Just remember, it's the rider that makes the quad go fast. Just look at the track time difference between the novice and expert riders. I think that is the single biggest reason why so many of us disagree about which quad is faster, handles better, jumps better....

In the end, when it comes time to deliver. I'd rather have the skills than the fastest bike any day. So quit spending so much time bitching about the reviews (which are nothing more than opinions influenced by advertising dollars) and spend some more time on your quad and I bet you'll forget all about what place your quad got in this review. LOL! I'm on my way for a night ride right now. WooHoo![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Look's like that tall tippy Rap. held it's own on the track!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I cannot see how Polaris is not one of the big 4, Volume wise they were 1 of the big 2. They sold like 6 times more quads last year than Suzuki, They had plenty of ads full color pull outs. You can believe the advertising dollar myth if you want but that is just bull. They pick what they like not what is the fastest.


Ask the guys from the connection here they do tests, would how much a company spends in advertising influence in the slightest one of your shootouts?


Raptorryan: I know what you mean it cracks me up all the clowns who rag how bad the Raptor handles, As you can see by the times it is not that far off. It handles good just others handle a little better. I heard that tippy comment so many times I thought about buying a kickstand for mine so it won't blow over when it's windy!

And last but not least it is plain to see with the lap times a very good rider will smoke a novice rider no matter how much better it handles or how much faster the quad is! If your the fastest rider chances are you'd still be the fastest rider no matter which one you choose!


Nocando

 

"a kickstand" hehehehe, thats funny

 

How about this in there mighty dune shoot out they said the Cannondale Moto was 46.5 inches wide so guess what they lied! Boldfaced I've seen and been there to obsverve a moto bieng measured at the Batavia Honda shop and guess what it was just under 48 in the front and just under 50 in the back. So what do you think this means? The also said the moto felt tippy yet it was the second widest bike with the first lowest seat hieght and the lightest weight. So what does that tell you or are you only able to let people in magazines inform you of you opinion. Perhaps you believe whatever is written down for you.

Secondly, Maybe they didn't do any adjustments to the supsension on the bike I really don't know since I haven't seen the article I'm going on YOUR ability to state the facts you've read but there is no way that the front suspension of the Z is going to handle whoops better than the front suspension of the Pred if the Pred suspension is adjusted right.

Think about it this is like saying " We thought the sports model of the VW Jetta handled the corners better than the Porche" Sounds hard to believe and just because it's in print and someone paid for it doesn't mean their obligated to believe it.

For that matter Politicians and the Media say profound things all the time and most people don't believe it. Look at how the Media slams ATVs by putting a spin on their articles. You don't think a Mag would put a spin on a shootout for one of it's top clients? If you don't I got a bridge here in NY you might be interested in purchasing.

 

Like I said they occasionally mess up on stats as everyone does they are from from perfect. But bold face lieing I doubt. You can go with the conspiracy theory if you like, I do not think that but you are entitle to your opinion, Comparing the Predator to a Porsche and the LTZ to a Jetta now there is a stretch! The Predator is a nice quad I have a friend that has one I have ridden it and it's pretty nice does it blow either of the other 2 away afraid not they are all nice rides. I personally would have picked the Predator first but that is my opinion but I can see the points they picked and can except their opinion as just that their opinion. Obviously you feel they have an agenda, I do not!




Nocando

 

Yeah they do have an agenda that would be advertising dollars. They've given many shootout victorys to the quad that didn't win in the past and they've also made many comments that don't make sense in the past and present which in my opinion destroys their credibility. I don't think it's a conspiracy it's just business as usual the guy with the newest machine that's made by the big 4 who spends the most advertising dollars wins. It works for almost every shootout. I don't want to see any quad win but the best quad I don't even ride any of the 3 quads in this shoot out but I have spent some time on a Z and even though they say the shocks are valved slightly different than their 400ex twins they feel almost identical in every situation and I think those shocks compared to the shocks on the pred are pretty close to a sporty jetta and a porche. Top of the line shocks like axis or PEP are more like a ferrari or a lambourghini. I even e-mailed ATV Action about a shoot out they had last year involving the Cannibal, 400ex, the Raptor and something else. It was called high performance and the Cannibal finished 1st in 3 out of 5 categories with one 2nd and one 3rd. It had the fastest lap times in every type of racing they did including mx. The 400ex had the 2nd fastest mx times and the 3rd where on the raptor. The Cannibal came in 3rd in the end even though it won all race test and finished with the highest average finish of all quads tested. When I e-mailed them they said "Well in the end that's just how we felt". They also said in the article that all their test riders disagreed with their choice. These are the guys who do the evaluation and the editors still vetoed them. The Raptor was the winner I believe and in the end It's average finish was 2nd or 3rd and it's mx track times where all 3rd best except one rider posted the 2nd best times on it. If this doesn't spell it out that these shootouts are biased I don't know what to tell ya man. To each his own I guess. By your mags and be happy! Happy trails folks I've to get ready for the game.

 

Here is your big advertising dollars!

Feb 03 ATV Action
AVT Makers Ads:

Yamaha 1
Bombardier 1
Polaris 0
Suzuki 0
Honda 0
Kawasaki 0

Boy all that money would guide my pic! There are loads of ads in the Mags and I know this month may not be typical but very few Manufacture ads mostly all aftermarket!

I'm not sure where you get the big 4 from Polaris has been number 2 in ATV sales the last 4 or 5 years! It is actually the big 3 Honda 182,000, Polaris 157,000 and Yamaha 145,000 Way back are Kawasaki 45,000 and Suzuki 30,000 Look at the numbers it's not even close sorta puts a big whole in that advertising dollar theory! If you even remotely think Suzuki spent anywhere near the money the other three have spent in advertising you are sadly mistaken!

Nocando

 

I haven't read ATV Action in a while way to much BS for me at this point my DW subscription may go too. I looked through about ten of the ATV mags I have laying around here that are all with in the last 4 or 5 months and some of them have as many as 3 - 2 page adds from Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki. There is your big advertising dollars. Not to mention if Cannondale or Bombardier had a beef with the mags and didn't send them bikes to test the mags wouldn't care but if Yamaha or one of the other biggies did it would not only loose them advertising $ but content as well. There is a$$ kissing rampant every where you must see it at work and every where else your self the mags are no different. There are at least 3 other threads on this topic going right now check them out.

If you want to buy into I hope they help you buy many quads in the future. If you do a search on shootouts in these forums you will see that a majority of members think they are biased and not because their quad didn't win because the shootout winner didn't win.

The big 4 is Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki even though Polaris sells a lot of quads people and magazines refuse to see it that way. It doesn't seem right but it's the way it is.

On another note look at all the shootouts involving the Banshee last year most of the High Torque stuff didn't have to many good things to say about it other than it had a lot of top end. In the last couple of months they have gotten a lot kinder to the Banshee even though the machine hasn't changed at all. I wonder if Yamaha got tired of this and said something? Something must have happened because the quad is the same and the attitude towards it has changed.

 

[i]RaptorRider660R They said the LTZ had the best susp and they explained that the Predator front end being heavy made it lower in the whoops, READ!

Do you honestly think they purposely lie? Do you think it might be you place more value on different things than the testers do? Yes they occasionally get some numbers wrong as does everybody but by and large I think they tell the truth how they feel, which may not be how you or I feel! No one should buy there quad cause a Mag picked it the best, they should read the test take the points that mean the most to them and use them to help guide them, that and trying them themselves and deciding what they like and or dislike!


WELL SAID!!!!!!!