Actually I was stoked when I saw the rapter. I think it looks cool. I told my wife I want one. Then the next day I read all the negative coments,even from yamaha owners. Mostly about the heighth and width. Good point but in the end we will all have to wait and see the shoot outs in the mags to see if it handels well and compares well. I have rode with banshees, faster 400ex's , cr500 etc. I ride trails and dunes and the only time I'm ever wanting for more power is sand drags up sand mt. Otherwise who cares about all the other crap. My wife can keep up on her stock blaster whitch is a very fun ride. Why bash each other and act like some one called some one's baby ugly. Just ride and have fun. don't be so jelous and narrow minded no matter what you choose to ride.

 

The 400EX will out maneuver the Raptor? Prove it. I know the EX handles real well, and you guys are saying this Raptor won't compare. As was mentioned before, the quad was JUST released. None of you have ridden it, there has been no shootouts yet either! I'm not favoring the Raptor, I'm not partial to Honda or Yamaha! I like em both, but c'mon guys! We'll just have to wait and see.

 

Hi guys, well I am glad to see the atv industry makeing a great come back.I ride a 400 ex an I am glad to see yamaha new addition the raptor ,going to be a strong wheeler, a 660 motor is going to be sweet .I have never posted on you guys's board before so I don't want to make an enemys either I just wanted to say "I ride what I feel fits me an all honda riders don't feel there bikes are the only ones made"You know it's funny I have rode for years with other guys on all makes of bikes an I have nor has my honda wheelers ever not liked the company I keep.Just ride an have fun.......

 

Just my 2 cents...

Fellas... I may sound like your mommy, but be careful with those bigger quads coming out in the market. Remember the automobiles in the 1970's and 80's (for example the MG, a cool british car that only was in the US 'till 1980 b/c of fed requirements and forced them to be out of the US)... Remember what happened to the 3 wheelers...

Currently, the government is cracking down on jet-skis, since there were a ton of accidents involving crash-test dummies who wanted to be cool and race us on my pop's speed boat (of course the speed boat would leave them in the mist - it can easily go around 80 - 85 mph and it gets scary to go that fast b/c it gets real squirrely and unpredictable). We nearly had an accident with my pop's pumped up speed-boat (it has a Mercury 2.5 L EFI racing engine on a 18' boat) with those idiots on a Sea-Doo cutting in front of us and missing us no more than 1 - 2 feet at maybe 35 - 45 mph on water, thus torquing the hell out of us and we followed these inconsiderate boaters with a horn blaring the whole time. Don't be the idiot that will cause the feds to crack down on the size of the engine and the speed of the quad. Be smart and remember the honda motto, "Stupid Hurts."

I would definitely love to see bigger quads (700 + cc engines) out there and I want to see them around when I get out in the real world (get out of college) in about 5 - 6 years because I'm planning to buy 1 big bore utility quad and one fast "fun machine" when I get out of college. I will be dissapointed if the feds come in with the stats on hand and decide to crack down on the accidents. All I ask of y'all is to be careful and don't be that one victim that feds will prove in court that big bore quads are dangerous. If I insulted most of you, I'm sorry... but if you can't handle safety and being smart, then don't buy big bore quads and DON'T even think about buying a quad at all... buy a go-cart with a cage, roll bar, and an awesome "big bore for kids" 5 hp Briggs and Straton engine included so you don't hurt yourself; plus throw in a bicycle helmet.


-Mudmann

P.S. I've seen way too many accidents on utility tanks that go no faster than 40 mph... be careful!
Ride ON and be smart...

 

I assume it will be an amazing quad, afterall, yamaha did have plenty of time to put to get a masterpiece and i don't think they would put a new high performance quad on the market if it couldn't kick a little as*. btw, doesn't it look like a cross between a 400ex and a the canondale

 

paulv how about raptor vs ds (big 600's) and the canondale vs the 400ex (big 400's) then the winner vs winner and looser vs looser.

 

hey u forgot one the 300 gas gas now that would make the ultimate shoot out hey maybe even the new polaris 500 2wd so we could have a definite loser lol

 

Actually, not quite like CBRs and Ninjas... Those are 4 cyl, highly tuned engines, capable of 14,000 + RPM.

The 660 is a single cylinder thumper that is mildly tuned, low compression, with only a single overhead cam, that before Yamaha tweaked it was only capable of 7,000 RPM (now 9,000).

 

I'M GETTING SICK OF EVERYBODY SAYING HOW THE 400EX IS WIDER THAN THE RAPTOR. LOOK AT THE SPECS AGAIN PEOPLE. YA THE 400EX IS WIDER FROM ONE SIDE OF THE FENDER TO THE OTHER, BUT THE WHEELBASE OF THE RAPTOR IS 49" COMPARED THE 48.4" OF THE 400EX. I THINK THE RAPTOR WILL DUST A EX IN ANY TERRAIN OUT THERE.

 

You need to look at the definition of wheelbase again.

From the Dictionary:

wheel·base
n.
The distance from the center of the front wheel to that of the rear wheel in a motor vehicle, usually expressed in inches.