Man, one of the people we ride with has 7 paddle haulers, and they dont like them , the rest of us run 10 paddle and we tried 8 paddle. If you are really serious about 7's this guy would probally trade you however I dont reccomend it!

 

I'm not one of those guys who runs one gear setup and then expects my bike to conform. I run everything from a 12/42 to 14/39 depending on the location and conditions. In the dunes I run different than the drags, trails, hillshooting and ice each get their own as well. I havent had this setup on the strip yet so it will all be new. I run a few aluminum rear sprockets but I have decided to stick with the o-ring. I ran a good non-oring last summer and didnt notice anything big enough to show up on timeslips, so this year I'm not going to bother with an extra one just for the drags.

The guys at Skat trak and the shop at the local dunes recommend extra paddles for the sugary, soft, dry sand they have there. I know everyone has been running 7 or 8 paddle extremes on the west coast, but I've never been out that way on an atv so I dont know how different it is.

I have already decided on the 21x12x8, I have low profile paddles now and I dont need the handling advantages as much as I'd like the speed. Right now I'm leaning towards the 8 paddle, but I have a fear that I will give up too much on the holeshot and not have enough top to make it up. At around 3 bones a crack for tires on wheels I'd prefer not to screw this up again. My first set cost me 315 and I'll be taking a substantial loss on them when I sell them, even though they are in great shape.

 

I cant help you decide on paddle count, but I can tell you what I would do if I was in your shoes[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

do more research and everytime you go riding, socialize with others who have paddles and maybe test their setup out. after you finally have socialized and came up with your best solution, you will have worn out your current paddles and it will be time to replace due to wear.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

I hear 7 or 8 paddles on an 8 inch rim is where you need to be

did you say 55hp stock bore? wow that must be nice and fast.

keep us updated, I am curious

 

The 8 paddles are good. They(Skat Trak) (as far as I know )do not make a 21" tire anymore..At least they said they didn't when I called their tech last month. Rapfam has some old 21's he runs on his and (I know you won't believe me)they are taller than my 22 inch tires. I don't know why...they just are.We do NOT run extremes...only the haulers...The guys with the extemes complained about the bog they felt between gears and seemed to find the haulers worked a bit better...But then again...the sand may be different...Extremes may be what you need out there.I can only help you with what I know from west coast experience...Try Rockymountain for your tires...according to their magazine in front of me...they want 211.99 for their 21x12x8 -8 paddle extremes on a .125 douglas wheel...Thats a pair.My 22x11x8-7 paddles on wheels were only 181.99 for the pair...plus 30 bucks shipping.

 

I'll let you boys in on a little secret, Skat got the tires and they have been making the 21" paddles since Monday. Any dealer worth a damn knows this and can get them for you in less than 2 weeks to your door with std shipping.

Unfortunately there arent many raptors around here to compare with. The only one that has good power is running a +6 swinger, aggressive 686 and is on the bottle. He was running 20x10x10 10 paddle extremes last year too but seemed to be having the same problem with losing distance to other bikes about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up the local sand hill.

The extremes have a thicker and stronger paddle that holds up a LOT more abuse than the regular hauler. An 8 paddle extreme is equivalent to a 9 paddle hauler of the same size. I opt for the extremes because of the parking lot into the dunes and the rocky/woody sand hills we have in the state. Triple buffs or UL would be great but these tires need to do recreational duning duty as well.

Voodoothenoob, I hope its around 55hp. There are dynos in the state that I'm sure would give me something very close to that number and other dynos that I know I wouldnt hit 40 on. Stock raptors barely make 22 on some dynos here.

 

I have a turbo-nitros powered 686 (115 hp with 95 ft. lbs of torque) and I really like the new Aerospeeds. They hook up really good and are great duners. My only problem is that I have spilt the seems on two of them due to the about of power I am putting on the ground. The write ups on them have not been great but that is due to using them on 500cc & less quads

 

22x11x8 8 paddle for the flats
22x11x8 7 paddle for the hills

 

22" 10 paddles on a 10x8 rim