Thought I'd get on the net and read about what's out there, after reading these forums for the past 2 days, I am farther from a decision now than when I started! My first atv was the 300ex, 2yrs ago(new), I asumed the 400ex would be the next choice, but now I am haveing 2nd thoughts after reading about the complaints of the "under powered"400ex.

I am 31 and ride 98% trails, If it wasn't for the 2% of the time that I like to grab gears, ride wheelies, and hit a few jumps, I'd just get a sport utility(but that just aint an option). I live in Tennessee, the trails are rough as hell, rocks, ruts,roots, did is say rocks! The hills are steep, rutted, and rock ledges that are down right scarry, if there is a trail, we go up it, over it, or through it. You are goeing to: get dented rims, flat tires, skid gards bent, stuck in mud, and occasionaly have to go through water that you don't really want to, and this is useing as much caution as fesable and still be able to enjoy yourself. Where we ride, people die or get hurt bad, often,(I feel for these people, it is a dangerous hobby). This small talk is to give you guyes a idea of what I am looking for in a sport bike.

Now to the choices,

I wanted a Raptor, but from what I gather, I would be faster on my 300 in the woods. The 400 would prob be a better choice?

The C'dale sounds good, is it as agile as a 400EX, can it handle the tight slow sections without burning up? Can it be geared down enough so you can go over the real rough rock sections without slipping the heck out of the clutch, or beating the rims and a-/swing arms to death?

Sorry so long but I wanted to let you know as much as possible, what are your thoughts, looking foreward to some experienced riders opinions and sugestions...

 

If the 300ex still fits you good,and you are happy with the handling, maybe you should look into the 330 big bore kit. This is supposed to dramatically raise the bottom end, and gives a top end that will rival or even beat a stock 400. The cost is only about 300 bucks,way cheaper than a new quad,and if you have any money left over,you could put it into some suspension mods to help handle the extra horse power.Powroll and Four Stroke Tech both make the 330 kit,and I'm sure others offer it as well. Just a suggestion,if you don't want to put a lot of money into a new quad.

 

Well I own a cdale and love it but for the type of riding you do, I really don't think that would be a smart choice for 2% of the time. The dale likes to rev and you are talking about some rock crawling, not a good combo. I would probably get the 400ex, you are use to the type of engines and bikes that honda puts out, they are relatively cheap and you can lug through 2nd gear all day long. Plus parts are cheap if you bend a frame or something in the rocks and there are plenty of mods if you wanna go a little faster in a year. There is always the new suzuki Z400 that is coming out ( faster, same handling, and reverse for the same price as the ex, supposedly)

Man there are so many choices now, when I bought my first sport quad in 93 all that was out was either the 300ex(which i chose) and the warrior. times a changin

-Josh

 

I agree with Dex. Don't get the C-dale. It's a great quad but a lot of the electricals are in vulnerable (sp?) spots and I don't think it would be a good mudder... the power band is kind of sudden like a 2-stroke but it "kicks in" at lower RPM's and keeps pulling to the rev limiter, but it will spin like crazy in mud... not like 2-strokes but it will spin more than the average, low geared 4-stroke. I would go with a Z400 or get the 330 kit for your 300ex. It sounds like your reverse probably comes in handy but I used to own a 300ex and know that the procedure is kind of dumb. Most of the time, when I needed reverse, I hopped off and pushed anyways.

I know I didn't give you any clear answers but hopefully I kinda gave you enough info to lead you towards a certain quad. *Z400* <-- it would probably be your best bet.