Hey guys, I have a stock Raptor (for the moment) except that I have removed the spark arrestor. Do you think that I will need to rejet? I ride at about 5k feet at the Little Saharah dunes in Utah. I got a noticable power gain, not huge but you can feel it because the front end wants to come up easier.
I love this bike but I have to say that I was a bit dissapointed when all I can manage up Sand Mountain (about a 600 foot increase in elevation in about 800 feet) was second gear. I haven't tried run them side by side yet but I wouldn't be very surprised if my piped Scrambler 400 stays with it or beats it up the hill. I have heard that I should gear down in front from the stock 13 tooth to a 12 tooth, is that hard to do and do I need to remove chain links or just adjust the slack out?
Although it's a decent hillclimber it really shines in the open dunes and desert trails. When you see some whoops coming up (they come up fast at 50 mph) you can just hit the throttle and the thumper will usually loft the front end skyward and the back will soak up the terrain. I am having a blast with my new toy

'01 Raptor '00 Trailblazer '99 Scrambler 400 4x4

 

For the jetting I do believe they run lean from the factory but taking your spark arrestor out should not make to much of a differance! If your put a 12tooth sprocket up front you wont have to take a link out just adjust I run an 11 and I didnt even have to remove a link. I agree I was disapointed in the power of the raptor I bet the polaris would keep up with it if you change the gearing you will notice a huge differance, plus do some other mods pipe/airbox these are said to make huge gains but who knows could be just hype. I will let everyone know the truth once my pipe and other mods are done.

 

i live in utah as well. it sounds like you really dont like your raptor. does a banshee beat the 660 up the hill, are thier any mod to fix this. just want to know before i buy...

 

Hey DuneJammer. I also live in Utah and own a raptor. I had the same problem going up Big Sand with the stock gearing. I changed to a 12 tooth front and now I can pull third gear all the way up. I have taken my spark arrestor out but I did not rejet. I don't think you will have to because of the higher altitude. (probably running rich anyway). My brother-in-law just bought a banshee with t5's and a uni airbox and filter and he will usually win by a bike length up big sand. On smaller hills or flat ground though, I win almost every time.

 

yo raptor77 where did you get your 12 tooth cog and how do you take the spark arrestor out?
how does the raptor do up the face of sand mountain? have you raced a banshee up the face?



01 raptor in a few weeks

 

All I could manage was second gear up sand mountain too. I'm gonna try a 12 tooth primary and see if it helps. The mechanic said they're all jetted for sea level.And not to mess with it for 20 or 30 hours.

 

My Raptor is still stock. I plan to go the the 12-tooth sprocket as well.
I did change the jetting to 135/140 from the 140/145 from the factory. It "feels" like it's pulling higher RPMs. The problem is that I've been riding in the snow above my house and can't really compare the ride to when I was at the dunes. I'm going to Jericho tomorrow to test it where I rode before to see if leaning it out helped. I know that it's not too lean, because the plug looks better than it did when it was jetted at 140/145.

 

Hey buggy, I got the sprocket from Rocky Mountain ATV. It's a renthal, They go for 15.99. It is a good quality unit. Right now I think they are out of stock. To get my spark arrestor out I had to use a pair of vise grips a hammer and a screw driver. I totally wrecked it. Oh well, I am going to get a pipe anyway. I am going to Big Sand tommorrow if it is not too cold. I have not raced a banshee up the face yet. But up the shoulder it depends on if they have paddles or not. If they do then they will win by about 4 bike lengths but if not they only win by about 1. Both of the banshees I have raced were my two brother-in-laws. Both of them have t5's and a uni airbox and filter. They were also jetted though and I haven't done a thing. So I am hoping that someone will get the jetting right for this altitude.

 

Thanks for the responses guys! I actually just got back from 2 fun-filled days Sand Mtn. about 10 minutes ago. It's cool to hear that there are a few of you guys on here that ride down there on Raptors. Maybe we should meet down there sometime, it would be cool to ride around with a pack of Raptors. (are groups of dinosaurs called packs?) I think you guys will have a good time, temps were about 40-45 with plenty of sunshine and a slight breeze.
Raptor77, I say go for it, it's not too cold

Buggy, please don't misunderstand me about liking my Raptor. I friggin love this thing, just would like to pull third up the big hill. I think the 12 tooth is the ticket, also as it get's broken-in it is making more power. I am actually much more impressed with this thing after this last ride than the first now that I have fed the Raptor a few tender stock banshees.
Kind of a funny story: (BTW I want to say up-front that I know banshees rock)
I was riding along when a guy on a banshee pulls up and waves me down. The guy picks a race with me and I decline saying "you'll probably beat me anyways" besides I was riding a trail with my wife. He is all asking me if I'm scared, can't it get up the mountain etc. and besides he's all stock just like me (he didn't have paddles either). So I agree and we all ride over to bottom of the hill. I let him pick where we start to give him as much run as he wants at it. At this point I still expected to loose since the only Banshees I have ridden were built by KnT and were very fast but I have never been on a stock 'shee. He launches and gets a slight hole shot on me before I realize the race has begun. I catch him almost immediatly through the whoops and am several lengths ahead by the time I hit third. Can't maintain third for more than about 50 yards so back into second, still waiting to be passed so I turn around and find him turning around so I continue to the top and come back down.
I asked what happened and he says his gas cap fell off and he says he wan't another shot at me. Same story, he takes off before I expect it and I catch him and led him by 10-15 lengths the whole way up! When we got to the top I asked him what happened that time and he admits defeat and says that was as fast as his bike will go up the hill but says he can get me on the flats no problem and picks another race. So down the hill we go to line up for a 200 yard sand drag by this time we have a small crowd gathering. This time I was ready for him and we both launched at exactly the same time. We both spun hard at takeoff since we were both running stock knobbies instead of paddles but I walked him easily. By the time I hit 4th gear he was easily 10 lengths back and loosing ground. He said "nice" and rode off with his tail between his legs. I noticed a DS650 in the small "crowd" that had gathered and picked a friendly race with him and he said "no way, not after seeing that" ( Note: that's what he said, I'm not saying I would have won since I have yet to race one). I then challenged a guy who was riding with our group that has a moderately worked 'Shee (Toomeys, filter, cool heads, porting 10 paddle haulers and I don't know what else) to the same race to see how bad he would beat me (obviously I had about a snowballs chance in hell). Believe it or not, at 10 feet he had about 1 length on me and only about 5 lengths at 200 yards. We were both surprised to say the least. Then we go back over to the hill and he gives me a slight headstart, next thing I know a wall of sand passes me at light speed. Not even a contest on the hill. When I was halfway up he was shut down waiting for me.
I had a great time to say the least and was very impressed with my new ride. Can't wait to pipe it etc. Oh yeah, I'm getting one of those Banshees too cuz that's a real rush to go that fast up the hill.
Sorry for the annoyingly long post, hope I dind't bore anybody

'01 Blue Raptor '00 Trailblazer '99 Scrambler 400 4x4

 

DuneJammer that would be pretty cool to get out there and ride together. I usually go with my in-laws. They are all great guys and alot of fun to ride with. So if you don't mind the extra company, my email address is cr_perry@hotmail.com. Talk to you later.