I think i am gonna go with a predator! Please read

[300ex_dude]

I think i'm gonna go with the predator over the 400ex. I went to look at them and they are so sweet. I decided this because it has a lot more power and i thought I could grow into it more instead of out like the 400. If i do get one though i'm gonna wait until summer when they will be more proven. If i got the 400ex though I could get elkas, a-arms, axle, pipe, etc. Help me on my decision. The predators just look so good in person. They sound really mean too. Any advice would be great. Thanx

bad boy!... get a R or Z.. wait a year or 2 for a predator been soem major probs on them.. problly be a recall

[Z400central]

www.pred500central.com :) Gotta get the plug in there!:p

[Striker49]

Wait til the summer to see how Polaris reacts to the bugs on the Pred. There arent any extreme ones, just stuff like not shifting under power (I dont get that one :ermm: ) and the exposed antifreeze resivoir. I would not go with the 400 myself. Although very reliable, it is underpowered compared to other bikes in its class this year and it would take more than a pipe and jet kit to hang with the new quads.

Originally posted by Striker49
Wait til the summer to see how Polaris reacts to the bugs on the Pred. There arent any extreme ones, just stuff like not shifting under power (I dont get that one :ermm: ) and the exposed antifreeze resivoir. I would not go with the 400 myself. Although very reliable, it is underpowered compared to other bikes in its class this year and it would take more than a pipe and jet kit to hang with the new quads.

EXACTLY.... wait!:cool:

Originally posted by Lathers
bad boy!... get a R or Z.. wait a year or 2 for a predator been soem major probs on them.. problly be a recall

Dont Listen To this A**HOLE he knows nuthing he talks about just wait for about a year or so for Polaris to get out all the bugz and maybe by then Honda Will have came out with a a new quad that might even be better BUT what ever u do do not get a Z they are just to i duno just i dont like them but and you'll be with DirtWheels and they are gay as well

[QuadTrix6]

get a 400 and mod it IMO

[300exazzkikr]

you can't beat a honda..just my $.02

[Necronius]

Please, for your own sake, exhaust all other options before buying a predator. a friend of mine is hooked on Polaris ATV's (for some ungodly reason) and I recently went to his favorite polaris shop with him because he is intrested in the predator (because his scrambler is always in the shop.. go figure.) I went in with an open mind, because after seeing all the articles on the new predator, I thought maybe polaris was finally turning their business around. from what i had seen in magazines, it was a great improvement over polaris' old so-called sport atvs. when we got to the shop, i looked it over, and didnt think it looked all that bad. I wasnt too keen on the way some of the platic felt and fit, but I didnt pay much attention to that because I figured it was something that could be easily replaced. My friend asked the dealer if he could take a test ride, and the salesman said "SURE, come out back." when we got out there, there sat a brand new predator that had only been runtwice prior to our visit (according to the mechanic). He went to fire it up, began cranking the engine, and there it sat, dead. he fiddled with it again, and still nothing. he then said "not to worry, I've had this problem with these new machine before. They seem to foul plugs alot. Don't worry though, I'll just bring another one out of the showroom" I asked him why he didnt just change the plug, and he said "Its too much of a hassle on these predators. you have to take the plastic and the tank off to even get to it. took me 45 mins to change one last time. Its just easier to get another quad" (a sure sign of the thought put behind the design. completely dismantle your atv to change a plug. brilliant."

The mechanic opened up the main shop doors in the back to get the new quad out. upon peering into the shop, i see all maner of scramblers and sportsmans with their engines dismantled. this didnt inspire confidance, but still, i kept an open mind. Maybe the first predator was just a problem child. this thought quickly ended as the new quad, right off the showroom floor (literally), wouldnt fire up either. after some tinkering, and some ether, he finally got the machine to fire up. what i heard then was a mighty roar.. accompanied by all manner of clicks and tapping. When i brought this up to the mechanic, pointing out that the sound reminded me an aweful lot of my rancher engine when the head and rockers tore themselves apart and started to clang around, the mechanic said "oh, no, I've checked that out before. no problem. these engines are just noisy." I dont know about anybody here, but i wouldnt trust an engine that always sounds as if it has bad rockers.

I did take a test ride on it after my friend was done. it has a very smooth ride, seemed to corner fairly well. I would like to have had a jump or two to test the suspension, as it felt a tad overly-plush, but as i had not witnessed a suspension problem first hand, I cannot fault it for that.

I hope this was somewhat informative. IMHO, you should go with the EX. it is fairly quick, handles well, and I as of yet have never had any problems with it. my friend's scrambler spends much of its time at the shop, where as my honda has never seen one. I hope you listen to what i have told you here, as I would honestly hate to see you get something that has a very strong possibility of causing you problems in the future, and costing you alot of money for repairs, that would have been better spent on hop-up parts for a honda.

[Glow Plug]

i would wait a year for the preditor, or if you are in a hurry to get a enw quad then go for the 400ex, because they have a very good track record, and the new quad's such as z400, preditor are fairly new an very unproven

[01TRX300EX]

I say go with the Predator, from what I've seen, the majority of people are not having problems. I wouldn't worry about first year problems, ever since the Raptor people seem to be worried that everything will have problems. But I doubt if Honda came out with another quad people would be worried about first year problems, so why worry about any other manufacturers? Most have proven themselves to be reliable machines, not as much so as Honda, but still good enough that you don't have to buy one and worry about it constantly.

[Wired]

go with the predator! if you decided not to get that go with the Z or KFX, or just wait another year cause the 400ex might be off the market here real soon. (wink wink) :o

get a 400ex , u guys all think the z and stuff is so fast a piped 400ex will run even, if u dont got alot of money to mod a z get a 400ex , the predator is big as a ds i dont see how that will work to advantage at mx a new polaris isnt always to be trusted i dotn know ne things about em but its a polaris....

[300ex_dude]

Thanks for all the help. Even though most of you said to get a 400ex, i think i'm gonna get a predator. Keep the info coming.

[Striker49]

Well, look at it this way...

To get the same amount of power from the EX as the Pred puts out, you are going to end up spending more to mod the EX out to get it to run with the Pred, although the EX's are goin pretty cheap. Plus, with the same amount of power with a bored out EX and a stock Pred...you still have the ability to bore the Pred out for some more ponies if need be.

I dont think the engine reliability is going to be a major factor, although some people say it sounds a bit noisy. The company that makes it (Fuji...something like that) also makes engines for Suburu vehicles.

Up to you, but personally I would go with the Predator over the EX. I have a good feeling that the 400 is about to be replaced anyways, its been out 5-6 years now and is behind everything else in its class for the 03 season. Your call, but I still recommend the Predator. :)

[batgeek]

damn...just buy a quad and RIDE!!!!

go with what ya like....and remember:
1) everything is fixable
2) you can make any high perf machine go fast

both take money though :)

[QuadJunkies]

go for it..we did:D

[raptor_02]

if you plan on purchasing a quad and doing some very very competitive racing go with a Z400. I know I have dissed them before but apparently you can get some mayjor hp out of them motors because 1,2,3 in the Pro Production MX class was on either a Z400 or a KFX400. I could be wrong but i'm pretty sure that is what the results were. The pro production class was just as fast as the PRO class IMO and they are on Z400's with stock frames. That's impressive. But if your not a competitive racer go with the Honda. You can't beat the reliability of it and you won't be dissapointed. If I was in your situation go ahead and get you a 400ex and do what mods you need to do to make it competitive and ride it for a couple of years and then you will be ready for hopefully the new CRF450 that honda comes out with. ;) Honda and Yamaha aren't going to sit around forever and watch Suzuki and Kawi take all the atv glory. Their will be something come out very soon. ;)

[roostin_dale]

My dad is fed up with his Scrambler too! He is trying to decide between z400, predator, or a cannondale!

[josh]

personally i don't trust anything polaris has to offer, because my neighbor/friend, has a scrambler 400, and a 500 "sportsman", stealing this from Necronius, but for some really really ungodly reason, he is also hooked on his polaris's, i have no clue in gods name why besides he is too lazy to shift, and he has ridden my 250x and it is a little to small for him(he's a big guy), he's pretty cool and all but he is a little stupid, he claims that in the dunes, he dragged a banshee with a stock 400polaris, and he says he beat the piped shee, i mean common now, when me and him drag down the freakin street he barely takes my almost 100% stock 250x by a few bike lengths, and even then he can't hardly turn that big thing around in a residential street because the handling and turning capabilities of that 485 lb "sport" quad are extremely pathetic.

i give him props for trying to stick up for his bike and say it's "fast" and all but seriously, the first 6 months the guy had it he ran into about 7-8 various problems with it, the ones i can remember are broken chain, rolled on a not so steep but slippery hill because it is very top heavy, headlight shorted, radiator cracked, problems with fuel delivery, and this comes from just mild trail riding in the desert, and the people that owned it b4 him was a girl that just used it to get around the farm they lived on, o, and the rear shock was bent from the farm use, so he put a fox gas shock in the rear, but the thing is seriously a joke, and the only thing i have ever incountered with my honda that is more than twice as old as his quad and has been ridden a hell of a lot harder is my cdi box is goin bad because i put a oversized headpipe on it and was recommended not to jet the bike and it overheated and burnt the cdi, so when he says his quad is better and faster than a 400ex or banshee, everyone that lives in our block just kinda smiles and nodds, and laughs in their own mind,

so please stick with a proven brand, you can't get any more reliable than honda, and i don't think the raptor motor will ever wear out because it doesn't have to work hard werever it goes, and it is liquid cooled, and cannondale has proven to be one of the best bikes on the track, and the new z and kfx are already woopin some as* on the track and haven't had many bugs besides a "weak axle" in the first year, and you don't want to have to lug around a polaris that weighs minimum 75+ lb.'s

[QuadJunkies]

thank god for some of us willing to try something new, otherwise, how would you ever know what needs improved and how good a new machine would be...;) Thats why I buy a 4 year warrenty:cool:

[josh]

what i'm trying to say is I, and other friends of mine, could never get up enough courage to go buy a polaris, or have enough pride to ride one, but i do like the predator, anyother polaris i wouldn't consider in a trillion years purchasing or even wastin my time on a test ride, this is only commin from past experiences with that brand, i think they make wonderfull jetski's and ok snow mobiles, but the atv business just aint cut out for them unless they can start being more compettitive, which they have with the predator, but i have not known anybody that has had more problems with any 2/4 stroke honda/yamaha/zuki/ w/e than i have known people with polaris, i am just saying they have a hoooorrrriiiiibbbllleee past of building quads and hey, i don't prefer them but maybe the predator is a start of a compettitive business, just my .02, along with anybody else that lives in arizona and rides mostly desert and dunes and heavy hills, we got some wicked hills at the local riding areas, and the sand mecca of the world 3 hours away, so what people around here have known from being open minded and givin it a try and watchin it fail is polaris just doesn't cut it compared to the rest of the sports quads industry

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by josh
what i'm trying to say is I, and other friends of mine, could never get up enough courage to go buy a polaris, or have enough pride to ride one, but i do like the predator, anyother polaris i wouldn't consider in a trillion years purchasing or even wastin my time on a test ride, this is only commin from past experiences with that brand, i think they make wonderfull jetski's and ok snow mobiles, but the atv business just aint cut out for them unless they can start being more compettitive, which they have with the predator, but i have not known anybody that has had more problems with any 2/4 stroke honda/yamaha/zuki/ w/e than i have known people with polaris, i am just saying they have a hoooorrrriiiiibbbllleee past of building quads and hey, i don't prefer them but maybe the predator is a start of a compettitive business, just my .02, along with anybody else that lives in arizona and rides mostly desert and dunes and heavy hills, we got some wicked hills at the local riding areas, and the sand mecca of the world 3 hours away, so what people around here have known from being open minded and givin it a try and watchin it fail is polaris just doesn't cut it compared to the rest of the sports quads industry I can see your point, all the maufactureres have there flaws,Suzuki used to be one of those that we didnt care for too,and looked how far they came..;) It seems to me lately, anyone I know with a Yami seems to be having the most trouble with the ole reliability isuues.. I just read yet another article.....seems as thoguh Daryl Rath is kicking some serious butt on this thing...:macho