Has the ball lived up to the hype BTM gave this it? Not many people use Motiv in my area so I don't have any first hand knowledge.

For me yes the Raptor Talon is a hit. Mine is drilled for medium flare with my pap and it is the strongest ball in my bag.I had the Raptor and could never get it to turn the corner (for me of little hand). The Raptor pearl was head and shoulders above the Raptor for me . And the Talon has made me forget I ever liked the pearl the Raptor core is great on the carry end of things. For me my opinion is don't miss this one from Motiv, Oh by the way I am not a staff member.

In it's out of box finish, the Raptor Talon is the most aggressive ball I have ever thrown. It's almost unusable, even on heavy oil if your rev rate and ball speed match. Once I changed the surface, it became a house shot killer. I originally polished over the box finish, but now I have it at 4000 wet sand. No other ball I have thrown carries like the Talon.

It's not going to bounce off the dry and make a left hand turn, but what it does do is drive through the pins wiping the deck clean as it goes.

As good as it is on house shots, it just doesn't seem to work well for me on flat patterns.

The first change I just polished over the box finish. Currently I have it at 4000 wet sand. Stepped from 360, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000. Heavy sand at the 360 stage, then light sand through 4000. You can still see some of the sanding lines of the 360, but the ball has more shine than dull finish. Still pretty aggressive, but now it's usable.

Milo, what surface did you take to your Talon?

Do use caution when drilling however....this core and cover are extremely strong....if you use too aggessive of a layout the ball will burn up before it gets there.

Also as an fyi....the coverstock is very hard. Jeff at motiv told me they had to use a 360.pad to cut the cover at all and ended up using a 500.grit to replicate the factory finish (if you use a spinner). Use caution with surface adjustments....high grit pads tend to not do too much without a coarse grit under them.

I used Mo's asym. flip drilling for a full roller on one for a local guy and he's standing in an area of the approach he has never used....even shooting 10 pins. Definitely a winner from Michigan.

wow....that ball is dull....hope you either have warp 9 ball speed or the Exxon Valdez dumped on your lanes.

great ball...good luck with it

That's how mine was out of the box. It had the roughest surface I think I've seen. It sure seemed like it was way more than the listed 2000.

Quote from: Doug Sterner on August 20, 2013, 08:55:13 PM

wow....that ball is dull....hope you either have warp 9 ball speed or the Exxon Valdez dumped on your lanes.

great ball...good luck with it

Well when you can't touch the surface effectively with fine grits you might as well wave the 2000 grit sandpaper over the ball and call it 2000.

OOB, that thing absorbs light...

The theory was to get it started early because I have never had a problem getting the ball down lane. With how my game is I can throw through the break point. I don't have the pro shop knowledge to tell someone how to drill a ball. I asked the driller how it was drilled and his reply was strong. Rather basic reply I thought but there isn't alot of options in my area. About the only thing I can say is that I liked the reaction before the hole was put in. I felt like it lost something after that which is what you may be referring to badbeard.