this is for those that own raptors and hopefully 400ex's as well. if you widen the raptor with wider A-arms does it handle like the honda? if so...how far and how much do you have to invest, thanks!

 

One of the main reasons the honda handles better than the raptor is because the honda frame has castor (raked back) in it's front suspension geometry, whereas the raptor does not. But, with a raptor lowering it via ZPS/SSD shock's and +2 A-arms/+4 axle if your budget allows will susbstantially increase the raptors handling ability.

 

The main reason the 400ex handles so much different than the Raptor is because the 400ex doesn't have as much side bite (slides easier) The reason it slides easier is because it has a much lower center of gravity (400ex has less weight up high) The 2 easiest things that have an effect on side bite that you can control suspension wise are, center of gravity, and track width. To make your Raptor slide like the 400ex, you need to either lower it (center of gravity), or widen it (track width) or both. So you are looking in the right direction.

My best friend rides a 400ex and we switch off quite a bit, so I know how it feels. I have ridden a Raptor with a +5 DuraBlue rear axle and the front wheels flipped around which is about +5 also (you have to add a vavle stem and turn existing ones to the inside) and I was very surprised at how close it felt to the 400ex sliding wise (of course the Raptor still had the Honda way out powered [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I think he said he paid $325 for the rear axle and $2 for valve stems.

JPBRaptor