dirtjumpordie, on 29 May 2012 - 04:03 PM, said:

Yes, often in life there will be those self inflated types who like to ridicule those who don't follow their path. These are the same types who would raise a discussion to the level of personal attack when they start losing ground on logic. Often they are confounded with Borderline Personality disorder, driven by their own hungry emotional needs, unable to conceive of anything more complicated than their own simple world. They seek the approval of others but don't understand what it takes. Instead they try to impress.

Smile at them, nod your head and say: "Sure!" because any disagreement will just have them escalating their ire.
It is hard for them to imagine anything outside their little circle.

Do not try to change them. If they truly are Borderline, there is no hope for them to understand their problem.
It will always be someone else's fault, because you see, they feel they are perfect.
It is pointless to argue with them, because they do not understand logic. They only live in emotion.

They make very good friends in the short term, because being accepted is so important to them.
They throw everything at a friendship in the beginning to hold it together, but be aware. It won't last.
They always have to be right, and will resort to personal attack to all around when you disagree.

Recognize this and stay away from these people, and for Pete's sake DON'T MARRY ONE OF THEM!
Crazy fun in the beginning, they will tear you apart in time. There is no hope of ever changing them

Experience and education is a wonderful thing. Live long and learn.

The size of you and your weight does not lend itself to riding this small bike. It's like you trying to fit on a XR200. Uncomfortable.

The motor could be hopped up to pull you around but the chassis is just too small.

shrubitup, on 02 June 2012 - 12:06 PM, said:

So, I am 5'11" and unfortunately running over 210 lbs due to too darned good a life, I should be closer to 180 lbs. I first rode a motorcycle about 40 years ago, and have been riding mostly dirtbikes of one sort or another for the past 35 years. I have also done snowmobiles and streetbikes in most of those years too. I tried out 3 wheel ATCs when they were the rage, my best friend had a Honda 250R. The 4x4 quads absolutely bored me, it wasn't until I saw and bought a 660 Raptor that I felt there was a quad that could compare to a motorcycle for fun factor.



Well, it was a lot of fun, but it was heavy at 400 lbs, and expensive, and complicated to maintain.
It had a high "adult" seating position, but was tippy on side hills. It has reverse but tricky to engage.
It had ample power. Wheelies were its forte, any speed, even when you didn't want to do them.
An awful lot of bike for a first time rider (which is what the original poster was asking for).
Expensive, complicated, heavy, cumbersome and overpowered.

None of the 450 class sport machines were much better in some respects.
Some were lighter but most were even more expensive, complicated and overpowered.

My son bought a Blaster, cheap. I would not have looked at one before he bought it.  Kid's bike, right?



But it was cheap ($600-$1500 buys one) and very capable. I tried it, I liked it. I bought one very cheap.
Now if I was new at riding I'd have been happy with that 17 hp, but I'd been riding a 660 for several years.
I had to have more. I went the 50hp motorcross engine route, but that was a lot of work.



There is an easier way:
With less than $100 of modifications it is possible to nearly double the horsepower of the little Blaster,
from 17hp to over 30 hp. Cylinder head machining (a new chamber shape) and a bit of porting
or even just a shim under the cylinder and you are flying! We have done this on my son's motor.
Over 40hp is possible with the usual add on parts and some internal work. 35hp is easily found.



That takes care of the power, what about the "too small" complaint?
The wheelbase can be stretched out with longer swingarm and "A" arm but that is $$$.
I found the low handle bars my only problem. I removed the steering stem and lengthened it 3".
Cut it where nothing was in the way, took it to a metal shop and found a pipe to slide over it and welded it.
This was the stock handle bar height. The pegs can also be dropped a couple inches without affecting ground clearance.



Here is the steering stem raised 3": The Bark Busters are for brush and flying rocks, although I am usually out front.



So, as we got more power and better grip on the bars, we needed a better suspension, right?
Several types of remote resevoir shocks for racing sport model fill fit on the Blaster
and can be bought for less than $100 used. Check for leaks when you buy.
Not too expensive to rebuild either, if you have to.





Fronts can be done the same way, although I have not done mine yet.
A touch of throttle and my fronts are in the air anyway. 50 hp in a 300 lbs machine is pretty quick.
Certainly no kid's toy any more. Like a loaded pistol, ya gotta watch where you point it.

What about brakes?
2004 and newer Blasters have excellent hydraulic brakes, and the old cable brakes will work if you have good parts and set them up, but what if you want to put hydraulic brakes on an older Blaster? There are kits available ($$$) but most of the calipers and master cylinders for these sport quads are the same! This is actually a Warrior rear caliper and I think a Ninja 250 master cylinder. I did have to make mounts (steel bar, drill and grind , weld if you want):





The fronts will be similar, although the bar mount mastercylinder is a no-brainer.
You do need spindle rotors, I have some off a Warrior and I will be using Suzuki calipers with a hand made mount.
At the moment I am still using the cable drum brakes. Less than $50 bought all new cables and shoes! Work fine.

So, I spent 4 hrs on this quad this after noon. Hot dry day, dusty. Hillclimbs, jumps, trails, and some high speed.
This thing flys. My son has his Blaster darned near as fast and quick as my MX powered Blaster.
A bit sketchy at 60+mph with the short wheelbase. Not for the amature. Stock they do 50-55mph, safer.

At 300 lbs bike weight you can maneuver it with ease. If it does roll (and center of gravity is low on a 2 stroke)
it is 100 lbs lighter than most 4 strokes. 100 less pounds of metal is something to be thankful for.
Lighter is always better when you are tossing something around.

So, as the original poster asked, it is suited to the beginner and his budget, and can grow with his skills or his size.
With more horsepower than a Raptor 700 or a Banshee and 100 lbs less weight I can feed them my dust.
With the money I have spent on this machine and its simple maintenance, I can easily afford to have other bikes and snowmobiles too.
Not a bad beginner's quad.

sbest, cool post and mods to your blasters.

sbest, on 02 June 2012 - 05:54 PM, said:

That is quite a process, Why didnt you just put the dirtbike engine into the raptor 660 chasis, then swap the 660 chasis for a dirtbike chasis.  That is the best way to beat all the other quads

gregoryboland94, on 16 January 2012 - 11:32 AM, said:

sounds like u need at least a 400ex. has very good power. but wont rip ur arms off. all in all a fantastic trail bike. i know u said this is abt blaster only but u should look into it

i really dont like this dirtjumpordie guy seems like a dumbass that just likes to flame on quads.....but on to the topic ive never owned a quad only mx bikes but i have rode a 04 blaster i think it was and my friends 01 400ex i like the 400 much better the blaster felt a little more like a light switch but its all prefrence

funke5372, on 23 July 2012 - 08:52 AM, said:

I think you need to consider the fact that he went through a very extensive process to turn his ATV into something that was lighter, faster, bigger, and still easy to maintain.  What he could have done is purchase a 2 stroke race bike.  This would have bypassed the need for the adventure of making a blaster into a race quad and still would have accomplished the desired improvements on a much larger scale.
On the other hand, he did learn a lot about off road vehicles and its pretty cool to easily have the baddest blaster in the world.  It is impressive how much better his blaster is than it ever should have been.

dirtjumpordie, on 16 August 2012 - 09:38 PM, said:

I am still lucky enough to have a KTM125EXC and a 300EXC and have a 380EXC in the works.
What I saved on the Blaster project over the price of the 660 Raptor more than allowed me to keep my other toys.

more toys=

The blaster won't have the power to do anything much. It is defintetly fun to mess around on, however, as its light and nimble. But for trails, go for a 400ex. Happy trails!

blasters have enough power to do any trail you wanna do

I have a blaster, although it is blown up at the moment.  Mine has enough power to get up any hill I need it too.  Although mine is  bored over i think 4.00, and has an FmF silencer, and a gold series head pipe.  Im 13, 5 foot 10, and 140 pounds, works for me.

I had a blaster, I never ever found it to be unreliable and break easy, I beat the crap out of mine and it kept coming back for more, had a FMF pipe/silencer on it, TORS removed, oil injection blocked off, jetted correctly, front wheels flipped, banshee front shocks, 400EX rear shock......it was a very very fun quad and very lightweight.

Haven't read all of the posts in this topic due to lack of time, so I may repeat some things...

I know Blasters that have killed various brands of 450s in races, so saying they can't be powerful isn't exactly the truth. Granted, the Blasters have had some porting updates done to them. A friend of mine has a stock one, and is it small (I'm about 5' 10'') BUT where we ride (woods and trails) it is very nimble. IMO it could be a good bike, BUT a banshee may be an even better option (along with the 400ex.) because of your size.