Second day have about 3 hours of riding time. Its incredible the baddest most inovative quad ever. All machines have negatives the raptor has the fewest because it is the most advanced. The acceleration is eyepopping and never lets up. Is geared for serious throttle. When starting in first or reverse needs more clutch work then the warrior but pulls much easier. First gear is fast you can get wheelies no problem through third without even so much as touching the clutch. Wheelies are scary on the raptor. I could do wheelies forever on the warrior because there wasn't enough torque and the weight of the front counterbalanced full throttle. With the raptor theres so much torque that it snatches up so fast its hard too stop. I already scratched the wheelie bar on the stones. You'll only want to do that once. Unlike the 400ex the wheelie bar is removable while hondas is part of the subframe. It feels a little high riding at first compared to the warrior and banshee. But because of the front frame and aftermarket like a-arms the raptor flies around turns and never felt tippy. I can fly in third gear slamm on rear brakes and slide a 180 on loose dirt no problem and doesn't feel top heavy. Finally a company that takes the best qualities of all bikes and all companies and puts them into an almost perfect machine. This is nearly perfection it will be some time before something tops this quad. The stock tires are one of a kind. Who would have thought a stock tire could be this nice? REverse is great you need to ride the clutch a little but it is fast. The parking brake will be gone soon because they suck who needs em. Leave in gear and turn sideways to hill. That bullsh@t backup system yamaha uses sucks. The parking brake will wear and it won't reseat so engines purposely backfires so you don't have a brake fire. I want to feel the suspension before the ten hour service. I'll then have the parking brake assembly removed and the shocks adjusteted perfect. I hit many jumps on my track in the woods. The biggest jump is a 42 footer lip to lip. The take off ramp is about 6 feet tall and tapered perfect for serious air. Throws you straight up and out till your about 12 feet high in the air. My friends sit on their bikes in the middle of the jump and you just soar over them. You just better hit the trottle right because you want to make the landing ramp. After work my friends and I met up and went riding. With a new bike I must admit I was scared to hit the monster jump for the first time since parting with my warrior. The raptor is so fast I didn't realize it and over shot to 42 foot landind ramp at the bottom. Every time this happened with the warrior the shocks totally bottomed out. When I was in the air I braced myself and even with the suspension set to the softer preloads it never bottomed out and recovered beautifully. In the air it balanced like a feather didn't feel big at all like youd expect. It is trully a great ride and both my freinds are now envious of my raptor. I told them to put a downpayment on one. They couldn't wait and now there stuck with the 400 and DS650. They both agree its incredible but won't admit to regretting there purchases even though the raptor rips them stock. Please e-mail me at bschisler.com if you have any ? or comments. Hope you all get yours soon!

 

The wait is over....WOoooooooHHooooooooo!! My Raptors are in, did the paperwork on the 1st, will pick up in the morning and will pick up the 2nd at the other dealership Monday. They were still prepping it when I got there but I got to see it in the shop. AWESOME! I can't wait. The Raptors are finally here in VA. War99, email me and we can hook up in Cumberland...Brad

 

Good review! I agree on everything you said but I haven't hit any big jumps. Still working out the suspension set up.

I started a post called "Raptor Suspension Set Up" so if you come up with a good combination please reply in there so we can all learn from each other.

Thanks!!!

 

cumberland where i live in cumberland ri?

 

How does it compare to the DS 650 on the low, mid, and top end.
Iask this because a friend of mine has the 650 and is dying for me to get mine! he thinks the raptor has no chanse.thanks alot for the review always like to hear goods things about the Raptor

ex400ex. still waiting on Raptor

 

Cumberland, MD

 

Hey Brad aka 660r I will call you for a weekend riding trip in Greenridge near cumberland. If you don't live far from Frederick MD I know a sweet spot for a afternoon ride. Has tracks and long trails near powerlines. Send me your e-mail address! My name is Brad too and this site won't let me change my screen name. bschisler@aol.com

 

Will do! I also need more time before I adjust mine. But damn so far I feel no need to change factories settings. Thats a first!

 

Hey pipster have no fear the raptor stock hangs with the DS 650 and thats one with a pipe. I can't imagine a modified raptor. Tell your freind to move that lawnmower over because the raptor has a BIG appettite!

 

Hi War99,

Can you tell me how the Raptor is on going up moderate to steep hills? The reason that I ask is because someone made a comment on this forum that he had to raise the RPM's considerably in order to get the machine to go up the hills smoothly. I do a lot of hill climbing and this would be a great concern for me. Can you give me your take on this? P.S, my previous bike was a Honda 400EX. How does the Raptor compares to the 400EX. I cannot wait to get my bike. I was told maybe this week sometime.

Thanks,

IronBear