I remember reading a while back flames being thrown back and forth about Raptors and Banshee's vs. 80, 125 and 250cc dirtbikes. Some people were totally sure that a 125 could beat a Raptor very easily, based on HP to weight ratios and such. One person even thought a 80cc dirtbike would hang close with a Raptor or Banshee. Well I was sitting on my back porch sighting in my .22 so I could go knock off a few squirrells when I heard a dirtbike accross the highway riding around. So I decided to hop on my Raptor and go take a ride and see who it was. I crossed the road and headed towards the sound that I heard. I got to a neighbors house and saw him sitting at the end of his driveway on his brand new 2002 CR125R. I stopped and asked about it. He had just gotten it a few weeks earlier and it was piped and jetted. My Raptor isn't highly modified, but more or less it is piped, jetted, filter and has a little taller gearing (14-42). So we decided to race down this looong straight in the road, at least 200 yards. So we started off and I jumped just slightly ahead off the line and through 3rd gear I could just see his front tire out of the corner of my eye. I shifted to 4th and he said I started pulling away pretty good until we had to slow down. He said that he got about halfway through his top gear, not sure if that is 5th or 6th, and I know I still had 5th to go. So those of you that will still swear that 125's are alot faster than Raptors, I know there's got to be some other variable in there that you aren't mentioning because this was a fair, flat drag race, almost up to top speed on pavement. Now based on this I would have to make the assumption that a 250cc dirtbike would pretty easily beat a Raptor or Banshee (all mods being about equal of course).

 

Raptors can hang pretty tight with 250cc dirtbikes.I have a mx track at my house one sat. me a my fellow quad riders were playing around. Sneeves buddy was on a kawi 250 2 stroke and wanted to race. He was sure he would destroy us. He let us have a head start the 1st race and he never caught us. The 2nd and 3rd race he went on our start, he still lost. Finally we used a flagger and he won some. But he also lost some.We were racing on about a 400 ft flat strip.

 

That's suprising. Last time I raced a 250 2 stroke was on bumpy sand, prior to my carb/filter/exhaust mods, and he smoked me. Maybe with better traction......

 

All you have said is you are better riders than the guys on dirt bikes.
Given conditions other than traction being a factor a quad wont run with a 125 dirt bike and dont have a hope in hell against a 250.
Riders can be big factors.

 

A brand new 125 probley has as much horsepower as a raptor. Does anyone know how much they make?

 

About 35 and weight about 200 pounds less, it is without question, rider ability aside, not even close. No quad, especially a Raptor can beat an MX bike.

 

OhHell, what you said is 100% wrong. I can see how traction and rider skill would matter in some cases, especially short drags. But I mean this was a long, straight, flat drag on pavement. You can tell yourself all you want that a Raptor can't hang with a 125, but I saw today that it can. I mean how hard is it to drive in a straight line on pavement after the holeshot, like I said this was a LONNNNG straight. I'll even admit that I got $hitty starts both times I raced him, and I still pulled away on the top. Or was I just more skilled at holding it full throttle?

And coryatver, a new 125 makes about 30HP.

GaryManilow, please explain to me where rider skill comes into play other than the holeshot in the drag racing situation I described. Or do u think maybe my mods REALLY boosted my HP that much?

 

Guys, Guys, Guys

I have to stop and reply to this.
First of all I've never ridden a Raptor, although it's a very nice bike.
Second a 2002 CR 125 another nice bike.
I believe the guy you raced give him another month. I'm not saying he will beet you I'm just saying give him another month.
A 2002 CR 125 jetted, filter, and piped very strong bike. I find it hard to believe this guy could launch this bike in second gear without fethering the clutch real hard, exspecialy on tar!!!
As far as a 250, well I've just sold a 96/cr 250 fully modded with a big bore kit.
Grant it I'm 39 and just bought my first quad (wich means nothing)
I've sold the 250 and bought a quad for one reason. In this past year I've had a rash of bad accidents on my bike.
Now the reason, I just couldn't hold on to the handle bars any more. No realy after thirty years of good fun enjoyable riding I've found that the bikes are to much for me. I can go about twenty to thirty minutes and then she would start to get away from me.
I only give you this factual info because I would like to know what quad in this world has this type of power.
I've ridden my nephews banchee, my brothers 250r drag bike And raced super comp drag racing for eleven years.
I never raced quads with my 250, we road together many times just never even wanted to.
I will finish by letting you all fight about whos faster But in the end if you want a fare race give the guy another month.

 

I dont know which will beat which,because I've never see a race between the two. I will say this though. Knowing when to shift out of every gear makes a BIG differance. Sounds like you know where your small window of opportunity is and the other guy hasnt found his yet. Anyway in a drag race knowing when to shift is just as important (if not more) than getting the holeshot. By the way I raced a CR500 a few weeks ago..hee!hee!
YOU KNOW WHAT IT DONE TO ME SO DONT ASK! I knew what would happen and all I was going to do was race a Banshee,but my bro just had to join us and show us what the 500 would do. It was fun though.

 

Thats alot of Hp for a 125!