400 vs. Raptor questions.

[TEEGUNN]

Mine: 01' 400ex, ac nerfs, ac bumper, wb rev box, wb block off, wb slip on, K & N jet kit, K & N filter and cover, 6 - 1" holes in air lid, 2 x 21/2" rear wheel spacers, front rims flipped, renthal bars, kill switch, and a few more small misc. items.

What I want: More power, of course.

How I ride: Trails, sand, mountains, MX and snow - you know, a little of everything.....

My question is for anyone who has owned both a Raptor and a 400ex or who has had extensive time on both machines.

Now, I love my ex, but damm it is seeming like a dog lately. I have NOT even ridden a Raptor, but can tell they are way too narrow and tall just from sitting on one. No problem as I would widen it by at least 4" front and back with wheels spacers and flipping the front rims. But what I want to know is how does the power compare to what my ex is running? Is the Raptor mostly gonna take the top end or is there a definite dif in the whole powerband? Also, I hear that Raptors are REAL easy to hop up - unlike the 400ex. I really do not like cracking open the engine on any machine. I also don't want to spend the extra $1000 to $2000 it would take to wake up my EX to run with a STOCK Raptor. I feel that the $300 I would spend widening a Raptor might be a better fix for my power thirst. Also, I am not dumb enough to buy and 01' Raptor. And, yes, I tried doing a search on this subject but didn't come up with much.

Please give me your HONEST opinions on what I should do. I can probably upgrade to an 02' Raptor for around $500 more than I can get out of my 400ex. Give me solid reasons why this would be a good or bad thing to do! Thanx in advance.

[300_14_racer]

well i own a raptor and yes they are pretty unstable but i think that if you widened it and put a pipe on it they would be awsome. the 400ex is a great quad but like you said arent the fastest. and i havent rode a 400ex to know how much faster the raptor is than the 400ex.

A raptor with +2 a-arms and a +4 LSR axle handles a lot better than stock, and with just a pipe and intake the engine has plenty of power.

If you were into racing it may not be your best decision but I have been on several Raptors with some or all of the above mods and they were fine for ripping up the trails, and I dont have to worry about the dust from them when I am on my EX cause its all behind me.

What I mean by that is if you put the money you will lose on your when you sell it plus the money you would put out for the raptor and the needed mods and put it all into your EX it would be around the same acceleration wise and handle better.

Have fun making up your mind

[CHAUNCY]

I say go for it. It probably wont handle like a 400 but the power will be a huge difference. Also I think it is not all that great to flip the front wheels. It will be wider but I dont think its as strong. I say get some a-arms for it and offset wheels. But this is all just one mans opinion;)

[TEEGUNN]

Thanks alot guys....... I have some time to think about this fortunately as I am (unfortunately) very busy this next month or 2 and have almost NO time to ride right now anyway. I think it would be best to actually ride someones Raptor and make a more educated decision that way. Nothing better than the seat of my pants for decisions like this! Also, of course I would love to have the extended a-arms instead of flipping the fron rims - but that gets a little costly. The guys at my local atv shop have been setting up a few raptors with the wheel spacers in the rear and actually with aftermarket wider wheels up front because the raptor stock wheels are so much weaker than on my Honda. These guys at the shop bleed Honda red through and through, but have been setting up a few raptors the way I want to and they say that it makes a huge difference in how they handle. But, they still think I should drop the $ in my EX! They swear by honda though. The guy who sold me my EX now has a Raptor and says he likes both, but the handling on the ex is still way better. He is actually racing his raptor too. I won't race more than likely but will ride on a mx track from time to time. Well, keep the opinions and advice coming people!

[02bwraptor]

I have both atv's, raptor and 400ex. The raptor is stock but the 400ex has a stage one cam, big gun race exhaust, jetted and open air box with k&n filter. I race the 400ex in cross country races. The 400ex will keep up with the raptor until the raptor hits 4th gear than the raptor will wake away. I love the torque of the raptor but is hard to control in tight wooded trails. Where the raptor shines is in the open trails and hill climbing. If I were you I would wait until honda and yamaha comes out with a new model this summer. Just my opinion. :cool: Raptors are not tip happy as everyone says.