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Yamaha Raptor 90 sons birthday? help

3K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  loki09 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello Blue traxx forum,

I am here today because my son has come up to me and asked for his birthday if he could get a Raptor 90. Personally, I have never been on a quad before so I have no experience with these and that's why I'm here trying to get as much information as possible.

"Jake" my son has some experience or riding off road on motorbikes but as far as I know he's never ridden one of these either so I thought starting at a Raptor 90 would be better for him. He's going to be turning 13 in a couple of months, am I being to protective by getting a 90?? should I get something with a little more power? Like this raptor 660 http://www.used.forsale/canada/yamaha-raptor In terms of the maintenance, how long do you guys spends maintaining/fixing up your quads? how often do you have to do oil changes and things like that? Sorry about my poor terminology!

All your guy's thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated! Really looking forward to speaking with you all and getting my son on 4 wheels!! If there is any other information you guys need just ask and I will get it added on ASAP.

Thanks

 
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#2 ·
at 13 a raptor 90 will be a waste of time and money imo. he will be way to big for it unless he is planning on doing pit bike stuff. if he has been riding for a while he will be board with even a raptor 350 pretty quickly if he is doing anything other than trail riding, it would be ok for that for a while. if you are going to be riding in the sand i would not consider a 350 of any kind, start with a raptor 660-700 or a yfz 450.

i have both bikes and quads and the quads definitely take more maintenance they have twice as many moving parts and seem to be more fragile . i normally change my oil once a year on my quads but i only use them in the sand. i power wash them after every ride and do a quick safety inspection.

so for trails i would consider a good warrior 350 or a raptor 350. same machine the raptor is just newer and i would skip the 350 if there is any sand in his future or if he is at all aggressive . for my son at 13 i should have put him on a raptor 660 and turned the throttle screw down some to limit the top end until he got the hang of it that way he would have a machine he could ride and grow into. i put him on a bored and stroked warrior 350 and he outgrew it on 1 season, total wast of time and money.

i think no matter what terrain you ride the 350 will only last him a year and he will need/want more power.

it is a myth that an under powered machine is safer i believe just the opposite, having the extra power gives you options that you dont have if you are pushing a machine to the max. for example running out of power on a hill climb on a 4 wheeler is really dangerous, you cant just get off like you can on a bike. it will also make the machine last longer if you are not flogging it daily.

what ever you decide on spend some time looking it over. if you do the work yourself bearings, bushings and brakes run about 400 bucks on any of those machines. so look those things over good. check the tie rods and ball joints. the ball joints are really expensive. a set of tires is about 350 and up so make sure they are good. dont by an 01 660 even if it is a good deal they have a bad shift fork.

my kid might not be a real good comparison for you unless jake has similar seat time , he started riding 2 wheels at 4 1/2 and 4 wheels at thirteen. he is 17 now and rides a built yfz 450 and a wr 250f, he wants to get ride of both of them for something faster, it is just how he is. my wife ( 5'2" and 110 pounds and a pretty timid rider) started riding 2 wheels at 38 and was 42 when she got her first 4 wheeler, a 96 warrior 350. she rode it for 2 years and switched to a built 660 last year. she is much happier with the way the machine handles and is significantly more capable on the 660 that she was on the warrior.

in summary get a machine tailored to the type of riding you are going to do now and in the future. safety is about training and teaching, plunking a kid on any machine big or small is dangerous without it. all of this is subjective and is going to depend on how and where jake rides. i have owned all 3 of those machine so if you have any questions about the machines let me know. hope this helps some
 
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