need advice

[Tpr1600]

First off, great site! After spending the past 22 years (off and on) riding utility type 3 wheelers I have decided to live a little and get some sort of a sport quad. I am torn between the Honda 300ex and the Yamaha 350 Raptor. I have owned both brands at one time or another, but I have to say I prefer Honda. However, the Raptor seems to have more to offer for the money than the Honda. Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. Also, I plan on buying a new one so if anybody knows of any dealerships that are pretty good on their prices please let me know. I am in the Orlando area and don't mind traveling. Once again great site and I'll look forward to seeing/meeting all of you at croom and Big Scrub. Thanks again.

[Southern4x4]

A shoot out I read said that the raptor was better.But everyone says its a good bike to start riding klutch on.sry I couldnt be anymore helpful lol.

[Chuck_Norris]

the raptor 350 is a redesigned warrior, the warrior was a great reliable machine. i have only  a little experience with 1 300ex, both machines have been easy to work on and mods are available for both. personal preferrence  I would go blue and stick with the yamaha
As far as a dealer I cant help ya in that area, I know that there are screaming deals out side of the state if florida, just a matter of pricing them out. Beware of 2 god to be true deals on Ebay

[dreth]

you need to get a 400 or a 450. you will get bored with a 300 or 350 in a few weeks! just my opinion.

[T2]

Pick up the cycletrader, and start calling around the dealers in the ads, and ask for an out the door price on the bike you are looking for. So far I find ARS Power Sports the be the cheapest on OTD prices.

Just Bought my bike from Orlando Yamaha with a good price only because I told them the price I was getting for at ARS.

If you want I call can them up and get a price for a new bike since I just bought one from them, I think they will deal with me now.

[Moose]

I would go with the 400ex, the new ones are a lot nicer than previous years. Much better suspension and stance than the 300ex, a lot less likely to flip over also.

[Ida_Mann]

hey,,,,I only flipped mine once so far ;-)

Id@

[Z400BADBOY]

Go with the honda, the warrior is way to pricey!!!!!!!!


Z400BB

[Z400BADBOY]

OOOPPPPPSSSS, I meant the RAPTOR 350 is too pricey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sct450]

in the orlando area there all priced about the same. i got mine from champion in oakland. they all seem to be good people there,try to help you with any questions you have there.

[trx#9]

you need to get a 400 or a 450. you will get bored with a 300 or 350 in a few weeks! just my opinion.

      dreth statement well said. here's mine, '' buy the best forget the rest''.

[Ida_Mann]

I just look at shops who work on motorcycles and quads and I look to see the ratio of Honda's to everything else there,,,,that tells me to stick with the reds ;-)

Id@

[gery350]

350cc is not big enough. my son and i bought warriors and they are to small for the both of us. i had the old school thinking of " i used to ride a 200s 3 wheeler and it did fine-150cc's more sounds good to me." believe me we are jonesing the z400 real bad. its a big difference. our friend bought a new raptor350 and hes already selling it to get a yfz450.

[RAP04]

Thats a bad idea Id'a.... yamaha out sells Honda by 30% so you will obviously see more yamahas in the shop cause there are more of them out there.

[Ida_Mann]

not when my most recent visit to a local shop showed me 7 yami's, 3 Zuki's, 2 Kawi's and, 3 Honda's,,,,,and two of the Honda's were not there for service, they were there for upgrades.

I'll stick with my Honda,,,,,I think of Honda the way I think of a mercedes, cost a little more to buy/fix, but well worth the money for the reliability.

Of course, on the other hand, most any machine will be reliable if it is well taken care of.  I have a friend of mine that absolutely babied his '89 Warrior when he got it home, but ran the pi$$ out of it on the trails and in mud,,,,,he sold it in '00 and as far as I know, the new owner still runs it without problem.

Id@

[cain73]

I agree with Dreth. I started out with a 300ex and quickly outgrew it. If you're definitely getting the 300ex or the Raptor 350  would go with the Honda. No brand loyalty issues here, I have ridden them both and liked the Honda much better. the Raptor has a granny gear for 1st that did more to frustrate me than to impress me. Just my humble opinion. Either way good luck.