how do you think it will perform agaisnt other bikes like it in its class?

just curious

whats your two cents

 

check out the 2004 yamaha lineup if you are unsure of what i am talking about

 

it will be barely faster than the warrior, and handle a little better. Thats it. What do you expect from a cosmetically changed warrior.

 

Which class? The Warrior has always been somewhere in the middle. It was usually put up against the 300ex in shootouts. If they've improved the handling then it will do a lot better (in handling) against the 300ex. I don't think it will scare any of the 400's. They should have priced it at around $4900. to make it seem cheaper. $5000.00 just seems too close to the 400ex's price.

 

it will probably be a little faster than the warrior due to the reduced weight. i dont know if they did anything to make the engine more powerful (i doubt it) so it will pretty much be a lighter warrior is all. i must say i dont like the front end, but i suppose its a he!! of a lot better in comparison to the war. The war never really had a class, ive always thought they should up the displacement to 400cc to make it competitive in the 400cc class, especially since the introduction of the zook 400 a couple years ago. the plastics will make it slightly more desirable, but if they dont do anything to make it perform better, itll still be the same old warrior. with a little work, yami could turn this raptor 350 into a great mid-level sport bike and it would cost less than the other bikes in its class (well, if they made it a 400 anyway).

 

Is the 350 raptor liquid-cooled?

 

That's a big negative. Go to the Yamaha web site and check out the specs....not much different than the Warrior. Too bad.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

I think it's a great move on Yamahas part. The Warrior is a Great Trail quad, and has prooven to be a very reliable machine. The one drawback to it has been it's dated looks and suspension. It looks to me that what Yamaha did was fix these shortcomings. Yamaha doesn't need another high performance quad, they already have all the bases covered with the Raptor, YZF450 and the Banshee (Which is also in drastic need for some updating). So Kudos to Yamaha. Next, hopefully the banshee and the Blaster.

 

I definetly agree with RPM its about time for those much needed improvements for the warrior. But i must put Yammy down in some way. The front bumper looks about as goofy as they come. But props

 

Ya know, I would have been happy to see Yamaha improve the outdated Warrior. They didn't do that people, they tweaked the "Warrior" a little and called it a "Raptor". The Warrior is still being offered right along side the new Raptor 350. You people said it yourself...they made improvements to the Warrior, minor as they may be. So why not call it the new and improved "Warrior" or something entirely different because we all know that's exactly what it is. I just don't like the marketing idea. If I want a Raptor I'll buy a 660R, not a made over Warrior. Wouldn't that be like Ford offering a Super Duty F-150?[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

Pleeeeeaaaaase.