I would prefer any of those two, I fell in love with the raptor ever since they came out, of course the raptor is the only quad I have ever had but I love its torque, power, suspension, etc... If you want to hear, "Dam that is the most powerful machine I have ever been on" then get the raptor... For jumping it is awesome, I got the Durablue eliminator axle +4" and hit jumps that put me 30 - 40 feet in the air and I haven't bottomed out yet!!

~NuG~

 

Could someone explain the tranny problems, like does it skips gears... is it very noticable if I take it for a test ride... Are there any OK 01s out there...I dont know too much about the raptor, does it react well to mods? I just need to know some basic stuff, and comparing it to the shee. Oh and I guess I am on a scale of experince of 1-10 I would be a 5.5-6 but I will ride ALL the time, so dont want to be looking for more power if I get the ex.

Thanks for any replies,

Mark

 

There are alot of 01's that had no problems, mine was one of them.

The trans would lock up I believe, and then you could just replace the broken parts or upgrade to the 02 gears. I believe parts are about $500 and labor should be about 3.5 hours at your shops rate. Yamaha will leave you hanging, so dont look for any help from them.

You will definately know if there is a problem. I think it starts by jumping out of gear sometimes, but I have also heard of it just happening.

No real rhyme or reason from everything I have read. If I kept my 2001 I had planned on upgrading the tranny.

Hope that helps
Bat

 

i guess a good ol raptor would be up your ally

 

On '01 raptors like Bat said, the gear spacing is too wide. These have been known to puke up 2nd gear. My '01 hasnt had ANY problems until I went with a hi compression 686 then only the starter one way. My trans is holding fine, for now...... I do worry however it will die a horrible, expensive death. If it holds out until early next year (tax refund time) it'll get a '02 trans and carrillo rod. With an '02/03 you will have about $400-$800 less not needing a trans update. I love my Raptor, wish it were an '02 and I wish I'd have gone with the 686 kit earlier....it's great eating up Shee's and telling them I'm all stock.... but remember with a Raptor there will ALWAYS be faster Banshees that you'll NEVER touch.

 

Both, the best of both worlds. Get two used ones, look around for good deals.

 

Thanks bat, does the upgrading to 02 gear fix the problem, and what you said about being around $500, is that for the upgrade to 02, or the replacing stock gears, thanks for any more info, where are all you raptor owners, I know there have to be tons more on here.

Later,

Mark

 

The $500 figure is for the parts to upgrade to the 2002 gears. I believe it is about $470, but with all the other things like sealant and gaskets it is probably closer to the $500. I think there is a website called raptortranny.com or something like that.

bat

 

Go to www.raptortranny.com and you can see what happens to the 01 trannys. The 02 conversion if you do the work yourself will cost between $4-$700.00. If you have a dealer fix it, it'll cost you between $1000-$2000 depending on how honest they are. Skip the 01's if at all possible. If an 01 is all you can afford then find the best deal and calculate in the 02 tranny conversion cost and see if it's still a good deal. Don't waste your time with a 400ex, you'll be dissapointed. You can find some deals on 02's now also.

 

Thanks wshrdskin, I think I can get the best deal on an 01 including the conversion, so I think thats the way I am going to go, I think it would also be good experience for me to do that if I have to, because I wont have to be riding it right as soon as I get it, I want to work on it over the summer, or winter and doing lots of customizing, if the tranny is ok though, that would be great.

Would it handle much better with a +4 axle??

Mark