No sir, check the specs sheets, there's barely any difference.

 

Why dont they make the Warrior anymore?

 

recon

I beg to differ with you, the Raptor 350 and the Warrior are NOTHING alike an ANY way.

We've owned both and the Raptor is a totally different machine for all intents and purposes. They pretty much changed everything from bars to tires, right down to the cam and exhaust.

The ergonomics are not even close! The Raptor has a nice seating position, nice fat foot pegs, and the suspension and handling are much more agressive friendly, it's a good 1-2 inches wider and a good 1-3 inches shorter which totally changes the handling. The steering stem angle is different, and suspension geometry is different, and weight distribution is different. They angled the engine a few degrees forward to center the weight. And it's 25lbs lighter.

About the only thing I saw between our 2001 Warrior and the Raptor that was the same were the rims. And at first I though the swingarm was the same too but they changed the chain adjustment and the swing arm is at a different angle, and the linkage is different.

The Warrior is a great crusing machine, but it is what it is, a 20-year old design. Compared to anything new it's going to come up short. This is not to bash the Warrior in any way. I wanted one the day I saw it in the magazines back in 1987, and it was the best all around sport machine for MANY years. It's a classic in every sense.

My buddy Brian had an amazing 1988 5.0 Mustang, fastest car I ever driven to this day. But he'd be the first to tell you that the 2006 Mustang is vastly superior in almost every way.

 

Yamaha got a wild hair up their @ss and decided that they wanted all their sport quads to look alike, so the warrior was replaced with the raptor 350. They REALLY bastardized the poor wolverine, not only does it look dumb as hell, but it also lost performance over the old 350. I have to say I really don't like the way yamaha has been headed lately, the warrior is probably the last yamaha i'll ever own unless they make some changes.

But anyways, they did change some of the ergonomics, with a different seat height, different pegs, different handlebars, etc., but the suspension all works the same, the motor is all the same except for an unnoticable change in the cam, really none of the changes were drastic except for the plastics. Some may find the raptor to be more comfortable, but it's all what you're used to I guess. I had all utility quads before my warrior, and I guess from being accustomed to utility quads I find the warrior more comfortable 90% of the time.

Maybe what you should do is sit on both of them, and see which one you like more. I don't like the way they changed the raptor 350 at all, it just feels tall and tippy with the ergonomic changes, and I think the plastics are goofy looking, like kymoco designed it.

 

I think all of the raptors like nice

 

Yeah, that's what yamaha has been trying to do. They are making quads that look more appealing to buyers new to the sport, but at the same time a lot of us guys that have been riding for years look at these new quads and go pbbt, they all look the same, there's nothing special about them anymore. It used to be that quads all had a unique apperance. Like with the first real high performance quads we had the honda 250r, kawasaki tecate 4, suzuki quadracer and quadzilla, and the yamaha banshee. All of these machines had their own style, and you could tell what it was from a mile away. Now if you line up all the 2006/7 sport quads up in a row you'll find they all look the same, except for slight variations. The same thing is happening with automobiles and motorcycles too. Maybe i'm just making myself look old, but I don't like blending in with the crowd, I like to be a little unique and have something that can turn heads. Go to an MX track and look at the quads riding on it. Mostly you'll see 450's, with the occasional 250r mixed in. A machine like a banshee or warrior always stands out in a crowd like that, because the styling is unique. eh whatever, i could ramble on forever about this stuff.

 

Well I live in alaska and pretty much everyone has utility quads a raptor will stand out in alaska i have seen more banshes then raptors

 

I happen to believe that older quads had distinctive looks because ATVs in general were a new off-road technology. Different manufacturers had different designs attempting to make what they thought would work. This is what manufacturers do to make a product better than the competition. As time goes on they see what works and what doesn't. This explains why newer quads and bikes look so similar. They use what works. This includes motor, suspension, frame, ergonomics, and body coverings. I'll concede that plastic and the overall look of a quad is very subjective to anybody, but it is still subject to the design of everything else that makes the whole vehicle.

 

I also feel that most utility quads look the same. Could this be for utility purposes???

 

Everything new just seems too refined to me. You gotta draw a line between improving your product, and just copying off the comptetition. That's what's really happening in the atv market. Someone comes out with a new big bore, and you can be damn sure that next year someone will 1-up them with something even more uselessly bigger. But look at the fender lines on all the new ones. They all have the same shapes, lines, and curves. It's impossible to say which one is the better looking quad anymore, because they all look the friggin same. And why would the new raptor-shaped designs be any better than the older ones that actually had some character? It's not like they're saving on weight or aerodynamics, and there's not a chance of them doing what they're supposed to do - keep mud from hitting the rider.