My Raptor Report
#1
09-14-2000, 01:31 PM
Join Date: Aug 1999
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Well, I finally have my Raptor. I line about 20 min. south of the Twin Cities in MN, and I bought my raptor in Minot, ND. 540 miles. They called me last saturday to tell me it was in, so I took yesterday off from work. I left 6:30 pm and got to Minot at 3:00 am! I think I win the award for going out of your way to get on of these!!! Any hoo, I got home about 6:30 last night and got about 3 hours of riding in. Here's what I think of the Raptor:
I do most of my riding at my friend's farm. Bumpy hayfields, curvy field roads, the gravel road, the neighbor's big grassy yard, the little MX track we built... Basically I get a wide variety of riding conditions. Just no sand of Hill climbs.
Across the hay fields, it is really smooth. I could do about 65 across them on my banshee, but it would be bumpy enough to crack the fillings in my teeth. The raptor soaks it up all so nice.
People were always worried about the width of it, but it is very stable. Takes the corners very well, very fast. I am, however, going to get wheel spacers up front, and probablly some rims with more offset for the back. My banshee was wider than a 425 Polaris 4x4, so the raptor is a big difference, but not in a bad way.
On of the first magazine reviews I read said something about the raptor being difficult to wheelie. Either this guy just took a hit off the crack pipe, or I am the god of ATVs. (I tend to think it's the latter
) This thing pulls wheelies so well... Just give it a burp of power, pull back a bit, and up it goes. I can start a wheelie in 1st, and shift all the way to 3rd and stay up.
Jumping is a dream. Hitting my tabletop at speeds that would bottom my banshee out was no problem. Smooth. It feels so light in the air. I landed nose heave a few times (not used to not having to be in powerband to jump), but it took it pretty well.
Reverse mis INSANE!!! CRAZY!!! MACH 4.5 AT LEAST!!! Lets just say that it takes a lot to scare me on an ATV, but I'm afraid to go full speed in reverse. Idle alone is at the pace of a brisk jog.
Speed. I am flat out declaring that the Raptor is as fast, if not faster than my Banshee was. (I can gauge this by how badly I lose to my firend's banshee with the 420 Long Rod kit).
All that and looks too?!?!
More to come later. I will get some good jumping video this weekend, but I'll need some place to put it. YaMaRapToR? Got any room?
Bandit99
'01 Raptor
I do most of my riding at my friend's farm. Bumpy hayfields, curvy field roads, the gravel road, the neighbor's big grassy yard, the little MX track we built... Basically I get a wide variety of riding conditions. Just no sand of Hill climbs.
Across the hay fields, it is really smooth. I could do about 65 across them on my banshee, but it would be bumpy enough to crack the fillings in my teeth. The raptor soaks it up all so nice.
People were always worried about the width of it, but it is very stable. Takes the corners very well, very fast. I am, however, going to get wheel spacers up front, and probablly some rims with more offset for the back. My banshee was wider than a 425 Polaris 4x4, so the raptor is a big difference, but not in a bad way.
On of the first magazine reviews I read said something about the raptor being difficult to wheelie. Either this guy just took a hit off the crack pipe, or I am the god of ATVs. (I tend to think it's the latter
) This thing pulls wheelies so well... Just give it a burp of power, pull back a bit, and up it goes. I can start a wheelie in 1st, and shift all the way to 3rd and stay up.Jumping is a dream. Hitting my tabletop at speeds that would bottom my banshee out was no problem. Smooth. It feels so light in the air. I landed nose heave a few times (not used to not having to be in powerband to jump), but it took it pretty well.
Reverse mis INSANE!!! CRAZY!!! MACH 4.5 AT LEAST!!! Lets just say that it takes a lot to scare me on an ATV, but I'm afraid to go full speed in reverse. Idle alone is at the pace of a brisk jog.
Speed. I am flat out declaring that the Raptor is as fast, if not faster than my Banshee was. (I can gauge this by how badly I lose to my firend's banshee with the 420 Long Rod kit).
All that and looks too?!?!
More to come later. I will get some good jumping video this weekend, but I'll need some place to put it. YaMaRapToR? Got any room?
Bandit99
'01 Raptor
#2
09-14-2000, 02:23 PM
I also got my Raptor yesterday......Finally! I was stunned when I first looked at it, it is a truly beautiful machine. The pictures don't really do it justice.
I live in Colorado and do mostly trail riding although there are some motocross tracks and sand dunes around here. I took the Raptor out on a couple short trail runs last night. First thing I noticed was exactly what everyone has been saying......reverse is insanely high! I tried backing up a hill on gravel and it was almost impossible to not spin the tires at least a little. I know how to work a clutch (Banshee rider for years) but even slipping the clutch it wants to spin in reverse. That said, I still love the fact that it has the reverse gear and it is flawless to operate. The transmission as a whole I am so far extremely impressed with. It shifts extremely smooth and so far has not missed a beat. I also noticed how light and responsive the thumb action on the throttle is and the clutch is cake too. I have not had a chance to jump it yet so I am not totally sure on the suspension but it feels great going over the small trails I was on. I agree with the wheelie portion of the previous post......I can wheelie this thing at will! I haven't pushed the engine since it is in the breakin period but the power is impressive. My only complaint to this point would be the reverse gearing. It is definitely geared high in 1st and 2nd too but I think once it is broke in and I can maintain higher RPM's while riding I will get used to it. I may end up with a lower sprocket, I will keep an eye out to see what you guys with em think.
I live in Colorado and do mostly trail riding although there are some motocross tracks and sand dunes around here. I took the Raptor out on a couple short trail runs last night. First thing I noticed was exactly what everyone has been saying......reverse is insanely high! I tried backing up a hill on gravel and it was almost impossible to not spin the tires at least a little. I know how to work a clutch (Banshee rider for years) but even slipping the clutch it wants to spin in reverse. That said, I still love the fact that it has the reverse gear and it is flawless to operate. The transmission as a whole I am so far extremely impressed with. It shifts extremely smooth and so far has not missed a beat. I also noticed how light and responsive the thumb action on the throttle is and the clutch is cake too. I have not had a chance to jump it yet so I am not totally sure on the suspension but it feels great going over the small trails I was on. I agree with the wheelie portion of the previous post......I can wheelie this thing at will! I haven't pushed the engine since it is in the breakin period but the power is impressive. My only complaint to this point would be the reverse gearing. It is definitely geared high in 1st and 2nd too but I think once it is broke in and I can maintain higher RPM's while riding I will get used to it. I may end up with a lower sprocket, I will keep an eye out to see what you guys with em think.
#3
09-14-2000, 02:27 PM
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09-14-2000, 02:31 PM
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#5
09-15-2000, 03:29 AM
#6
09-15-2000, 10:11 AM
#7
09-15-2000, 01:55 PM
Bandit99,
I live in Rochester, MN and I got my raptor about a week or so ago. I regularly travel up to the grand rapids, mn area to go riding. It is the best area in the nation to go riding. I lived there for 20 years. There is huge hills, hills so big you wont even be able to climb them. I used to have a 99 banshee decked out and I also had a quadzilla and a 98 cr500 that couldn't climb some of these hills. There is also tons of trails and sand pits and just about any kind of riding you want to do. You can ride for weeks and never ride the same trails. If you (or anybody) would like to go riding sometime give me a holler. I swear youll never want to ride anywhere else. My email address is pauldeguiseppi@hotmail.com.
I live in Rochester, MN and I got my raptor about a week or so ago. I regularly travel up to the grand rapids, mn area to go riding. It is the best area in the nation to go riding. I lived there for 20 years. There is huge hills, hills so big you wont even be able to climb them. I used to have a 99 banshee decked out and I also had a quadzilla and a 98 cr500 that couldn't climb some of these hills. There is also tons of trails and sand pits and just about any kind of riding you want to do. You can ride for weeks and never ride the same trails. If you (or anybody) would like to go riding sometime give me a holler. I swear youll never want to ride anywhere else. My email address is pauldeguiseppi@hotmail.com.
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#9
09-15-2000, 04:14 PM
#10
09-15-2000, 05:32 PM
Ive ridden at Redding up on hwy 23, but not right at white rock, maybe in a couple of weeks Ill go try it out.
As for my video, my girlfriend was the CameraWoman, but she kept moving because I would throw rocks when I went by her, and she didnt know to keep zoomed out a little to keep the image more stable. I added a new video today, of just some hopping a little hill, a donut, and a little other stuff.
As for my video, my girlfriend was the CameraWoman, but she kept moving because I would throw rocks when I went by her, and she didnt know to keep zoomed out a little to keep the image more stable. I added a new video today, of just some hopping a little hill, a donut, and a little other stuff.