dirt wheels mag. aug. issue

[125pb]

OK... if any of you have read this issue of dirtwheels magazine (Aug. 2010) then you will know that there is a very interesting artical called blaster vs. raptor. for me having a mosly stock bike i had to get this mag. for you guys with moded quads you might not find it as interesting. anyway if you have not read this artical then i suggest reading it at wal-mart or something because im going to give the ending away. Dirtwheels mag puts the blaster against the new raptor 250 on a head to head competition, they bought a 2001 blaster for 800$. now since the blaster is like 10 years old the gave it a rebuild which is fair because the raptor is brand new, but they put a hotrods +4 crank and the a vertex piston which they boared 1.5mm over stock bore (i thought is was kind of pointless) i dont see why they had to do that but what ev. they also put a full FMF ehaust on the blaster and a slip on for the raptor. both got new handle bars. blaster got some v force 3 reeds and some Race Tech shocks all way round. they did jet the blaster but used a dyno jet needle. ok...... those are all the mods done to each. they then raced them on the track and there conclusion was that the raptor was better in the corners because the blasters light front end would push in the corners. now to make a long story short they chose the raptor which im fine with BUT they also didnt give the blaster a good chance. heres what i mean. im looking in the pictures and i look at the blasters front tires, there NOT flipped. they could have done this for FREE but didnt. also they DID NOT take the air lid off who wouldn't do this? and they said that it had no low end but they didnt change the tire size! 21" all way round, they put new tires but kept the 21" thats not fair because the raptor has 19" in the back which would help in the handling department. all im saying is that it would of had a better chance of winning or at least being even... anyone agree?? but they did say it was a power house on the straits at least we still have the power of the 2 STROKE on our sides.

 

[wolf424242]

I have to agree with that. Who the hell wouldn't do a free modification? Especially when comparing two vehicles.

 

[myusername]

in that case, i'm sure there are free mods that can be done to the raptor to make it that much better. i'm not defending the raptor, but you have to understand that a raptor 250 uses current technology in the suspension and engine departments, where a blaster was developed more than 20 years ago, and the engine even longer. its not gonna take a couple free mods to get a blaster to kill a raptor. i've personally never ridden a raptor, but i've heard they handle amazingly and they pack a decent punch, where a stock blaster doesnt handle well, but for as old as the engine is, it has a decent punch as well. its gonna take some money to get a blaster to beat a quad utilizing brand new technology

 

[yb200]

in that case, i'm sure there are free mods that can be done to the raptor to make it that much better. i'm not defending the raptor, but you have to understand that a raptor 250 uses current technology in the suspension and engine departments, where a blaster was developed more than 20 years ago, and the engine even longer. its not gonna take a couple free mods to get a blaster to kill a raptor. i've personally never ridden a raptor, but i've heard they handle amazingly and they pack a decent punch, where a stock blaster doesnt handle well, but for as old as the engine is, it has a decent punch as well. its gonna take some money to get a blaster to beat a quad utilizing brand new technology

very well said I:I

 

[hudack]

handling a raptor 250 kills the blaster almost any quad does tho lol power wise no way a couple mods and u can take a 350 rappy. just my 2 cents

 

[phragle]

i wouldnt call the raptor chassis brand new technology.......

 

[yb200]

handling a raptor 250 kills the blaster almost any quad does tho lol power wise no way a couple mods and u can take a 350 rappy. just my 2 cents

no one said anything about a 350

its all about money

put countless $$ in to a blaster and the same for a rappy 250 im sure they will both be fast

on another note i rode my bros yfz450 this weekend...508 big bore stroker ported elka all around all i got to sat it dayyyyummmm hope to get one in the spring

 

[Blue Bowtie]

I agree with everything you said man but, they couldn't make a 4wheeler that's been made for over 20 years, look like it's as good or better than a new one. If they did, it could possibly hurt the new raptor as far as sale and what not, and possibly Yamaha's rep.

 

[hudack]

no one said anything about a 350

its all about money

put countless $$ in to a blaster and the same for a rappy 250 im sure they will both be fast

on another note i rode my bros yfz450 this weekend...508 big bore stroker ported elka all around all i got to sat it dayyyyummmm hope to get one in the spring

i was useing the 350 to compare with power. my frineds got a 350 and he would always pick on my blasty when it was stock down to the tires. but then just a few mods and now guess who picks on the 350 and i didnt even put a new header on it yet. now if u wana talk how they handle he always wants to ride my blaster so then il ride his raptor things like floating on a cloud.

 

[yb200]

I agree with everything you said man but, they couldn't make a 4wheeler that's been made for over 20 years, look like it's as good or better than a new one. If they did, it could possibly hurt the new raptor as far as sale and what not, and possibly Yamaha's rep.

took the words right outta my mouth

if they made the blaster look better people would go out and buy old blasters for 500 bucks and not buy the new 250

 

[myusername]

i wouldnt call the raptor chassis brand new technology.......

lol my bad i didnt mean to say it had brand new technology but it is current. at least more so than the 20 some year old blaster. i love my blaster and i feel like it is pretty fast, but i know it can be alot faster, especially seeing your record bike, phragle. like yb said, its about money, and also the rider. i just dont see a stock blaster beating a stock raptor. but seeing the potential that a blaster has, i'd rather keep mine than trade it for a raptor, but all that potential doesnt mean anything without money to buy/fab up new parts and skill to tap into it

 

[yb200]

i was useing the 350 to compare with power. my frineds got a 350 and he would always pick on my blasty when it was stock down to the tires. but then just a few mods and now guess who picks on the 350 and i didnt even put a new header on it yet. now if u wana talk how they handle he always wants to ride my blaster so then il ride his raptor things like floating on a cloud.

i take a buddies warrior till i run outta gear

he just shifts to fifth and im rapped out in 6th of course that with a 13t out front..i could hang with him a little longer with my 14t

non the less it how the person rides the bike and how they like it not how fast it is

 

[hudack]

i take a buddies warrior till i run outta gear

he just shifts to fifth and im rapped out in 6th of course that with a 13t out front..i could hang with him a little longer with my 14t

non the less it how the person rides the bike and how they like it not how fast it is

i realy think that the warriors are faster than the 350 raptors. my friend got a pipe and k&n air filter. my other friend got a warrior he got a k&n air filter and i swear that the warriors faster than the raptor. everyone says its almost the same quad i just think the warrior feels like its got more power.

 

[XxblasterboyxX]

blaster is much better

 

[125pb]

i know all of this. im just saying flipping the front wheels FREE, taking the lid off FREE. they put 21" tires on it when they should have put 18 or 20s. and i know that the raptor 250 is all newly designed so of course it wiil ride better but it would have been a better fight between the two if they had done this stuff. it would have been wider and had more low end. and my point is that for a 20 year old machine it still keeps up and still puts up a fight AND is way better then the 250ex and suzuki 250.

 

[Awk08]

i'm sure that article is biased, to help yamaha sell more raptors, how they gonna say the blaster won???
and i guess the yfz450 won the shootout with a trx250r too???
no it wont, at least in the mag article, cause they dont make them anymore, and have to justify the switch to 4jokes somehow

 

[hudack]

the way i look at it any quad that you get there is always going to be one thats better in some way. i dont think u could say any quad dirtbike ect. is better than this or that one thing might be better than the other in one catorgorey but the other could be better in something differnt. but like everyone else said are they gana advertise that the 20 year old quad is better that they cant sell anymore. or the newer version that is still on the market.

 

[thecarboncartel]

Wonder how the blaster would have done with a 4mil crank and 1.5 over on the piston.
Throw in a good port job, 34mm carb, a real pipe. The rappy wouldnt stand a chance especially if you leaned forward a bit in the corners to settle the front end down.

 

[hudack]

the reason they probley bored it over is becasue it wouldnt be fair at all to compare a new motor to one that anit runing tip top. cause that bore woulnt do anything for power need a big bore for that . they also make a better slip on exhaust for the raptor two so think about that also.

 

[125pb]

yeah that's what im saying, there's no point in going to a 1.5mm over bore. but to be fair it did need a rebuild just not that big, they act like it was a huge upgrade. the +4 crank may have helped in the low end? but is it really worth putting in? i mean it makes the blaster kind of look bad because there saying that they put all this work into it and it still lost. actually the track times were beginners: lap time on /BLASTER 3:44 and RAPTOR 3:11/ intermediate lap times: //BLASTER 3:04 RAPTOR 2:57 and the pro or experienced lap time was /BLASTER 2:47 RAPTOR 2:50 / so the blaster did beat the raptor but it took a pro to do it, and the pro said he had to ride it real hard and was feathering the clutch. but still i wonder if they had flipped the fronts and changed tire sizes the times would have been closer maybe in the intermediate race.