haha...my raptor has had none of those problems. In my view, they are one of the best quads out there. Oh so so fast [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img], i love it. There not that tipsy once you get used to it, i think there much more fun to ride becasue it requires some attention to ride, but not all of your attention, if that makes sense to you [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img], and takeoff...there not that slow at takeoff, especially if you know how to ride it, plenty of low end torqe n` power. Tranny problems are only in 01's...mines never had a problem, and neither has my dads. Clutch has worked fine on all of the raptors that i know of around here, and mines never overheated, the fans came on a few times, but thats what it sposed to do[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

i have ridden and abused the living h3ll out of my raptor...been rolled twice, road through water up to the fenders, seen tons of snow and piles and piles of mud.....for the amount of abuse i have given it it has held up reaaal well, the only thing ive had to fix NOT being my fault was the starter one way, and the bearings.....

you coast through trails with ease...i go through 3rd in the ones i ride in and trust me there is a lot of turns, it is tippy if you dont know how to ride it, the fronts like to grab thats why they have a little trouble turning compared to other quads.....great launch and top end...ive lost to a kid 1/2 my weight on a stock shee and once again on a vforce but not by much...

if i were to choose another quad id get the ds650 or another raptor...if you buy it you wont be dissapointed TRUST ME

 

LMAO. There is no such thing as too fast... or too quick. the bike is a good machine for a capable rider. its not designed for you to be a lazy rider. Its designed to hang you knee on the gastank and put your helmet on the front tire goin into the turns. It would be nice if it was wider but for the terrain i ride half the time its not practical. as with me T9 Baja wheels I rub on all the bridges i have to cross. It could have 10 times the power and still not have enough but hey its still better than walkin. for trails an investment in a 12x44 sprocket setup and a couple washers and longer bolts for the swing arm skid and you be good to go. 13x40 is kinda a pain in the but sumtimes and i preffer to not use first gear except to start or to tractor thru nasty stretchs of trail. in current Road running setup Mine does 74mph aint nothin to write home about. would like 140 or so out of it. but i dont have an r6 or r1 layin around sayin put me in a quad. and time will tell for me i think my raptor may get slammed on 20's and made a whole bunch wider and just use it for roads and dunes. I prolly gettin a 4x4 for trail riding. Cold and wet sucks.

 

Welcome to the 'connection forums YamahaRyder4Lyfe!

 

i love it! had it since july 2004 and havnt had any problems. as for the tippy part, i put it on its side a couple of times but it wasnt the machines fault. i was practusing wheelies and i hit a couple of bumps and over i went. no biggie.
i love the power. there is nothing like pulling the front wheels up in 3rd without touching the clutch or the grab bar.

 

Yep, my '02 Rappy is fun as hell....I have the Yoshi full system pipe with jetting, rev box, K&N with air box lid off. This thing flat flys! It's like a muscle car with sport car styling...I'm not a serious rider but I do appreciate the power. I can bring the front end up into a wheelie anytime I want. It's crazy!

 

Well I'm a big guy, and when I went from a Warrior to the Raptor, I was in heaven...all that power, suspension and a beautiful package to boot.....I really like our Raptor, My 18 year old just loves it, and won't ride anything else....

But then I bought a Prairie700 and just the ergonomics of that machine caused me to love how big it was....But unfortunately When I got back on the Raptor, I swear the thing must have shrunk, because then the Raptor felt small......

And then I rode the VForce700, and it gave me the big guy ergonomics I needed and had tremendous power, and was surprizingly agile and felt light....And like the Raptor, you can yank it up on a wheelie anytime, anywhere you want.....

I can tell you that the VTwin power plant is soooo much smoother feeling than the 660, and I think spoils me...

And now, after riding all this stuff, If I had to make a purchase over again, between the Raptor and the VForce, Honestly I think I might go with the VForce.... not because of any faults of the Raptors, it's great machine, a great machine, but for me just the larger size of the VForce pushes me that way.

I'll also tell you that when I first was shopping for the Raptor, I was leaning towards the VForce but was worried about what I thought was a lack of engine breaking with the belt drive....After all we do a lot of riding in the mountains and stuff, and I thought I would be better able to use the engine breaking and transmission braking of the five speed......But it turned out that this was a non issue, because the Vtwins belt drive has excellent breaking, oh and you don't have to shift...............

 

I got an 05' LOVE IT! Wouldn't trade it for nothin'.....unless they put reverse on a 450...
Naw...I'll keep the Raptor!!!! Have no problems...my buddy has an 01', the only thing
with his is kinda hard to start when it is cold...but it don't take long to warm up...

 

You will love it or hate it!!! I never liked ours but I had a big pig first[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] so it always felt small to me. Just have to ride one and make the choice after that. Never had a problem with our 01 and a friend still has it.

 

I really like my 2004 raptor I have only had a few problems with it. I have smoked two clutches on it but I believe it was rider error on my part. I think until you put a pipe on a raptor it is very restricted. I love that bike it has a lot of cool mods for it too. I am piped and jetted and my bike is pretty damn quick.