We (my brother is a franchise yam dealer) have been told by a Yamaha tech engineer, who has seen the replacement prototype in Japan, that the new Raptor II will make the orginal 660 look slow.............. and it will definetely be an eye opener in th engine department...........

so lets see what rolls out now that the predator has up the stakes especially in the handling department.

Kiwi

 

First off, it makes sense to finally bring the Warrior up to date. It has been getting a little long in the tooth. It still is the king of sales, but could stand some updating. Secondly, Yamaha has a hit in the Raptor styling... and anything new that is going to be called a sport quad is going to run in the family, ala Ford using the oval grill. Third, think about this if you are really dreaming of the ultimate motor... take a look at the Yamaha snowmobile lineup for this year. Talk about commitment to 4 strokes. Now I'd like to sling a leg over one of those 150 HP babies just once. Probably have to change the shorts a few times.. but wow! NOTE TO YAMAHA. Who do I give my deposit to? and hopefully, you put strong gearsets in it from teh start. No repeats of the original Raptor's tranny bombs will be tolerated.

 

Kiwi_Craig...... i hope you are right about that report. But that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me either. Yammy has two hi perf. quads already, and if they build one that makes the raptor "look slow" what would that do to the sales of the other two? why would anyone buy a rappy when they can get 426 (?) rappy that is lighter and faster? i don't know, i hope you are right, though. i'd love to see it happen. just doesn't make much sense from a sales standpoint.

 

I guess the guys who want all the hp potential would by the Raptor. Even though a YZF450 or 426 would be lighter and faster it wouldn't have the hp potential of the 660. I've also learned a majority of the people in this world will buy something because it is bigger and they aren't informed.

 

jmho i think they should call that the WARRIOR

very cool.

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

*slaps self for comment about street bike motors in quads* The banshee engine is a street bike motor, so is the 660 (European street bike isnt it?). What was I thinking when I said that. Oh and if any yammy peoples are listening, make an aluminum framed warrior with a 450 engine and 35 hp but a super super restrictive exhaust that can be removed and the power will go up to around 45. Then raise the raptor to 50hp to embarrass the engine tuners.

 

we are a bunch of dreamers. the factories won't get serious about making a real hi performance quad until their reputation is on the line. streetbikes and dirtbikes are made to win races, and winning at the track sells units. quads are made to have fun on, not win races. their goal is to build the most fun quad, not one that will win races. the crappy thing is that they make more money off of quads than bikes (both street and off road combined... it's true) and then pour that money into motorcycle R&D because they have a rep to uphold on the 2 wheeled race track. until the manufacturers get serious about wanting to win quad races, we won't see the quad we're dreaming of. ......at least not for some time.
some day, i hope to see a 350lbs. quad with 50 hp. i'll know the industry has arrived when i see that.

 

The problem with that is quads dont induce as much fear as bikes, newbs arent scared to let them rip even if its too much for them because the 4 wheels make them comfortable. But anywho, the first one to grab the bull by the horns and make a monster will get rich, even after all the lawsuits. Back in the 80s when the industry wasnt scared, there werent people to buy them, now that we want it, they are scared.....

 

The reason that yamaha will make a 400-450 class bike that will outrun the raptor is that at present time they don't have a 4 stroke that can compete in GNCC or other sanctions where the 440cc class has become popular. The warrior with it's 2 valve air cooled engine can't make the power that's needed and a banshee in the woods can't compete with the other 4 strokes in the class (cannondale, Z400, 400ex, 450crf, etc...) So Yamaha needs a bike to put stickers on that will end up on the potium!!

 

Yamaha blows!!! remember the 01 raptor and the 02 and 03 they still havn't fixed the first one all the way