Speaking from experience, You cannot tell the difference in performance.

Facts - The KFX has a crappy stock filter, pain in the butt to rejet, don't forget the tie rides bend just by looking at them, plastice skid plate, and water cooled - who cares!!! Water cooled is so overated. Honda is more reliable.

Buy the one you like more not what anyone else likes. At 13 and 110lbs. you should buy a less powerful quad anyway.

 

I'd say go with a Warrior [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]. I don't know many kids that can go out and buy a new Z anyway.

 

I've never even seen an ex get close to me in a drag. Modified or not. And if you're doing any trail riding, pull that ex out of a couple holes a few times and let me know then how important reverse is. For the extra $1000 (if you can afford it) you'd be crazy to buy a ex.

 

You're absolutely crazy if you think an ex wouldn't get close to a z400 in a drag. A modified ex wouldn't come close? What are the mods, flat tires or something?
Why do you run into holes on the trail?
Yes, reverse is nice, but it's not that important. I go forward.

 

Get the Arctic Cat DVX-400. It has the same motor as the Z-400 and KFx-400 but looks much better and has detachable fenders.

 

Yeah you guys, the 400ex will completely dust a Z-400 [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img], and my Warrior will outrun a modded DS 650 too. EX riders defend their quads to no end. It's simple, the EX isn't the best anymore, and it actually hasn't been the best for a few years now. It doesn't matter if they lowered the price on the 400ex, the amount you spend on something better is more than worth it. The Honda, at this point, seems to be going the way of the Warrior, but no one will admit it. It's in great need of an update, or a few updates. If Honda would just give it a little more power and reverse, and kept the price the same as the Z, I would get one over a Z any day, just for the Honda reputation, but at this point they aren't giving anyone a reason to buy one instead of a Z-400.

 

neither are fast enough to fancy my liking. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] i vote for the yamaha 450 or wait for the trx. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Ya so what people defend they're stuff. The ex is still very competitive. You call the Z and KFX updated. I call them a failure to lead the way (they arent that great). They simply followed what Honda accomplished years before. If your going to update a quad (or lead the way) at least do what Yamaha did with the YFZ. Now that's going to be tough to beat.

And comparing a 400ex to a Z400 is not like comparing a DS650 to a Warrior. Think about your comments.

 

I wasn't comparing them literally. Suzuki did lead the way for a little while with the Z. They took the good traits of the 400ex, and made it into a better all around trail/motocross quad.

 

I looked at the "Z" for my son when he was 16 and he got all excited that it was new, and got all those kind words written about it. He looked over at his old 250X/350X conversion with sad eyes(with a-arms. 16" Elka triples(modded frame to take them) axle, wheels, tires, engine pretty done, etc. etc)......a bike which he had raced and jumped a bit.......against r's 440ex's, Raptor's etc. Then one day he got to ride a stock Z at a track..almost rolled it over turning around lol.

The first thing I looked at was the frame...I am in the structural steel business for big equipment so I look at steel structures for a living, and have also looked at a lot of atv race frames.......my opinion was to get to the same level of competition as his old 250X was at would cost me about an additional $4000 - $5000 over stock price. And the 250X is not as good a frame as the 400 ex...at least not for mx. A significant portion of that extra cost would have been to reinforce the frame, the a-arm mounts, and the shock mounts, and replace the swing arm. Just my first impression when I looked at the unit up close on the showroom floor.

You say the suspension is good for trails..ok and fun riding .....ok, mx etc..........be carefull. Those shocks are maybe ok to learn on, but as soon as you want to really hit something(meaning jumps).....you are putting first yourself and second your quad in serious jeaprody if you do not work that suspension and frame.

As a fun quad, the new z may win over the original 400 ex is some ways, but if you really want to take it farther.....the 400 ex has a big leg up from a price point of view. There are far more mods available for the 400 ex, and all different levels as well. You could get there with one of the "Z's" too, but I think you will find it costs you more..at least for real mx riding.

Motor power is an "adjustable" item. As far as water cooled versus air cooled.......go watch what happens when a water cooled YFZ 426 stalls out in a race....When you take an engine into a race environment, endurance is measured by finishing the race....... and horsepower usually comes at the expense of reliability one way or another.