I went down to my local dealer yesterday, it's a 30-40 minute drive from my house but the reward was awesome, you name it these guys had it! in stock, pipes, bars, clothes, oil, bumpers, shockwears filters, all it was all there,then I went up to the service desk. and sitting right there, service manuals, owners manuals, and 2001 brochures for raptors, now I sat and looked at them for 30 minutes, the filter system seem to be a vast improvement from the type like I have on my wolv, I dont have a chain adjustment on my wolv so I cant say by looking if it was easier or not but the guy I talked to said it was 10 times easier. They have 11 coming 5 black and white, and 6 blue, thats the more than any other dealer in the state of Ky, they are gonna mod 1 of them out and keep it, they said there estimated deleviry date will be august 5th, so if you want one and live close to kentucky look them up the place is called Hardin county motorsports.

 

Bash:
I did read that. It said the "maximum" was 9000rpm's. It didin't say it would pull 9000. For all we know 9000 may be the point when the piston flies through the cyclinder wall. Radiator restriction isn't a good thing. At the times when you really need the radiator's full cooling, it will be blocked. Then the bike will overheat and stall.

I have also heard of the problem with over-oiling in the raptor. It seems that the stock oiling system does fine in normal conditions but in demanding conditions(dunes, racing, etc) there is too much oil in the crank case. And that will take away horsepower.

The Raptor looks very impressive and I hope that Yamaha can(or maybe they already have) solve all these problems that the motorcycle had.

 

the 660 has an electronic rev limiter set at 9000 rpm to prevent engine damage without it it will rev till it blows the aftermarket will soon have a higher set limiter

 

I agree with warmachine I think those lights under the fenders might be a problem. I am also not sure about that front apperance altogether, but looks isn't why I ordered one.

 

Well, ATV Action just did the first Test folks. You can read about that in other posts on the board. As for bad things about the Raptor. Well, they asked that question to the Pro test riders,and they honestly actually said" We will have to think about that awhile...because there wasnt much to complain about"....woooohoo. Thankyou Yamaha..

 

The price!

The demand for this quad is very high. The dealers will sell them for MSRP or higher, trying to make as much profit as they can.

Anyone remember the Mazda Miata when it came out in the 1980's, this is the same thing all over again!

 

I talked to my dealer and he said that around 6200 was all he was gonna ask because he ordered 10 and said there will be plenty of them to go around. just like theres more than enought 400ex's same old story all worry for nothing.

 

I think it is gonna be hard to pass quads like the stock banshee and 400ex, the quad will be able to but it will realy take a lot of skill, or a lack of the fear of flipping. I think you don't want a quad with 12" of travel, look at the ds 650 it's heavy, and had to be wider than normal. You what the 400ex and banshee have around 9" and have it tuned corectly it will work good, unless you are an air freak. I rather have a lower stance and lower center of gravity, and modify to aftermarket shocks for more air. All I can say is at least it don't have struts, and a cvt. I think both of these features are a joke on a sport quad, I don't like struts cause of the handling, and the pullys, and extra gearbox add way too much weight. You can get by with these features on a utilty quad but a sport quad has a little more abuse, and the owners expect a little more than the guys who buy utility quads.

 

Well, there are a few things, from an engineer's point of view, that bug me...

First is the frame architecture that Yamaha used. Doesn't surprise me since he is the same guy that designed the Banshee. But, with the lowish upper frame tubes (which the front shocks mount to), that restricts the overall length of shocks that can be used. The longer the stroke of the shock, the better it can be "dialed-in" from the factory, and the better aftermarket units will work.

Secondly, where are the twin-caliper front brakes?!? This thing has one of the most powerful engines even stuck in a sport chassis, yet it has single-puck brakes. I'm sure that they do the job, but a twin is always better than a single puck. For the price you pay for a Raptor, they should be standard issue.

Third, that is a vulnerable place for headlights. It does like trick, though. Hopefully they are easily removable.

Fourth, the chain-adjustment reminds me of the Suzuki-style off of the quadracers. Still not as good as the other method of having an ecentric bearing carrier. That seemed a no-brainer to me, but i guess not to Yamaha.

Where is the fuel-injection, hydraulic clutch, and twin-caliper brakes?

Also, there are some things about this design that really impress me...

The use of aluminum is good. I thought it impressive to use aluminum in the upper a-arm. I've seen aftermarket do that, but never an OEM.

The ridge on the front plastic fenders should be a very good reinforcement (90-degree angle) to resist cracking and breaking in a rollover.

Finally, a better airbox/filter design!

Spindles look trick, as does the sub-frame.

I like the mounting of the steering stem to the upper a-arm mount tubes. This save weight (less material) and adds torsional strength to the stem (shorter column length).

Nice reverse system, ugly plastic feet protecters.


There are definately some improvements that could be made to the Raptor, just off of a visual inspection. BUT, granted this new design is *probably* the most complete high-performance machine ever to be offered from an OEM. (the TRX400EX is the most complete sport quad, to me, anyways)

 

Why do you say that the air filter design is better? It looks the same to me. Any design that requires the lid to hold the filter on is a poor attempt at a new and better system. That is only my 2 cents.