Dirtwheels always contradicts itself. You can't ever rely on their speed testing. They have clocked other year model warriors at higher speeds, and in the Feb. 2000 issue they said they hit speeds from 65-68 on their stock 2000 scrambler 500. Well didnt they say it would do around 60 last year? They haven't changed anything to my knowledge on it. I've also heard scrambler claims of mid 50's for top speed. I think I will give the Scrambler credit for the 65 myself, and I will damn sure give the Warrior a lot better than 53. My 500 AC 4x4 will do 53, and I have no doubt that a warrior will smoke it bad! Top speed claims are alway going to be higher for those that own whatever, and lower for the people that don't (but sometimes wish they did). The 96 Warrior that I rode several times would do every bit of 60mph on pavement and I would give it credit of 65 if I wasn't laying down a pessimistic figure for all of the non Yamaha owners and doubters on this forum. RangerSX is a honda man, and it is obvious which way he is going to be biased to. I will say that the 300ex has a better racing setup as far as the frame is concerned, but lets face it, its motor has nothing on the Warrior, and it is not going to beat it in speed tests. I will also give the 300ex credit for being faster than the very low 50's that it gets rated at by a lot of others as well.

Riding the 500 AC full blast on a 2 mile paved straightaway makes my eyes water. Riding the warrior on the same stretch makes them bleed.

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Andy Bassham *(1999 Arctic Cat 500 4x4, 1989 Honda 300)*

 

I would guess the warrior in the low 60's. The banshee is around 70mph stock (dirt wheels JAN 00) The 400ex is between the banshee and the warrior somewhere.

 

I had a 1987 Warrior and it was a screamer! I ran it alongside a street bike with a speedometer on an asphalt straightaway about a year after I bought it. 65mph....all out, 6th gear.....fact! TF

 

Last year I used a GPS to time both my '96 Warrior and '97 Lakota. This was on a straight dirt road, elevation about 7,000 feet, no wind. Both quads were bone stock with pretty good tread on the tires, which were aired to specs.

Averaged over multiple runs, the Warrior did 55mph and the Lakota did 53. With any mods and at lower elevation, I would expect them both to do somewhat better. My son's '97 Warrior would gradually pull away from mine on a long straight run, but we never calibrated the speed.

Allowing for differences between individual machines, I would bet that stock Warriors will range from 55mph to around 60mph at this altitude.

Now you have me wondering what the real top speed for my Scrambler 500 is at this altitude. Guess I have to go outside for awhile.