Raced and rode a Raptor 700 today

[pantera1975]

Well I have only rode a 07 trx 450r that was completely set up for MX so that dont count and other than that its been scramblers and 4x4 quads. Til today my buddy brought his kids Chinese 70cc and his Suzuki not very fast or fun to ride green thing ( I have no idea what it is) and his co worker has a 700 Raptor EFI not sure on the year it a 5 speed if that tells anything and probably 4 yr old. We lined up from a stand still and raced he get me by 1 length out of the hole and another between 1st and 2nd the were even til the last part of 4th then i catch up and creep by and run out of room. The raptor didn't feel fast at all and its ride and handeling is not as good as my 250R. My buddy and the guy with the raptor agreed too and the raptor seemed to push and the rear wandered. And thats how the outlander, scrambler and 450r all felt too. It is just awkward feeling til I rode it for 1/2 hr. Theres no replacement for 2 strokes in my book. Seemed like I had to shift more frequent with the raptor than the 250R.

[scottp597]

I was unimpressed by the raptor. If I were to buy a 4 stroke sport quad, I would go lighter weight. Maybe a built 400ex or something.

[willrideanythin]

Thats funny, THey weight about the same.

[Mr_RPM]

Thats funny, THey weight about the same.

yeah, pretty much.
i will also agree quads like to wonder a little bit. almost every quad i have ridden going all out full speed is kind of a challenge to keep it strait and out of trees. its definitely do-able but compared to trikes where it pretty much stays strait it shows.
also those Raptors are set up for monster low torque with its large displacement engine. great for trails. Thats why it needs to be shifted alot. If you put a high end cam in it that would fix that problem. But then its like the 250r and not an ideal trail racer. yamaha figured if you wanted a high end engine you would buy a YFZ450

[z400guy28]

Ever quad i have ever rode always went straight for me until i changed direction on it. I feel like trikes have a tendency to wander not quads and i like and ride both. You are right about the new Raptors i also feel like you have to shift them more freqently than the older 660's.

[ATC-RYDA]

Ever quad i have ever rode always went straight for me until i changed direction on it. I feel like trikes have a tendency to wander not quads and i like and ride both. You are right about the new Raptors i also feel like you have to shift them more freqently than the older 660's.

thats funny cuz my buddy just bought a new 2010 700 efi raptor about a month ago and just brought it over my house so i could do the first service , and it was absolutley the fastest best handling quad i have evr riddden ... completely bone stock rite off the showroom floor !.. i've been ranting and raving about this thing to my buddys since the service on saturday ... that thing was scary fast !!!

[pantera1975]

He did have 2 1/2 inch wheel spacers in it all the way around. But compared to my 86 250r with rebuilt forks and rear shock and all the other little things I've done to it I got $2700 total in it including what I paid for it. Its a far cry from what a new or used wore out quad is. Thats just me. Unless its a Banshee or trx 250R I'm not intrested. And when I have my ESR 330 PV motor done I'll have 6000 total and EVERY thing will be new, rebuilt or upgraded to 2010 except the plastic which is all OEM and good.

[ATC-RYDA]

dont get me wrong i will always love the trx 250r's and banshee's and abviously trikes but i just thought the 700 raptor deserved a lil more credit than what was given IMO .. cheers !

[Mr_RPM]

dont get me wrong i will always love the trx 250r's and banshee's and abviously trikes but i just thought the 700 raptor deserved a lil more credit than what was given IMO .. cheers !

yeah, dont get me wrong. the 700 is a great quad. the OP said it felt slower then his 250 and yet the 700 beat him in a race. that just means the power of the 700 is much more managed and easier to use. which means you can use it more often.

[sdm111]

Thats funny, THey weight about the same.

My neigbor had a raptor 700 at the same time I had my 400ex and my 400ex was way lighter.

[Mr_RPM]

the 400ex is 375lbs dry weight and the 700 is 396lbs dry weight.

[z400guy28]

I don't get what's so funny about what i said. If that's the fastest thing you've rode then you must not have rode that many quads or trikes. When i had my Banshee bored 40 over piped and jetted it beat my buddies 06 700 which was piped and had some other go fast stuff in it. And just so you know the only thing i said about the 700 was that you have to shift a little more than the older 660's. I actually prefer a 660 or 700 Raptor over any other quad out there.

[Rm250RF900R]

I rode a 700r a few months ago. I wasnt impressed with it. Getting off my rm250 then riding the raptor. I liked my 2 smoker a whole lot better.