Hi im Travis lol nice way to start off a topic. I want to get into Cross Country it dont even have to be GNCC just local in Texas. I need help deciding the best quad for it? 400EX Z400 well anything but Yamaha because already have 3 of them and cant afford another one lol. When i get my quad what aftermarket parts should i invest in to make it worthy for the beating of 9-10 mile trail rides (you know what kinda tires, arms, swingarms, axle blah blah blah) well that being said does anyone actually race Cross Country is it really worth all the money and time??? Sounds fun as HELLo to me. Im pretty good at determining wheel placement on trails. Can anyone give me some pointers? anything would help!

Thanks
Travis

 

Well Travis

I race the GNCC series on the new GasGas 300 2-stroke.
There are a ton of sport quads available to the trailriding and racing crowd. So first thing I would do is decide on what machine you are interested in.

Best way to determine this is to test ride or at least sit on all the machines your interested in. Each machine has it advantages and disadvantages.
400ex is a very reliable quad and there are a ton of aftermarket things you can do to it. The big down side is the engine is out of date versus most of the sport quads.

z400/kfx/arctic cat: this mutli-color option machine is what has been hot this year. Higher performance engine than 400ex and likes hop-ups more than the 400ex plus it has reverse which can come in handy. Big down side has been weak frame.

Polaris Predator: this is a new machine and has had more than it's fair share of bugs and problems. In stock form it is a very competitive machine and doesn't need to spend the large amounts of money like the 400ex and z400. I would tend to stay away from 1st year machines do to problems they haven't ironed out.

Well your not interested in the Yamaha quads but they still need to be stated:
YFZ450 new quad I've heard mixed reviews on it some good some bad. Again I would tend to shy away from first year products
Raptor this machine is not really geared towards the xc racing crowd do to it's high center of gravity. This machine would take a little more cash to get it to run as fast as others out of the gate because of it tipsy ness.

Cannondale's line
All have the same disadvantage with the company no longer in business this has owners wondering about part availablity.
All the machines though are state of the art top of the line race machines that need very little added to race. Biggest thing is just dailing in suspension.
Another bonus to these machines are they are selling dirt cheap do to people worrying about parts.
The Blaze though is pretty much race ready out of the gate for GNCC or xc racing.
Cannibal and Speed are the lower models but still are very fast and they don't need the high dollar aftermarket stuff.

GasGas 300 and 450
Well GasGas has built the quads the entire racing industry has been streaming for since Honda quite making the 250r.
Out of the box these machine are ready to race (pending personal set-up). Hands down best stock race machine out. The only question you have to ask if looking at these quads is 2 stroke or 4 stroke. Down side is the price tag is higher than other models but in the long run this quad is cheaper you'll have around 9-10k in the GasGas and any other quad you'd have close to 15k to get the same performance.
My biggest problem with the GasGas is GasGas themselves they aren't promoting the quads and aren't spenting any adverisment dollars to push the quad into the market. Because of this not many people take them serious. And the orginal model wasn't set-up for the USA style racing. Steering and suspension was why to stiff along with being too wide. The engine though on these machines is very smooth and doesn't wear you out like most quads do.

Ok that's the 411 on the quads now on to set-up.
First thing is suspension. Shocks will make the biggest difference on a quad. Pending which quad you get (cannondale and GasGas) just need serviced to your riding weight and style. The others need new fronts and the rear rebuilt to your specs. Shock companys (Axis, Pep, Elka, TCS, and Ohlins).
Next would be tires and rims.
Tires woudl be 6 ply holeshot or razor pending on what you like.
Rims either get race rings or beadlocks. regular rims will get dents or bend.
Then pipe system, air filter and other bolt on hop-ups.
Axles, handle bars, grip, steering damper, skid plates, hand guards, bigger front bumper. Things like this are personal set-up and people buy them as they see fit.

Hope I helped.
If you have any questions fire away and let us all know what you get and the set-up you got with.

Mike

 

You have helped alot, eactly what i needed! Can i print this out??? and would you prefer the Gas Gas Wild 450 or the 300 , yes it that old question 2 Stroke VS 4 =/ how fast does yours go? Thanks for all the info! One more thing does GASGAS have resonable financing???

Travis

 

Travis
Print away!!

As for 2 vs 4 it depends on which you've been around more. I'm a diehard 2-stroke riding so the 300 was the quad for me.
Here is a link to a site that has tons of info on the GasGas quad. GasGasATV
Kevin is the one that manages the site and he is located around the Dallas TX area. There are action shots of me in the Racer corner. Check it out.
As for speed when mine was dyno at GT Thunder it dyno @ 43 hp to rear wheels and 75mph. That was with 18" flat track tires. I run 22" on it so I guess low to mid 80's.
GasGas currently doesn't have a financing plan but there is a rumor that a 0% one is on the way.
Well I got to go. Leaving for a GNCC (Wisp) in a few.

Mike