well I finally got to take a little test spin on a raptor. A guy that rides with us was kind enough to let me test her out..........the bike was all stock except for some cosmetic stuff.
I really liked it. It felt like a more powerful 400EX. It is geared WAY too high but it is seriously fast. It wheelies with a mere jab of the throttle in first gear & pulls hard through the rest of the gears. I tossed it over a few small jumps & it felt comfortable landing.
All in all it is a nice machine. It might have mechanical short comings, but it is in NO way a POS as some people have been saying. It is WAY faster than a stock 400EX, and faster than my slightly tweaked 400EX.
I lost to him one time in a drag race across a dry flat pond, then I smoked him the second time..........both runs were rider error. In the tight woods he is struggling to keep the same speed as me due to the tall gearing. As a matter of fact, he clipped a tree & pinched a sidewall to the point of puncture.
the bike is a force to be rekoned with.........do not under estimate the power this thing produces. It is fast, and it is quick.
I can't wait to ride it when his new smaller front sprocket comes in next week.........