This was copied from the Briggs web site. As you can see they are no longer making parts for the Raptor. I fear the 2008 season will see a spiraling cost for Raptor parts with some items not being available.

Even though it will mean purchasing a different engine, in the long run the Animal will prove to be more reliable with less maintenance. You get more races from the Animal and the rebuild cost is less. By switching to the Animal in the 2008 season you will still have a market for you old Raptor ( you may be able to part it out and come out on the plus side ) The Animal is environmentally friendly and gets better fuel mileage and with the larger tank we will be able to add laps to our program. ( Ryland and myself can barely make 20 laps on a hot day so that may not be an option. )

The early production Animals had some issues but Briggs has addressed them in a timely manner. If you are going to buy a used motor be clear exactly what you are getting.

In 2008 we will be running the Animal with a black restrictor plate to bring them down to 10 H.P. about even with our Raptors but with more torq. ( another advantaged to us heavier guys ) 

Briggs & Stratton

For the past 7 years we have gone beyond the rules of business to carry huge amounts of Raptor past inventory. The goal, to control the cost increases as our overall volumes naturally dropped. We ordered YEARS worth of inventory to maintain and mimic 'volume'. This has allowed us to ensure that we could service our customers as the manufacturing side of our business began to change. In addition, Briggs & Stratton has made a substantial effort to procure new vendors over the years, to continue to cast, machine, and/or manufacture components as internal capabilities were lost. Over the last 24 months, the volume of model 13 parts, vital to our program, has reached a critical low. This puts us at a crossroad.

The continued loss of volume to the Raptor and Model 13 product line over the next year will likely force us to discontinue several critical components. We have been subsidizing certain parts over the past two years as we endlessly continued to look for manufacturing partners. The additional loss of volume will make this practice, even if continued, not feasible to meet retail cost ceilings.

We will continue make every effort to service our customers throughout the 2007 racing season but everyone needs to be aware of the situation as they plan towards the future. We will begin losing parts as the lifecycle of this engine continues to wind down