I just purchased a New Rappy and of course I had a choice the YFZ or the Rappy but I perferred the Rappy because of the ride, power and reverse. The YFZ was too small feeling, it actually felt like my sons breeze and I am not that big of a person either, 170 lbs but the YFZ also rode rough, not saying they can be smoothed out but I felt like I was going to go over the handle bars if I stopped pretty quick. JMHO.

Good luck but I believe you might be kicking yourself in the rear after you buy the YFZ, but you may like it. I would recommend to ride one first.

 

Hozed, do you have something against the 450? You seem to have a biased opinion about it. At 18 i would consider myself an experienced rider (of 13 yrs.) So it being too much to handle isnt the case. However at 135 lbs. theres not alot of weight to throw into the corners to keep it on the ground. The rappy is tippy in "tight" trails, and feels really heavy when i try to distribute weight in a drag race. Other than that, it was a great quad, but now i can get as much, or more power in some cases in a lighter quad. Reverse isnt a necessity, and i never hit top speed on a trail, i RARELY shifted to fifth, therefore top speed isnt a factor either.
The 450 just seems to fit me sooo much better than the raptor as far as weight, size, and power. The KFX/Z-400 lacks alot of power, and i have a very agressive riding style that it just cant do.....ive tried, i had one before the rappy.
Oh and fourth feels flat on the rappy.
To sum it up these are my expectations for the 450.....smaller, lighter,better handling, similar or better bottom and mid range power.....thats not asking alot.

 

I was just curious to why you were trading out, and you answered.

Hope you are happy with the 450!

 

You pretty much had the perfect quad for you. The 450 is a nice machine, who says it isnt, but me myself also had a choice beetween the two, chose the Raptor. When I got to ride the 450 recently I didnt enjoy it at all. The quad is small, seat is rock hard, stiff and bumpy ride, and a real workout on you on the trails. Has some quickness to it, but I still dont like it. I prefer the Raptors torque over the YFZ's quickness any day, comntarble ride, reverse, climbs hills like there not even there!! You had a good quad, aside from that, I hope you like your 450.... Good luck. And Hozed is not biased at all, if you look at his sig he doesnt even have a Raptor. Hes just telling his true opinion and its very correct. There is competition for the Raptor, the Banshee has had competition for the last 15 years give or a take a few. But its still running strong and one of the best quads on the market, and the Raptor will lead strong just like the Banshee has.

 

Ditto.

 

My biggest complaint was just all the "little things" that seemed to always go bad on the raptors, and yamaha's refusal to do anything to further improve the machine. I also think too though that my situation was different from you guys with the 03's-04's etc. in that I had one(2001' raptor) that had been ridin hard and hung up wet. I spent well over $1000 just trying to get it back to "stock" quality, and it still felt sloppy, dogged out, and just tired. When faced with the decision of having to replace the one-way bearing(again), weak clutch(again), and pathetic intake system(AGAIN) I decided that my money was better spent else where.

Yamaha has made so much of a killing off of the 01' Raptors between initial sales, and then the MILLIONS of dollars they've made from the "upgrade" for the 02' gears I think it obsurd. As far as I'm concerned yamaha can take thier bikes/quads and shove them. I have never seen such a company so neglegent and completely spitefull as to have a product they KNOW has faults and simply refuse to correct, or even accept responsibility for. For me its a stand point of buisness practice.

As for the Yfz, I think its a great machine. I hope(Finally!) that Yamaha has learned from thier mistakes and negligence and have built a solid quality quad. And not a ticking time bomb like the 01' Raptors, but for me its too late, they lost thier chance with me. Now is this going to hurt anyones wallet at Yamaha? I seriously doubt it, but it doesn't mean that I have to REWARD them for poor buisness practices.......

Sorry, I'm done now.....you can have the soap box back. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

hmm....the rappy does sound like the quad you want. I'm suprised you thought the z400 didn't have enough power. Cause that also sounds like the quad you are describing. and the seats comfy. When you had the z was it piped and/or bored? Did it have any major mods or was it just stock or close to? I think those items would add the power you looking for and still give you the all around greatness of the z. YFZ is a really uncomfy ride though.

 

I remember how much trouble that ticking bomb gave you. Raptor is an awesome machine, but you have to beware the 01's. I feel for the 01 riding club.

 

Sounds as if you could really enjoy a predator 500

 

bassetboy55- have you ridden either of kawasaki's v twin 700.?? pretty impressive.