a little update of the new 400 i went out today to some trails in dunbarton nh to finish breaking her in and i ended up on some pretty nasty dirtbike trails i didnt plan on beating her this bad but after being haraased by some honda lovers i had to prove arctic cat fit for anything and oh did i the locking diff is awesome the 4wd is incredible i climbed more rocks and hills the bite this bike has is incredible i actually got thrown off of it today and almost rolled it over several time but it never quit even after i crawled some pretty nasty rocks and blew my tire off the bead and pulled a honda out of a creek (haha honda lover)i messed my rims up a bit but thats what there for but maybe not this soon ive got 15 hrs on her now and over 100 mi and im still impressed over and over again it cant be stopped but now a couple of questions how do i seal my bead again and does any one else have an over whelming sent of fuel and some spillage thinking this isnt normal thanks everyone for your time helping out a newbie

 

Rango - You and I are learnign together as I've had my 400LE about a month, same miles, same hours. I had the scent of fuel, but it's gone now - I assumed this was just part of break-in like when you buy a car (all the different engine smells). I don't have any spillage or leakage of fuel. I also had my first flat and the guy I was with thought the bead came off the tire. Turns out I had a very small puncture in the tire that we did notice until we used soapy water. Hopefully that's the issue with you. I rode yesterday and pulled my friends Polaris out of a creak that my 400LE went through with no problem. So that makes Arctic Cat 1, Polaris 0, and Honda 0.

 

well im glad to see someone else is have as much fun as me.i have the fuel smell but i also have some fuel on my trailer under my bike after transporting it but i dont see it leaking from anywhere so ill be bringing it on for its 20 hr service real soon and ill have to mention it.i looked at my tire today and it is off the bead but i cant get it off the rim nor can i get it to seat again so im going nuts and i think i might have scratched my bike too lol. well thanks everyone this forum is great

 

My 400 also had a gas smell. I had a full tank of gas when I took it out of the gagage and put it in sun light for maybe 5 min. at the gauge pod I heard a noise and gas was coming out of a tube right next to the key slot. I had been smelling gas before and was on the look-out for the source.

 

kaptap, be sure you get some sort of 'goop' in your tires to protect against flats (and general air loss). When ours were new we were constantly airing up the tires before every ride. Once we put the 'goop' in the tires, that ended almost any tire inflation problems - period. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Thanks Mr Tommy...good advice on the tire "goop." I was curious if I should put something b/c I have been inflating the tires, but figured it was because all the riding I was doing they just lost air.

Rango - Is the plastic on your 400 cracking at all? I already cracked both rear fenders below the gas cap just above the black pastic floorboard. I was only going about 5 mph and tapped a tree with the sides of the fenders and they cracked. Wondering if the AC is cheap plastic or a design flaw.

All - I posted another topic about Rear Storage box vs. Rear Bag and would appreciate any opinion you can provide.

 

i dont think i broke any plastic and ive hit plenty of trees with the rear fenders i actually dented the rear fender when i hit one yesterday right next to the gas cap but ill have to look and get back to you i sure hope not does any one have a problem bending the lip on there rims and are there any rims that take a severe beating in a normal rim or beadlock

 

I've been browsing these boards lately trying to decide on what brand of ATV to purchase. I have been mostly interested in the Arctic Cats and Hondas. There seems to be more Honda bashing here than there is AC bashing there. One thing I don't read a lot about on the Honda board is leaking gas and cracking fenders on their bikes. Just my .02.

 

You also don't hear how if you are riding in mud how many times you get stuck either. You also don't hear about how "beat" you feel at the end of a long day riding on those sra quads either. I have had Honda, Yamaha and ridden Kawa quite a bit and the AC is just as good or better than these other quads are. I will not go to any other quad unless they catch up with AC. Just my .02 worth.

 

smokin the bear is right bama i worked my bike harder than i thought i ever would and it was effortless honda makes a good bike a reliable bike but outdated too you wont get a honda through some of the stuff a cat goes through thanks to ground clearence diff lock etc as far as cracked fenders ac makes a big quad some like it some dont so if you go ac your gonna hit fenders (downside) but you cant be stopped and all the gas leaks you see are mostly the recall a few years back it happens im sure hondas got there quirks my bikes got some fuel smell and spillage but its a week old and under a warranty so i dont care its the dealers and ac's problem and in a week my cat has proven it self im ac for life