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Well im sure everyone has heard this arguement a million times in the past and will probably hear it more in the future. Im just going to slap down some information for anyone to see that might be interested.
I own a 2003 Predator
My girlfriend has a 2003 Raptor
I made some general observations and did some tests.
I live around 500 ft above sea level in Georgia.
Both bikes are stock.
Tests were conducted at Durham town plantation and talking rock arena.
Lets start with the most important - Whose faster ?
Drag Race on pavement 200 yards : Raptor accelerated hard thru 2nd gear, but was then passed and beaten by 4 quad links.
Drag Race on dirt strip 200 yards : Predator won, no competition from raptor. The raptor spun tires thru 2nd.
As for trail riding, we went thru some hellacious stuff.
For standard trail riding with no deep ruts or mud above 6 inches, the predator excelled. However, if you got into anything 1 foot or so, the maxxis razr tires had a hard time hooking up.
One thing I noticed that pissed me off was some ruts the raptor could just sail through, but my pred bottomed out on every single time. The raptor has much better ground clearence. But in turn your seat position feels alot higher up.
The raptor rode like a cadillac on the trails, where heavy turning was not required.
You know I could sit here and write pages of stuff comparing the benefits of the 2 and negatives. But it comes down to what you want to use it for.
I know some definates tho.
Raptor positives: better ground clearence, more low end torque, and reverse, at home on a trail, large aftermarket equipement available.
Raptor negatives: Low end torque is sometimes way more then what is needed (spin out machine!), reverse is already messing up on her machine, the turning radius sucks compared to the predator.
Predator positives: Great top and mid range power, little to no bump steer, awesome turning capabilities, loves to be jumped.
Predator negatives: Needs more ground clearence on the swingarm, has 10 hours and starter button already stuck once, the seat needs to be redesigned so as not to constantly slide you forward, design is too new (small selection of aftermarket equipement, but that will change in the coming months).
These are just my opinions and they could change in the future, so dont flame.
In the future ill compare reliability and list any other problems that come up.
I own a 2003 Predator
My girlfriend has a 2003 Raptor
I made some general observations and did some tests.
I live around 500 ft above sea level in Georgia.
Both bikes are stock.
Tests were conducted at Durham town plantation and talking rock arena.
Lets start with the most important - Whose faster ?
Drag Race on pavement 200 yards : Raptor accelerated hard thru 2nd gear, but was then passed and beaten by 4 quad links.
Drag Race on dirt strip 200 yards : Predator won, no competition from raptor. The raptor spun tires thru 2nd.
As for trail riding, we went thru some hellacious stuff.
For standard trail riding with no deep ruts or mud above 6 inches, the predator excelled. However, if you got into anything 1 foot or so, the maxxis razr tires had a hard time hooking up.
One thing I noticed that pissed me off was some ruts the raptor could just sail through, but my pred bottomed out on every single time. The raptor has much better ground clearence. But in turn your seat position feels alot higher up.
The raptor rode like a cadillac on the trails, where heavy turning was not required.
You know I could sit here and write pages of stuff comparing the benefits of the 2 and negatives. But it comes down to what you want to use it for.
I know some definates tho.
Raptor positives: better ground clearence, more low end torque, and reverse, at home on a trail, large aftermarket equipement available.
Raptor negatives: Low end torque is sometimes way more then what is needed (spin out machine!), reverse is already messing up on her machine, the turning radius sucks compared to the predator.
Predator positives: Great top and mid range power, little to no bump steer, awesome turning capabilities, loves to be jumped.
Predator negatives: Needs more ground clearence on the swingarm, has 10 hours and starter button already stuck once, the seat needs to be redesigned so as not to constantly slide you forward, design is too new (small selection of aftermarket equipement, but that will change in the coming months).
These are just my opinions and they could change in the future, so dont flame.
In the future ill compare reliability and list any other problems that come up.
