I pretty much made up my mind to go for the RCR Stage 1 kit. But I have not forgot the other brands. RCR vs. HPD vs. HSP is where it stands. I like the way my Scrambler runs but want some more power now that I have owned it for a year. The Scrambler was quiet a step up from a Trailblazer. Any info. regarding each kit, good or bad would be well taken. You guys are great help. Thanks.

'96 Scrambler w/K&N filter and Boyesen Power Reeds.

 

Im in the same situation adamnieman,I sold my TB a year ago and bought the 2x4 400 and am now doing ALOT of research into performance upgrades- pipes,clutches,reed valves etc. The only thing im sure of right now is that most people dislike the fmf pipes,gnarly and fatty and that the dg pipes dont do much either,right now in thinking of going back with rcr stage one kit and a v force cage or maybe dynoport and a cage,Seems the few people who use the dynoport rave about it but I dont know ?? I hope alot of people post there set-ups and there outcomes on this thread becouse im going to spend some money here in the next few days!! Spring fever is hitting me early!!

 

I bought the RcR Stage 1 kit for my Sport. Although the gains were slightly impressive, I couldn't get used to the less than adequate fit/finish. No matter what I did, the pipe always rattled around. The silencer is held on with a hose clamp that will strip out before it can do its intended job, and unless you weld your own mount to the frame, you must get used to it.
I got sick of always messing with it, so I got the HPD pipe/silencer/clutch kit. First off, everything is top notch. No rattles. The silencer is held to the pipe with stout springs, like it should be. All the components are beefier, and will obviously hold up a lot better. Along with the clutch kit, you get both springs, along with new weights, instead of just the one spring you get from RcR. I did keep the air-box mod that I got with the Stage 1 kit. I would recomend anyone modding their quad to do the mod. It can be done with about a dollars worth of PVC, plus the cost of a Uni-Filter. The differences in performance between the two kits are amazing. My riding buddy with the same quad still has his Stage 1 kit on his, and has put in his order to HPD.

 

I guess we will never really find out unless someone tests them all against each other on a given day against the clock. I'd love to see a dyno test along with a ride test on the same bike. They have done this with many dirt bikes, in other publicatons, but I've not seen it with atv's yet. Guess they don't really want anyone to know since they would lose advertising $$$ from all but one that won the test.

I've used HPD's, Aaen's, RcR's and an FMF on these 400's. Can honestly say that some pipe's do fit better than others, others look better than others and some perform better than others. Happen to have two machines with RcR's, one trail one top end and they both fit fine.

A lot has to do with how the engine setup is and how well it responds to that particular pipe. You can take a pipe off one machine that delivers poor performance and place it on another with a different engine setup and the owner says it works great. I've seen first hand, an HPD pipe that performed poorly on a 400 Scram and great with an RcR trail pipe. I've also seen the reverse. I think that a lot is to do with tuning the setup to the pipe and the rider's style.

Many owners expect to throw a pipe on and run, but that just does not do it, unless you get lucky. I happen to have a really ugly pipe on our 400ss that pulls harder through the entire range than any other pipe I've tried. I call it the "no-power-band pipe" since it hits hard really low and keeps pulling right to redline. We put the exact same pipe on another 400 to try out and it was not good at all. That machine performed better with a trail pipe setup. His engine could not rev high enough to get the benefits of this particular pipe. The low end was really not too good.

I guess the moral of story is to go with a setup package that is known to work well together for the riding conditions that you intend to use it for. I happen to think that RcR's is as good as anything out there, and without a lot of the hype. To say that one pipe is better than another, yes, on a given machine, according to my records, some are . . . that's why I use what I do. I do have a choice and have spent many $$$$ on pipes trying to get "the edge" that will make my bike accelerate as quickly as I can get it to go. I have a few of those great pipes gathering dust right now out in the barn. A couple of them are not worth the metal they are made of even though they might look very pretty.


www.godigital-design.com/schultzmotorsports
jackschultz@adelphia.net

 

I know how you feel. I have one of those pipes too.

 

Thanks a lot for the information and personal feedback. I may have to do a few phone calls to HPD and RCR to make up my mind. I guess right now I just hope that my quad will run the way I want it to when I the performance kit is installed because more power sounds way fun!

 

Ive been reading alot of the posts for the main reason of my own future mods. One name I havent seen here is EPI. Should I look at the above mentioned mods with more interest than EPI ?

 

EPI makes amazing clutch kits. I had one on my Scrambler 400 that gave it the low end grunt of my Xplorer. Acceleration was great also. But I needed more and got the HPD trail pipe. Lost some low end compared to the EPI kit but gained a ton in midrange and top. EPI is really good if that's as far as you want to go...which is usually not the case. Power is addictive! Take it from someone who knows...all my "first" mods are collecting dust in the garage. If you go HPD, you will never regret it.

Brian

 

You may not want to doscount the big bore kit from AAEN. My buddy got this done to his 99 Sport and it hauls the mail. Im not sure I want race him until I get ported or something, I think he may beat me...

Roostking...