| YFZ450
& Raptor ATV Links |
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| 2007
Yamaha Special Edition
Raptor 700 & YFZ450 |
Glamis, CA - Over the past several
years, Yamaha has released its first run Special Edition
models in August, which is followed up by an additional
color choice at the beginning of the new year. In celebration
of Yamaha’s late release Special Edition models,
the media is invited out to the Glamis sand dunes in
California for a few days of fun in the sand, and 2007
was no different except from some of the features on
the 2007 Yamaha Special Edition ATVs.
This would personally be my first adventure with
Yamaha to Glamis as in the past, I sent ATVriders.com
West Coast Editor, Roy Bloodworth, to these events,
but after an arctic blast in the North East, I was
ready for some warmer weather and signed up for the
long trip out west to escape the ice box. Unfortunately,
Mother Nature wasn’t cooperating as heavy snow
blanketed the airport, the morning of my flight, which
caused massive delays and cancellations, but fortunately,
my flight wasn’t cancelled. I would spend several
hours sitting on the runway waiting to be cleared
for take-off before my trip would begin to California.
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| Within
24 Hours, I went from a snow storm to the sand
dunes of Glamis relaxing in a Weekend Warrior
Trailer with miles of dunes in our backyard
instead of nearly a foot of snow back home.
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After spending the entire day traveling, I was thrilled
to have finally arrived in California, and the next
morning, we loaded up and headed to Glamis. When we
arrived at the Dunes, we greeted by a row of Weekend
Warrior Trailers provided by Camp’N Style a
RV travel trailer rental & delivery service. They
service Glamis, Gordons Wells, and Buttercup Sand
Dunes along with several beach locations, and they
provide everything you need for an enjoyable camping
experience besides the food.
Once I unpacked in my Weekend Warrior crib, it was
time to check out Yamaha’s Special Edition Sport
ATV models, which now only includes the Raptor 700
and YFZ450 with the Banshee 350 retired from the Yamaha
lineup for 2007 after over 20 years of production.
Both the Raptor 700 and YFZ450 received major updates
in 2006 with Raptor being completely reengineered
and the YFZ450 receiving a over 80 changes, so for
2007, the changes to both models were more subtle
than the prior year, but there were still some minor
improvements and features added to each.
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| Yamaha
Raptor 700 SE |
When the Raptor 660 was first released in 2001, it
set the bar for high performance sport ATVs, but it
quickly became a dinosaur as the other manufacturers
began raising the bar even higher, and the Raptor
lost its luster, but in 2006, the all new Raptor 700
reclaimed its spot at the top of the food chain in
the big bore sport ATV market. The Raptor 700 was
a completely new beast with a hybrid frame and fuel
injection, which was coupled with a lower center of
gravity and dramatically improved suspension and handling.
For 2007, the Raptor 700 remained virtually unchanged
besides the addition of a new front brake master cylinder
featuring an adjustable lever and a drilled rear brake
disc. Also , the Raptor was now available in Grey
with a red translucent frame. On the other hand, the
Special Edition Raptor 700 received few more potent
upgrades with the addition of the YFZ450 type piggyback
front shocks along with high and low speed compression
adjustments on both the front and rear shocks. This
was exactly what the doctor ordered for the Raptor
700 because it made this already fun ATV to ride even
better especially in harsh riding conditions because
shocks not only performed better, they also didn’t
fade after an extended ride on the sand dunes, and
is well worth the $450 increase in price over the
base model with the SE priced at only $7,649
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| PiggyBack
Front Shocks with High and Low Speed Adjustment |
New
Front Master Cylinder with adjustable brake
lever |
