yamaha raptor 660

[Bwgad96]

hi, im in the market for a new atv for play and i couldent uelp but motice the huge used market and 660 yamaha raptors. does anyone own one of these atvs and if so how do they preform in comparison to the honda 700xx which the buddy has hehe

 

[farmboy12]

This forum is not quite as geared to the 2 wheel drive sport quads, so I wouldn't expect a huge number of posts, but most of what you get should be valuable information.

I have a lot of experience on a couple 700 Raptors and some riding time on a 660 Rhino. The Raptors are great little quads that go super fast, and I feel comfortable going fast on them as well. But, if I am correct, the 660s from Yamaha, which they quit producing a few years ago, were all carbeurated. Not sure how important EFI or the lack thereof is to you. But, I can tell you Yamaha motors run great, and 660s made great torque, at least it's what I hear and what I experienced on that Rhino. But also, the 700s are a little faster bikes and have the EFI as well. They are close enough to eachother that it comes down EFI/Carb, personal preference, and finding a good deal.

Just my .02


Kyle

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

the yamaha raptor 660 has the same engine as the grizzle and rhino 660. the guys i know of that owned one had nuthing good to say about the engine now the 700cc is alot better and trouble free. if i had a choice i would find a 700 and stay away from the 660.

 

[Bwgad96]

ok i dont know what im gonna do i meen for that amount of price diffrence i think i can deal with carburated and 40 ccs.

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

if it was me i would spend the extra cash on the efi atv or utv. you'll be happy you did with all that ethenol they putting in the gas i would steer clear of anything that has a carb on it.

 

[NWOH_Grizz]

One of my ATV's here is a Grizzly 660, and have had excellent service from it. No problems at all except for a burned out stator. I replaced the OEM 100 watt stator with an aftermarket 300 watt stator, easy 2 hour job. Had to adjust the valves once in over 1400 hours of use. Anything else that has gone wrong with the ATV was my doing (bent tie rod, etc).

Have not heard of any problems with the 660 engine. Please elaborate.

The fuel injected engines are great if you are changing altitudes a lot, like taking it up in the Rockies or something. Other than that carbs are OK, and a whole lot easier to work on.

 

[cropdusting]

I have an offroading and racing back round with motorcycles and atvs. I had several friends with Raptor 660's when they first came out. Other than the 2001 models with transmission issues the post 01 machine's engine/trans are pretty reliable with a lot of stump pulling torque, however they are not powerhouses for being 660cc's and that engine was never designed to be in a sport quad. Stock horsepower is under 30, compare that to nearly 50hp in the hi-perf 450cc machines of today. That engine has its lineage in the 90's XT600 dual sport bike that was never imported here.

However my biggest issue with the machine, like most of the sport ATV's at the time, is it is a "parts bin" type sport ATV meaning manufactures at the time just took designs and parts from older motorcycles and atv designs and slapped it together and called it a "sport" machine. The stock suspension is horrible for serious trail or motocross type riding. They have little adjustment and fade fast when pushed. The shocks and frame geometry are poor compared to even other ATV's at the time. Overall it has a crude feel to it. The 700 is a MUCH better developed machine more on par with the 700xx.

Raptor 660's can be had for pretty cheap though, but that is because there is very little market for them anymore now that the sport ATV market has "caught up" with the times. You have to remember this atv was produced during the "evolution" years of sport atvs, the high perf 450cc engines from the motocross bikes were still being refined and the manufactures were not sure if a 450 "race" quad would be a hot seller and the 350cc 2 stroke twin Banshee (showing its age with an engine from the 80's based off the RZ350 street bike) was facing the impending doom of a 2 stroke ban (that never happened) Yamaha threw the Raptor 660 together as an answer and a one up to Honda and Suzuki's wildly popular 400EX (XR400 based) and the Z400 (DRZ400S based, not the "E" model)

I guess this was a long winded post, but bottom line is, if your primarily going to be just plopping along trails at a slow-moderate pace the machine is fine. If you aspirations are high performance, fast trail running, jumping, or the occasional hare and hound type race. The Raptor 660 is not the idea machine.

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