don't waist my time ridding circles around some tight MX track. To me that would get boring real quick IMO. Out on any kind of fast trails the Raptor is an all out blast. So like others have said, if you ride really tight twisty trails, and closed course tight tracks, then buy the Z400, it is a fine machine. Why waist your money on the Raptor and all it's power if your not in an area to take advantage of it. But if you ride open trails, and any place where you have a chance to enjoy some speed, the Raptor is a real rush! So ask your self the question, where do I ride? The Z400 handles great, but the Raptor handles very nice as well. If your riding area limits your thoughts to how well you can corner, then there is probably no reason to worry about owning a really fast quad anyway. What do you want, all out speed, or all out handling? They're both great quads, and chances are deep down inside you already know what you really want anyway, just go buy it!

 

I wanted a RAPTOR until I rode the Z..........[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

some of you guys always have to brag about how you kill every quad out there.

well unless you and i are on the line ready to go, then dont get cocky.

everybody will have different experiences, i have a stock raptor and have beat a ds and a baja, but im not going to automatically assume that the 660 is always going to whip a ds.

just use a little discretion when running at the mouth. thanks

 

<< uhh, i dont know what those other guys argue about, a z is about $2000 bucks cheaper than a DS and about $1000 cheaper than a raptor. I would rather pay less and invest it in mods than to buy an expensive *** STOCK bike. Just depends and how fat your wallet is. >>



Z400fan......

It seems to me that your price explanation is a little off. You're trying to tell me that a DS is a $1000 more than a raptor?? They are almost exactly the same in price, quality and power is where they differ. And you're also telling me that a Z is only $4500??? By your statement, thats how much one would cost.???? Get your facts straight!

And for everyone that wants to dwell on the statement that the DS is &quot;too wide for trails&quot;...... If you are on a trail that small, you are going to have problems no matter what quad you are riding. Also if it is too wide, why are alot of people putting aftermarket stuff on their quads to make them wider???? 'nough said[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

The comment of not being able to tell the diff. in handling between a 400ex and Raptor unless your a professional rider is BS! I am by no means an expert/pro rider, not even close, and I can tell a quite a diff. between the 2, as can the owner of the Raptor and EX. I have the means to jump off one right onto the other. There IS a diff., no if, and's, or but's about it. Maybe it has been blown out of proportion, but there is quite a diff. between the 2. Now, acceleration wise, the EX just ain't got it, when compared to the Raptor, but the Raptor does handle decently.

 

I think it would be hard to go wrong with either ride, Trails and track LTZ 400, Trails and wide open areas Raptor. Not that either one could not do just fine at any type of riding.

I have ridden both a Raptor and a 400EX my buddy has one and quite a few times we have hopped off and switched quads. Now granted I have SSD shocks front and rear and wider front and rear. He has aftermarket shocks also. The handling is not a huge difference! He liked how his 400 handled better I liked how my Raptor handled better. But both agreed the margine was very small. Now when power is compared there is no comparison. Any straight of any good length and the Raptor can blow right by like the 400 was parked. If you listen to people you would think the raptor will tip over just parked out in the back yard....lol. As a matter of fact before I widened mine up I once went down in my garage and found the damn thing tipped on it's side, I decided right then and there I needed to widen it up.

As far as the DS is concerned it is a handful in the tight trails much more so than a 400Ex or Raptor, can it be done YES my brother has one and he does just fine, but after lugging it around our tighyt trails for the last 2 years he is looking for a smaller lighter canondale.


Nocando

 

BajaDS650



notice i said ABOUT. You can haggle with your quad dealer. The dealer here wanted to sell me a DS for like a 1000 dollars more than a Raptor. I must admit i liked it alot, but fourtanetly i did my research at told him to go F--- HIMSELF, the price was lower directly from Bombardier. But to the point, i was not very experienced and I just felt better in the Z, espacially more comfortable.

 

Z400Fan...

Yeah, I noticed the &quot;about.&quot; But to me &quot;about&quot; means: close too. Being off by at least $800 isn't close to anything. Lets say you hire a plumber to do something for you, and he tells you the bill will be 'about' $500. Then when the job is finished you get a bill for $1300, isn't that a drastic difference?? Anyway, not trying to insult you or anything, just having some fun!!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

I'm glad you got the bike you felt more comfortable with. What fun would riding be when you are on something you don't want to be on, or when you are riding something uncomfortable?? (Personally, I think the Z is a much better machine than the Raptor, especially for the price, maybe it's not as fast, but that can be changed!!)To each his own!

 

its the person on the quad that wins not the quad