I just wanted to say that as far as how the Raptor performs is actually ir-relevant to me as long as it's better than the Warrior I am currently selling I will be MORE than pleased.
I just felt like expressing my opinion here. Although reviews are not always very accurate it sounds like I have already got what I wanted? Oh well I trust Yamaha WONT let me down.......They havent yet. My dad has a '98 Grizzly. My brother has a '98 Wolverine and I have a '99 Wolverine (and my Warrior which I have departed with *sniff*) Anyways just wanted to say that....And thanks to all those out there who are keeping the faith in this new quad! Im hoping for the best! Later all! Let me know how all you enjoy your Raptor's when you get them! I ended up with the 3rd in line for mine =-(

'99 Wolverine SuperTrapp Pipe, Jetting, UFO Handguards, Skid Plate, UNI Filter

'00 Warrior (well not anymore)

 

Well I will say one thing,"Look in the 4-Wheel ATV" These guys only had one negetive thing to say about this new badboy and that is "The back of the seat was to thin" I don't plan on being a passenger on my new badboy so therefore this bike is going to be the bomb!In the ratings that they did on this machine they gave the bike an excellent. You don't get better then that! Out of 44 ratings the bike only had 11 that were not 5 stars(5 being the best) and 10 of them were 4 stars with 1 being 3 stars and guess what that was? Seat comfort(Oh Boy!)I will take mine please

 

Well I will say one thing,"Look in the 4-Wheel ATV" These guys only had one negetive thing to say about this new badboy and that is "The back of the seat was to thin" I don't plan on being a passenger on my new badboy so therefore this bike is going to be the bomb!In the ratings that they did on this machine they gave the bike an excellent. You don't get better then that! Out of 44 ratings the bike only had 11 that were not 5 stars(5 being the best) and 10 of them were 4 stars with 1 being 3 stars and guess what that was? Seat comfort(Oh Boy!)I will take mine please

 

Yahoo! Yippee! Wahooo! Yesss! Sweeeet! "Deep Breath" Ok I feel better now, I can't wait for mine. I have been calling all over, in a 3 state area, and asking dealers when they are getting thiers. The place where I got mine says Sept, I am last in line out of 4. When is everybody been told to expect theirs?
See YA Drew

 

I was just at my local Yamaha dealer (Port Yamaha, Port Washington , WI) having my Wolverine serviced, and I asked them about the Raptor.
They said they would be getting their 1st one in a couple of weeks. I asked how many people are in line to buy, they said none. Once they have it on the floor I'm sure it will go pretty quick, but it appears that no one in the area is in that much of a rush to buy unseen.

It's starting to look like the manufacturer's (Bombardier, Yamaha, Honda) are starting to get very competetive for the top spot of sport atv's. It would be nice to see Polaris, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Arctic Cat get into the game with some all-out sport quads.

BTW - Kudos to Yamaha for not being afraid to put reverse on a sport quad.

 

sqooze---I agree! Who will actually notice the weight?

 

probably not someone that rides a Polaris... hehe.
just kidding Adam...

 

...somebody came into alot of money...

'97 TJ *stock*
'02 KXF-250R

 

hehe.....funny.

 

I got to see a Raptor last night . Thias person has one from Yam to do a run test to see what will break. We were not alouded to ride the quad,but we could sit on it. The seat was very narrow in the front. The controlsfelt good just setting on the quad. Yam put a tach, mph, and hour meter on it, last night he had about 2100 miles and just under 80 hours. I was able to ride behind it on my 400ex. The quad seemed to ride very good and it jumped very good. We did drag race them 6 times for about 50 yds. I lost every time. The quad for being stock had some power. It looked very good and I am a Honda person. He said that he has not had any problems with it, but I think that he does a lot of road riding with it.He said that it will do 80mph and he did it for 15 miles staight. As we were leaving his proerty going down the road doing about 60mph he cought me an passed us. From what I could see of the quad Yamaha will not any problems selling them just like Honda had when the 400ex came out. Also, it was a black and silver and it looked good. He said that Yam is picking it up next week and taking it apart to check for wear, I guess before they release the others to the dealers. If you think that I am making this up I do have pictures to back this up, but I don't know how to post them.