Jumping Raptor???

[nickginminden]

im buying a 2007 raptor 350.

im just wondering if someone makes stiffer springs or sumthing so i can jump it without damaging anything

cheap too

 

[yamarider]

There are tons of options for suspension. Not the unlimited possibilities that you get with the race bikes, but there's still a lot of options out there.

Simply putting stiffer springs on would not actually help with jumping much, it would just make it ride rougher and compensate for the weight of a heavier rider.

You really need to get better shocks to make it better with jumping. The most common option is to get a set of shocks built by Works Performance. They will set up a custom built shock for you based on your weight, riding style, skill level, and of course what machine you ride. Their shocks start at around $330 for a front set.

The rears are considerably more expensive, but the stock rear shock actually works good enough for most riders, the front is the weaker link. If you would want to upgrade the rear, the best option in my opinion is to send the shock out to be revalved. Send it to a place like Race Tech and they can set it up similar to how works builds their front shocks. They can set it up for your rider weight, riding style, etc. and switch out to a stiffer or softer spring if needed. The rear has good adjustability stock though, so you should be able to set it up to match your riding style with a little trial and error.

How much are you actually planning on jumping it? And how much do you weigh? For relatively small jumps the stock suspension can usually handle itself ok. I wouldn't do more than 3 feet on a flat landing. I had my warrior about 10 feet off the ground coming down on a flat landing with stock suspension, and it was definitely one of the most painful things i've ever done on 4 wheels. Bottoming out doesn't even start to describe what happened. I might as well have drove a golf cart off the roof of a barn, that's what it felt like for the first couple days following the incident.

 

[ridinfast03]

^^^ Couldn't have explained it better bro. I got the blaster about 5-7 feet up and it felt like I had charlie horsed my whole body. The blaster at that time had warrior shocks all the way round and wasn't pretty.

 

[nickginminden]

quite i bit of jumping acctually

im about 150lbs.
all my friends have bikes so we jump alot and not just little jumps. i hit a 50 footer on my 250ex with about 10 feet of air.

needless to say i ate **** and broke a A-arm but im looking for some shocks that would take that kind of abuse.

im not jumping it all the time like that
maybe 6-8 feet at the most but stiff too so if i wanted to hit a big double or sumthing i could

 

[yamarider]

In my opinion a shock that can handle an 8 foot flat landing will land a big double just as well. There's a video floating around of one of our older members, zuzzu, hitting a 80 foot double with a bone stock warrior, and landing it smoothly every time. When you hit a double properly it's not going to put much of a load on the suspension. (notice that i used the word PROPERLY). Come up short or completely overshoot the landing and no shock is going to save you.

If you're that serious about jumping, i would recommend some Elka recreational series shocks w/piggybacks, and sending the rear shock out to racetech for a revalve. Works shocks are ok, but if you're going to be abusive, i'd recommend something more high-end, and with reservoirs to increase the shock life. But by that point you might as well save that $1000 and trade the raptor in for something that can more safely and effectively handle the big jumps stock.

OR maybe you would be better off with a lawnmower or something, there's less potential to do damage to yourself and others that way. ;D You'd almost HAVE to be mentally damaged to hit a 50 footer with a 250ex. It takes one hell of a ****-up to bust an a-arm on one of those little beaters too, i know this because i've bottomed out a 250ex so hard that it bounced back up into the air on impact, and never once broke a suspension component on one. Nor did my brother, and we weigh 200 and 230 lbs.

 

[nickginminden]

haha dang. ya. i split my shin open and was out for a little.

im not crazy just 16. (oxymoron?)

anyways i know what your saying about "properly" executing a jump
but **** happens and i don't want to have to replace my whole front end
but i REALLY don't wanna spend more then about 300 bucks on shocks.
what about yfz450 shocks?
i saw a conversion video somewhere

 

[yamarider]

YFZ shocks are too long without making other modifications. Diamond J Customs makes a kit that relocates the upper shock mounts to accomodate the longer shocks. I actually have one of those kits sitting out in my garage. I used it a couple times for the purpose of lowering my front end, and took it off when I sold the warrior. I never used one with the yfz shocks, so i can't really say how it performs, but other site members had them in the past and were satisfied, even under mx conditions. The only think I am unsure of with this kit, is that i am concerned that the suspension may reach it's limit of travel before the shocks reach the bump stops. This concerns me because if that would happen you'd likely break ball joints or a-arms. I don't know if that's an actual issue or not, i have never heard any complaints like that yet.

Check them out at diamondjcustoms.com if you're interested in going this route instead of aftermarket shocks. I would sell my to you if you wanted to give this a try. I'd have to check and make sure i still have all the pieces first, who knows what got scattered around my garage in a year.

 

[nickginminden]

ya ok. thanks. im not sure what im gonna do.

just out of curiosity how does the rappy handle under mx conditions?

 

[yamarider]

It's definitely not an mx machine. You can ride it on the track ok, it's just not going to be competitive with anything bigger than a 400. They're too narrow, the suspension isn't made for competition, and the power isn't always enough. But they're good enough to have a good time, just don't plan on being the best.

 

[nickginminden]

but if i widened it a little with good suspension and had a good exhaust, intake and other stuff could i acctually race it?

 

[yamarider]

That's still not going to put them anywhere near a stock 450. 450's have double the 350's power stock, and the power is all in the high rpms where it's usable on the track. The 350's power is much more suited to the trails. Sure, you can spend over a grand and make the suspension as good as a 450, and spend another grand to get the power competitive, but you're still going to be 50 lbs heavier. If your goal is really to race the thing you're better off starting with something that's made for racing.

With my warrior built the way it was, i had nearly $5,000 in aftermarket stuff by the time I was finished with it, plus the $3,000 initial cost, and i still didn't have a shot against the 450's in a real race unless it was against an unexperienced rider that couldn't run it all-out. Granted, i didn't build mine with mx in mind, i'm more into trail riding, and I ended up with an excellent trail machine, but it didn't do well on the track. Then i bought my raptor 700, which totally blows it away on the track, and does almost as good on the trails as the warrior.

I'm not saying this to put down the 350's, i just want to keep people from throwing their life savings at a 350 and then selling it because it wasn't what they hoped it would turn out to be. The 350 definitely isn't a good starting point for an mx quad. No matter what you do to it, it's still going to be heavier than anything else on the track.

 

[nickginminden]

wut about 400's?

 

[yamarider]

It takes more than just intake and exhaust to keep up with the faster 400's, you could probably keep up with a 400ex with just those basic mods. The z400's and the copies of it are considerably faster though, and the suspension is way better than the 350's stock, so it'll take some work to make the machines competitive. That's not to say that you can't do it with a stock one though, racing takes rider skill more than it does a fast machine. A slow rider on a fast machine is still slow. Hell, i kept up with yfz's on the track with my warrior when it was stock, and that sure as hell doesn't mean a warrior is as fast as a yfz. It just means i was the better rider. And when you do beat someone with a faster machine then yours, victory is just that much more satisfying...

 

[nickginminden]

i live in nevada and there isn't much racing around here but i hear from my friends that the quad mx is pretty gay, meaning everyone in it is a newb. so im probably gonna enter some races cause ive been riding since i was 5 and i got some skills. but anyways ill get some vids of my 350 pounding 450 vag.