Hiya all I've been gone from this site for about 5 years - just wonder whats been going on in the world of Yamaha quads?

First - a little background on myself. I bought my first Raptor in 2002. Shortly thereafter I found this site - and got HOOKED. I spent several hours per day on here learning, and eventually sharing, everything I could. I spent all my extra time and $$ on my Raptor and racing. In 2003 and 2004 I traveled around the country racing in many GNCC races. At the peak of my quad addiction I had 3 complete setups for my raptor - one for XC, one for MX, and one for dunes. I could switch back and forth from one to the other in a few hours depending on what kind of riding I was planning. In all, I had about $25,000 in the quad and spare parts.

In the middle of 2004 I changed jobs. I had to get something other than a pickup truck to drive to work. I ended up getting an EVO . . . and shortly thereafter I found the EVO forums and got hooked on THAT. Mainly do autocross and drags, and some road racing. Well 5 years, 1 National Championship, multiple national podiums, and $1xx,xxx later - I think its time I get the Raptor back to it's past glory. Problem is - the raptor has not moved in 5 years. And I've forgetten everything I knew about it. And I have no clue who the top shops are now. If memory serves correct back in 2003/2004 some of the big names on here for engine mods were Craycraft, Trinity, Sparks. Big bore 686 kits were really popular. The big dogs had 727's. There were a couple 770's but they were having some issues. There were even fewer turbo quads. Maybe a handful, if that. One or two might have had a titanium con-rod. The highest HP nitrous raptor was around 105hp. The highest HP N/A was around 70hp. Mine was around 50 on a Dynojet dyno. (YES! It was a handful in the tight GNCC woods trails )

So anyway - feel free to give me any info or advice you have. If you are an OG and remember me stop in and say HI. Only real quick questions I have now are:

- who are some of the top Raptor shops in the country as far as building and tuning motors?
- is it very easy to add EFI to an older raptor, or am I better off starting with one that already has EFI?
- what is more common nowadays for drag racers - nitrous or turbo?

Thanks!! Have a great 2010!

Jarrod

(some pics of my quad back in the day)

 

If you are wanting to get back into it I would start fresh with a 700 with EFI, you can pick them up pretty resonable used. The top shops for the raptors now are Racer's Edge, Team Rocket Factory, and KDS Racing. JVR offers a complete turbo package and I am thinking it boosts it up to around 80 HP for about 3500. They are getting these engines up to the 900cc range now and getting close to hitting the 100+HP mark without turbo or on the bottle. I have heard of a few breaking 100 but have not seen any dyno charts. The mods I have done to mine have cost me just a little over 2 grand and I should be pushing around 65 HP but have not had the chance to get it to a dyno yet. Still, the nitrous is more common on the drag race scene. I have several buddies that are pretty big into drag racing. One is running an 804 raptor just on motor and is pushing close to 90HP and running 4.3s in 300ft. Another buddy is running a stock bore/stoke no power adder and was still getting into the high 4.5's with his.

There are several raptor forums out there you can get a ton of information on with the 660's and 700's. Check out moddedraptor.com or raptorforum.com. Most of the the big builders are active on that site.

 

dont forget about kenz cycle. jvr turbo makes 90hp 70tq. one guy had a 804cc turbo making 145hp.

 

Well, I finally got her out of storage and am starting to tear it down, clean it up and get it back up and running again. The Maxxis tires held up amazingly well over the past 6 years with it sitting on occasionally damp concrete. No signs of dry rot or cracking.

I am having the engine and carb torn down, cleaned, and put back together. Sitting with VP U4 in it for 5+ years has not been friendly! :O I am getting a new fuel tank too. Hopefully with just that and a new battery and fresh oil she'll be back in action in no time! I think I'm going to run it on straight ethanol. I will have to contact Edelbrock to see if the gaskets and such in their Quicksilver carb are OK to play with the E's . . .

 

Those are some pretty nice pictures. I got hooked into this forum back around the fall of 97 in its old format. Most folks were new to forums in general, and I got to watch it grow and evolve. Around June or July of 99, they revamped the format and everyone had to create new logins (which is why the oldest dates you see are around that time). I ended up getting old, married, and boring and my post count shows whatever it shows, but for the past 5 years its probably less than 20. Sure wish I had the time and funds to get back into this thing myself. Anymore, I just show up when I need advice on some minor repair or need some tune up specs.

 

i cant help but get wowed at your pics. awesome!

 

how does that thing handle?

 

I couldn't see your pics because they were blocked from my work computer, I logged on from home last night, that is an AWESOME looking 660!

 

Crazies thing I see so far with this on Youtube, The kid put a 120hp Polaris XC700 twin stroke sled motor in his Scrambler.
YouTube - SKi-Doo Motor OVERVIEW

I ride with a few Polaris XC700s they do over 100mhp across a slushy lake, I don't know how the Scrambler"s tranny is staying together. LOL