It is funny to see how quick everybody is to shoot down the Z400 because of a little bit of frame cracking, anybody who was around back in the 250r haydays would know that they had frame cracking issues..[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

the 250r's were cracking because they were severly mx'ed. They were the best quad (and basically the only quad), so everybody who was anybody had one. That is why they broke, they were put to the extreme. I think it was pretty good for back in that era to take a stock chassis and ride them as hard as the pro's did. Now adays the 400 chassis (i dont own one so ill admitting say this is all hearsay) are breaking from semi-hard riding. You know there is something up when the factory starts handing out chassis. They wouldnt do that unless they knew they made a mistake. In 10 years it will be interesting to see if the z chassis will still hold up like the 17 year old 250r chassis. I hardly doubt they will

 

i agree with dabeech, my frame is from '86 and it doesnt have any cracks and its been ridin to the extreme! ive jumped **** with my stock shocks that my other friends with tcs or axis wouldnt jump. My bros 400ex is 1year old and the upper shock mounts cracked already. Ive seen too many z400 with broken frames at the track. The R was and still IS the best bike ever made! by the way does anyone know how long the R was in R&D before it came out?

 

I went to my local dealership the other day to see if (fat chance) they had any YFZ450's, and they didn't. Anyway, I asked the sales rep if he had heard anything from Honda about a 450. His reply was that they had an employee who did an internship at Honda's R&D facility. Even thought the intern was sworn to secrecy, he shared with the others at the dealership that the bike did exist - he had seen it, sat on it, but not ridden it.

I know . . . this sounds just like a million other posts out there, but when it happens to you, it's more meaningful! Also - one other fact leads me to believe that it was real - my local dealership is Honda of Troy (aka Troy Racing). I believe it is the largest Honda dealership in the country, and these guys field some pretty serious race teams (I believe Ivan Tedesco and Brock Sellards on YZ250F's). Not just some local-yocal (sp?) dealership . . .

 

if ur lying im gonna beat ur a$$!!!!!j/k but it would be nice if they did have it already

 

Frame issues aside (which I know is hard to overlook) the z is still a great quad and an new sport quad is a step in the right direction. It just makes the other manufacturers more competitive because these guys have some pride too. The japaneese are some of the most proud people there is especially with their technology. Like cars and other stuff they just don't make things to last as long as they used to.

 

nobody said the bike wasnt a good bike here. There was just a guy saying that the z chassis was holding up just as well as the 250r chassis. And we were sharing our opinions of why we feel they arent.

z's are a good bike, every grandpa should have one

 

400EX Z400 AND RAPTOR 660 ARE WHEELIE KING.

 

Hondas new sports quad will probably be air cooled and have drum brakes and no reverse lol

 

say what you want, but at least the frames wont be cracking