I'm sure you will all recall the heated arguements about which is the better quad: Banshee or Raptor. Every one that had ordered one just knew it would be the best quad of all time. Every one that owned a Banshee, including myself, just knew that it would never out-perform their beloved 2-stroke monsters. I, like many others, have even raced Raptors with my Banshee and won. However, today I had the opportunity to actually ride my friend's Raptor. It must have just been my skill that allowed me to beat the Raptor. All I can say is that it is amazing. He rode my Banshee and I just absolutely smoked him with his own Raptor. And I could tell by the sounds coming from my machine that he wasn't ******* it; he was making it scream. I will still give flat out acceleration from a dead stop to top speed to the Banshee. And with our machines, the Banshee did have a slightly faster top speed. But from our experience, that was the only way the Banshee was faster. Everywhere else ( especially coming out of tight turns, or any situation when you have to rev down )the Raptor pulled away. The superior handling of the Raptor also helps it out in those tight spots. Incredible bottom-end. Between the two, I'd have to say the Raptor is indeed the better all-around quad. I still love my machine, but now all I can count on to win a race is skill. I can no longer count on automatically and effortlessly pulling away from every other machine ( well, the DS takes a little effort ). So there. I admitt it. I was wrong. But, as I said, I do still love the legendary Banshee. And I can at least take pride in the fact that the only quad I judge to be better than my Banshee is also made by Yamaha!

 

Thanks for the report! I can honestly say im practically getting goosebumps waiting for my machine! Man oh man I had to wait till the day before it was announced before I spoke for one! Im kicking myself! 3rd in line and still waiting......

I may be slow but im ahead of you!

 

Well, I only rode my friend's machine for about and hour, but in that time I think I experienced enough to tell you that it will be worth the wait.