All I want to say on the matter is the only thing DW said bad about the Rap is that it is a little tippy when cornering fast. The bad points with the Z were 1. The BRAKES FADED!
2. The chain adjuster SUCKS!

Zuki guys, be honest, pick your poison.

Which sounds worse.

Going into a high speed corner and having to slow down a little or going into a high speed corner and not being able to slow down cause your brakes faded?

Just a thought!

Lets hear this one guys!!!

 

well personaly im going to put +2 swing arm with round carrier anyways so no prob there and the brakes ? i havent noticed but maybe some good brakefluid pad change? all easy fixes how easy is it to fix the tipping ? maybe lower widen lighten? i just want to know why the fuss lets all go ride together[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I owned and raced MX on my raptor for a year and I had no complaints except the way it handled through the whoops. Could never get that confident feeling. It jumped well, but felt a little heavy in the air. Not bad, but you can feel the weight difference between a Honda or Z. My raptor was great out of the gate and powering out of corners. Love that low end. It's a great dune machine as well once you widen it out.

I've had my Z for three months now and the one complaint I have is the low end power. Hard to compare to a 660cc machine though. The handling to me makes the biggest difference between the two. The Z is much easier to toss around and air out. You can definitely feel the weight difference between the two. The weight distribution (radiator placement) on the Z is much better than the raptor. I'll take handling over straight line speed anyday.

I'm starting to like the Cannondales more and more each time I ride my brothers. I think it's the best of both worlds for handling and speed. Just my thoughts.

 

shoot, $800 price difference? That's MSRP, but I can get a brand spankin new 2003 Raptor for $5600 in Mississippi, and I'd be glad to give anyone the phone number of the dealer.

 

Adrenjnky,

Where do you ride? BTW, we have a local e-community: http://groups.msn.com/pugetsoundatv/

 

hey lateapex i going to check that out in the mean time i have only taken my quad out 2 times both to oregon sandfest was great[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] love the dancing girls[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] anyways i have no friends who ride their quads in the dirt but i would like to ride mine i take my bike to belfair sir and thurston county now that i have a quad allso i need some quading friends who dirt ride so let me know if you want to go ride k

 

After last month's joke in DWs when the Z400 beat the Cannondale in a "high performance shootout," I knew what the outcome would be of this before I even read it at the grocery store. I'm glad I don't subscribe to that rag, I haven't even bought one since the Raptor exhaust comparison.

 

Hey lateapex,

If you would look back at my posts you would see that I agree about the Z being the better beginers bike or the bike that would be more fitted for the person seeking the comfortable and easy ride, but one would take for granted that test riders for a Mag. would not be beginer riders. My point with this whole thing is that this was a High Performance sports quad shootout. Not a lets go put around the woods and shoot the poop quad shootout.

We can do all the arguing that we want but having rode both bikes no one nor DW Mag is going to convince me that the Z is the better Sports Quad.

And I would have to agree with White347lx Ever since the Exhaust shootout (which shortly after I still went with the less rated Trinity exhaust system much to my delight) and some of the results of recent shootouts my opinion of the guys at DW has greatly diminished. I do beleive that the all might $$$ has a great influence on the writers at DW.

 

Sorry one other thing to Blaster19...
Have you looked at the Trinity pipe? If not I would seriously consider it the pipe is beautiful has a nice deep sound and the billet clamp they send is Sweet.

 

I just can't figure out why these great woods handling Raptors are getting smoked by 400EX's at the national events. If Curtis Crump makes the top ten it's considered a good day for the Raptor crowd. Of course there will be 9 Honda's in pro production that are ahead of him. I have to believe that if the handling was as good as the 400ex in the woods then the Raptors would rule this class instead of the Honda since they have so much power. My experience with the Raptor in the woods is they most certainly do handle different and with mods they tend to be light on the front end which bites when trying to make fast corners on hillsides. All of the good racers/riders must be riding on Honda's because they like red. There has to be some reason that the Raptor according to Raptor owners isn't taking the podium finishes at all of the GNCC races in pro production since it has 260 extra cc's and all of that horsepower. And yes the 400s are modified but they all race with the same rules and are allowed to change the same things. The Z hasn't been out long enough for racers to start taking advantage of the aftermarket but I see no reason why it won't do as well as the 400EX in pro production. And exactly what was a joke about the article. They said the Raptor was faster in a dragrace. The article was actually pretty good coming from dw. They praised the good points on both quads.