Looking for any comments on the new Raptor 250. Mostly interested in comparison to the Blaster. Thinking about one for my son to race MX next year instead of his Blaster. Thanks

 

they're basically a 4 stroke blaster... they have a round bearing carrier too..

 

oooh that is a tough one... Very few are out in the wild right now. I think it might be too soon to tell. I am trying to get to see one at teh local dealer so my son can sit on one for size. Can't make up our minds regarding getting a sport or Ute model. Other son had a blaster and it was a great machine. Not sure the 250 will be up to the same standards racing wise. That isn't a YZ motor to begin with. So the HP output isn't going to be nearly the same for comparison to the original 2 stroke blaster.

 

We bought one for our youngest son (age 11). It seems to be a great little quad for him, and he hasn't had any problems adjusting to it at all. He has ridden it about 150 miles worth so far, including one ride that was 80 miles on the Paiute ATV Trail in UT. It runs real good, and even ran good at 10,000 ft elevation. It is real easy to ride, is super light feeling, and has great handling. But I'm not sure how it stacks up against a Blaster as far as power goes. We've never owned a Blaster. The Raptor 250 engine was originally from a 250cc supermoto bike that is sold overseas.

We just bolted on a set of Skat Trak Haulers, and a set of Sand Star front tires on the Raptor 250 tonight, and we're heading to the dunes tomorrow with it. My son will be riding it, but maybe I'll get a chance to see how it measures up to a few other quads.

 

Desertviper, how does it stack up against the Honda? I am looking at both for my youngest, and frankly I think the deciding factor is going to be the reverse and electric start. Something I think the Yamaha is lacking (reverse) if I am correct. My eldest son had a blaster years ago, it was quick. A great machine, however with one drawback, well two actually. Kick start, and no reverse. I can't tell you how many times on the trail those two items bit him. Just turning around on a tight trail, or backing off an obsticle was enough to make be thank my lucky stars I had both. He would have to get off, pick it up and swing it around. Not always an easy task dependingon what was around you at the time.

 

We had a 250 EX for our older son, and now have the Raptor 250 for our younger son. Overall the Raptor 250 is a much better ATV. It is lighter, better handling, better suspended, and has a little more power. But it doesn't have reverse. That means you have to push it off the trailer, but otherwise it hasn't been a big problem for my son yet.

We spent all day Saturday at the Little Sahara sand dunes, in UT. I put 45 miles on my Rhino in the big dunes, and my 11 year old son probably rode another five miles beyond what I did. The Raptor 250 used 2.1 gallons of gas in a full days riding. Three times my son got stuck in the sand, despite having 20x10x10 8 paddle Skat Traks on the Raptor. At eleven years old he is not strong enough to lift the Raptor out of the sand when it is buried to the frame. Reverse wouldn't have made any difference, I would have still had to circle back and get out of the Rhino and rescue him. I was impressed that the Raptor 250 with paddles can climb anything a Rhino 660 with paddles will climb (the Rhino's front axle was broken and it was relagated to two wheel drive only for the day). I was also really impressed with the suspension on the little Raptor. We took a whooped out trail that circles around the back side of Sand Mountain, and some of those whoops are big, and go for a quarter of a mile at a time. I held the Rhino wide open all the way threw the biggest stretch of whoops, and had started thinking the high dollar long travel suspension and Elka shocks were doing a great job. Then I noticed my 11 year old kid had pretty much kept right up with me through those same whoops with his Raptor 250. That one totally floored me, and I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. The suspension doesn't feel all that great when I ride his Raptor, but perhaps the Raptors super light weight combined with a 70 lb rider made the difference, because he flew threw those whoops like they were nothing.

DV

 

Thanks for the replies. Reverse isn't much of an issue as ours will be mostly on the MX track, very small amount of trail riding. I hope the extended a-arms I just got for the Blaster will fit. Haven't ordered shocks for them yet. Will do some measuring. My son likes his Blaster but everybody is going 4-stroke in the bigger classes and he wants to also. I like the 2-stroke but it is a dieing breed. Would like to put my money in something newer that is still produced.