Looking for input from those who actually own/ride one, not just an analysis of how it looks "on paper" or a rehash of what some magazine says.....

They are at my local dealers now, but I have to say they are on the small side! The magazines claimed that they are sized for the average rider, but I say no way. An average rider will be cramped in this cockpit!

My son is skinny but tall for an early teen. He is on a 250EX right now, but we bash huge desert whoops and it has limited suspension. In terms of height and experience he is ready for a 400, but not in terms of weight. It is nice that the Raptor 250 is so ultralight, but it is looking like the 250 is way way to small for him.....

 

reconranger,
We just bought an orange and black SE Raptor 250 Wednesday for my 11 year old son. They are small, but not so small that I can't ride it myself, and have fun just tooling around on it. It is very very light, and handling is surprisingly good. Suspension is ok for a 250 sport quad, and from the limited time I have spent on it I would say it is better than the 250 EX suspension. I haven't ridden it very much though. My son rode it for 15 minutes the first night we had it, then my wife rode it last night for 15 minutes, and I went with her on my Grizzly. The only reason I rode it was because she said the engine had died both times she stopped. The engine has less than half an hour on it, and is still tight as a drum. I rode the Raptor 250 home last night, and didn't have any problems with the engine dieing on me at all, so maybe the wife wasn't pulling in the clutch (thats a joke [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img], she's better than that). I did turn the idle screw in about a quarter of a turn to speed up the idle just a tad until the engine breaks in though.

Honestly, I can't see swapping from a 250 EX to a Raptor 250 for a teenage son. It sounds like he is ready for a 400. Our oldest son rode a 250 EX from age 11 to 12, then a 400 EX from 12 to 14, then moved to a YFZ 450 at 14. Our yougest son seems to be following pretty much the same growing curve, and just moved to the Raptor 250 at age 11.

You should see the Raptor 250 parked next to one of our Grizzly 700s. It looks like the big quads had a baby. Maybe I'll take a picture with the digital camera and post it on my photo page later tonight.

DV

 

what about looking into a honda 300 or a raptor 350 in bet wenn a 250 and 400 then skip the 400 stage and go right to a 450

 

I'm hoping to skip the 400 stage with our younger son. I think the Raptor 250 is enough better than the 250 EX our older son rode that it will work just fine until he is old enough to move up to a 450. I can't really see moving from one 250 to another though.

Here's a link to the picture I took before we went for a ride tonight (still pending approval for a while I'm sure). My son rode the 250 again, so I don't really have anything else to add. Let me know if you have more questions.

Raptor 250 size vs the Grizzly 700

 

u have to admit tho even if he doesnt fit it he'll look relly cool rideing it[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img].... and it looks like it has nice suspenshon and sutch.. i dont one one tho...... this is my .2 im a twelv year oul child who cant seem to put a wrench down my parents know nothing about this kinda stuf i fix my qwuad all the time and quite frankly i could hop on a 400 and go do some pit rideing or put her in 5 gear and pin it.... (ps the dirt road would end before then ) but thats just how i feel im shure ur son could prubly ride a 300 or 350 i was gunna get a 200 and my mom talked me into a 250 because it was bigger and had more power..... im not saying u should get them something that they will blow off of it they hit the throttle(trials bike) but some thing they can grow into so u dont have to buy them a new bike every year....( i wouldnt mind haveing that raptor tho :-])

 

We just finished a 47 mile ride today, and I must say that I am even more impressed with the Raptor 250 than I was before. We went to the Duck Creek ATV trail system, which is in the mountains about 30 miles away, at 9,000 ft elevation. There are multiple ATV width only trails, with gaits on them that are just barely wide enough to let a Grizzly 700 pass through. The trails wind their way through 100 ft tall ponderosa pines, and aspen groves. It was a little on the dusty side, and the trails are typical of other ATV trails in the Rocky Mountains (emphasis on the rocky part).

The Raptor 250 did great, and the 11 year old rode it the whole way, with the exception of two really steep boulder covered hill climbs, where he let his 17 year old brother ride it to the top. I was at the top of the second hill when our older son rode up on the Raptor, and when he stopped next to me and shut the quad off his exact words were "dang this is a great quad, I would like to have one of these". The 11 year old did just fine all day long, with no problems at all. His average trail speeds were at least double what he has been doing for the last year on his old Grizzly 125, and this was only his first full day on the Raptor. By the end of the day he was power sliding it around turns on the few roads we went on. It is very light, it handles great, and it is super easy to ride. We're perfectly happy with it. And in 47 miles it looks like the Raptor 250 used about a quarter of a tank of gas. Seriously, the gas level is only down one inch from the top. This thing looks like it will go forever on a tank of gas.

The only sour note on the day was when a Rhino that had gotten past the ATV width gates rolled right directly in front of us on the trail. The passenger did not have their seat belt on, and of course she stuck her foot out, and ended up with a badly broken foot. The Rhino was barely moving, but hooked a root with one front tire and veared off the side of the trail and up the side of a steep embankment right beside the trail, and flipped on it's side.

DV

 

Seen that same Rhino injury quite a few times now!