fire on the mountain

[bear dad]

my sled budies (snowmobile) and i were siting around a big fire we started on top of a mountain talking about how much money has been spent to lighten our mountain sleds and this is what we came up with, every thousand spent you can lose 2 to 4 pounds, is this weight worth the money spent (yes and no) for the lighter riders under 165 pounds it seams great the sled is easyer the throu around, if you weigh 210 or less you can fell a diference but not much, and the big boys like myself cant tell any diferents. SO to all that comeplains about the weight of the predators what is your weight and do quads act like sleds, if so the heaver pred shouldent mater to someone like me just the power of the engine (right) this is a question not a statment

[Big Chuck]

I read this and have to agree. I weigh 300 pounds with all my race gear on and am 6'4" tall. You don't see alot of guys as large as I am on the GNCC line. I raced the Nationals GNCC three years on the Predator and this year raced the Outlaw. I have a few performance mods on it, but I haven't touched the motor. I usually am near the front on the starts with all that weight. I have ridden different make quads and I have to say that I really don't notice the weight difference, just the way the quad fits me and the beating I take on all the others compared to mine. Now the weight difference might make a difference to normal size riders, I wouldn't know. I raced 7 MX races this year, the 1st on a bet with my brother figuring I would get my rear end handed to me being set up for the woods ect. I got top 5 twice and top three the last 5 races, winning the overall in the last????????? What the hell is an OUTLAW the other riders said. So see, all this talk about weight doesn't mean a hill of beans to me. Did I mention that I am also 45 years old and have never raced MX before. Not bragging here, just trying to prove the point that this weight issue that alot of people are always talking about might be bunk. This new 525 coming out is going to stand more than a few people on their ears...

[smokinwrench]

I am 5'11" and wiegh in right under 200lbs, I am a blue collar worker and probably stronger then most my size. I switched from a 400ex to a Predator. I have never had a problem with the wieght, I can ride my Predator further and faster and jump higher then I ever did on my 400ex. Only thing that took some getting used to was the Predator sets higher.

[PolarisRider06]

i dont notice the weight... but then again i weigh probably 205-210 with all my gear on. not to mentiong the first quad i had was a trailblazer 250 and those weigh *445 dry so the pred is actually lighter and for a long time i actually liked the feel of the trailblazer in the air over the predator because i knew how to throw it around more.

i think where the weight really matters is the 150 pound green been arm and leg MX racers that dont have enough weight themselves to throw the machine around so an extra 50 pounds is a lot for them. since its already hard for them to throw around a quad that weighs 385 wet jumping on a preddy that weighs around 430 or so is a big deal.


another thing is i dont think that a lot of people realize what the actual dry weight of a predator is. my buddies who ride freestyle and one of them worked at a powersports dealership for a few years thought that predators weighed almost 500 pounds dry. that came up when i told them that i wanted to try and huck the fist flip on a predator into a foam pit when we went to scott murrays place in michigan. they were pretty surprised when i said it only weighed 410 or so but they still think thats heavier than hell.

trailblazer 250 and those weigh 245 dry

[PolarisRider06]

woops.... i meant 445... i'm gonna go fix that now...

[PolarisRider06]

there fixed it....

at first i thought you were trying to say trailblazers weighed 245 and i was gonna call you a dumbass cause the b***ards are f'ing huge even compared to a preddy... then i seen the try again and seen what i typed.... woops.... sorry for the confusion....

[honda250xrider]

i would say that heavier rider's wont have a problem and wont notice the weight, smaller riders like my size around 170 can still throw around bigger quads but they dont have the flick ablity i dont think as say the lighter quads out there. weight does make a dif. imo try to ride a few other quads compare a 450, yfz, ltr then ride a pred. you will almost for sure see the dif in the way it responds and reacts in the air.

[PolarisRider06]

thats one thig... i've never really jumped a 450 cause i dont want to worry about someting going wrong and breaking someone elses quad. i think the air is where you would notice most of the difference in weight though.