I SHOULD BE GETTING MY RAPTOR IN NOVEMBER, BUT WITH ALL THE PROBLEMS EVERYONE IS HAVING I KEEP PUSHING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO A 400EX. I KNOW ALL THE PEOPLE WHO OWNED A 400 BEFORE THEY GOT THEIR RAPTOR SAID THEY ALL LOVED THE RAPTOR WAY BETTER THAN THEIR 400'S, BUT WHAT DO THEY THINK OF THE RAPTOR NOW COMPARED TO THE 400EX, NOW THAT ALL OF THESE PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN SHOWING UP?????

 

It does seem that some people are having trouble with treir Raptor. It apparantly is'nt true for all Raptors since some people are having no troubles (including me). Your post says "unreliable Raptor", so get the 400ex and maybe you will change your mind about the Raptor later after you get a chance to ride one. Good luck!
Note: My neighbors 400ex motor sits in a million pieces right now because he had plans of out-dragging my Banshee (took place before I got my Raptor).

 

Unreliable? I hardly think the Raptor is deserving of such a name so early into its life. Its only been released a few weeks. From what I have seen / heard, all of these incidents have been isolated and rare...which about every manufacture will have those I imagine.

 

Your post should read .......
Reliable 400EX with no *****,air cooled with no reverse outdated quad or Brand new state of the art Very fast,liquid cooled with reverse Raptor. Sure the raptor may have a few problems here and there because its new,but once you fix those minor problems id much rather have the features of the Raptor.But ill be sure to let you no because im picking mine up at 5 today.

 

WOW!! I DID'T MEAN TO **** EVERYONE OFF, SORRY. TRUST ME, I CAN'T WAIT TO GET MY RAPTOR. I KNOW WE ALL READ PLENTY OF POSTS ABOUT THE EX VS THE RAPTOR, AND THE RAPTOR ALWAYS CAME OUT WAY, WAY, WAY ON TOP. I WAS JUST CURIOUS HOW EVERYONE STILL COMPARED THE TWO, NOW THAT THE RAPTOR HAS BEEN OUT FOR A WHILE, AND A FEW, OR MORE PEOPLE HAVE HAD PROBLEMS WITH THEM. I'M GLAD YOU GUYS LIKE YOUR RAPTORS, AND I'M SURE I'LL LOVE MINE 2, BUT I'M SURE NEITHER OF US WANT A A-ARM TO BREAK WHEN FLYING THROUGH THE WOODS. THANKS FOR YOUR OPINIONS, KEEP EM COMING.

 

1st of all, I wouldn't go as far to call the 400ex "outdated". That's a silly thing to say.
But, I do remember that, not too long ago, I was seeing quite a few 400ex's in the shop having new swingarms installed. Every new model will have problems when they are first introduced.

 

Sorry buddy, you post should read: "reliable, bulletproof, revlimited long running motor" what is liquid cooling really doing for the Raptor? Think about it. Just adding weight. The 400 doesn't need liquid cooling. Doesn't have to rev to put out power. And with the problems of the Raptor turning up, this is why Honda's 400ex seems outdated and underpowered. They don't just throw together a quad. Sorry guys, this is the facts. And with the horsepower ratio to weight not very dif. between the bikes (even though the Raptor has 260 more cc's) is it really worth the extra 800-1000 bucks for reverse? Not for me. I'd rather put that money into mods to my proven 400ex. Lets be real here. How many of you will keep the Raptor stock? We already know about the a arms, that can't be cheap. Just more reason to buy the 400ex. It is a great quad. It handles great, suspened pretty good for the average joe, and it has that sacred wing on it....
Bottom line is.. "No Wing, No Prayer"

Good luck with the Raptors, I'm just plain happy with my 400ex.

 

jvc400ex some day you will ride a Raptor to see the difference from the 400ex.When i sold my 400 i was kinda bummed out that it was such a great quad and i was wasting 1600 on the raptor.Tonight i will never think that again.Its night and day and until you actually hop on one and take it for a ride you will never no.

 

You may be right, I haven't ridden one yet either, but....

For what I do, 63mph in 3rd gear is not acceptable. The gaps between 1-3rd are way too wide, and even a sprocket change will only make minor improvements. This basically leaves 2 gears totally useless, essentially a 3 speed tranny for most normal riding situations.

While straight line acceleration is important, who's fastest by a bike length or two in a drag race is really of little consequence, I can easily make that up and more in the more technical sections.

The aluminum upper control arms would be a constant deterrant to my favorite activity (see my webpage). Also easy to collapse in a collision (with a tree, rock, other ATV, etc..) which would be particularly frusterating just after unloading from a long road trip to a cool riding area (which is undoubtedly what would happen to me)

The CV carbs don't sound like they have a very positive feel....

The rake angle of the front frame rails sounds like it will also be quite an issue for me, in many cases I don't think that my EX even has enough.

The 400EX can be modified to the same HP levels reliably & without great costs.

Reverse is of no concern to me. It has never been a problem in 20 years of woods riding, I don't expect it to become a problem.

Ride height is too high.

I'm not trying to put down the Raptor, but I don't think it is or will be the "be all and end all quad" it is touted to be. Much like the Banshee when it first came out.

I would love to ride one, to get an opinion based on an actual ride, but I have also been riding long enough, and ridden enough machines to know what properties I like and dislike, what works and what doesn't.

The bottom line, practically everyone's going to love the quad they buy. Some buy for different reasons than others. Many of mine are laid out above....

 

Hats off to Yamaha for staying in the performance market all these years when lawsuits scared everyone else away.