Guys, I think I've just decided to keep the 400EX and not upgrade for now. I think I'm going to go with an upgrade pipe, jet kit and K&N filter. I've also even thought about the 440 kit, but does this kill the reliability factor that I now have in my stock 400ex? Also, on the pipe would you go with a White Brothers R4 or an E Series? I can get an R4 for about $200 shipped and the E for about $225 shipped. How much money are we looking at in installing the 400 kit and all the parts and who would you suggest that would do a good job? Can you tell a big change in power when you go to the 440 kit? Guys, thanks for all the help!

 

For trail riding I would limit the engine mods to the pipe, jet kit and air filter and spend any extra money on a suspension upgrade......that will help you even more. Unless you are hung up on straight line speed, jacking your horsepower and revs is the last thing you really need to do. The better suspension will let you utilize the power you already have so much better, that it will help you much more. I would also drop in the lower sprocket as suggested earlier. When you push the horsepower past the ability of the suspension to handle it, then you are asking for trouble........a common error made by those who think "going fast" means "top end speed" or maximum acceleration.

 

If you do a search on my past posts you will deffinately find that I'm pretty much against the 400ex. The 400ex IMO is being relegated to a smaller junior level machine. Performance wise it seriously suffers and takes several add ons to just meet the performance requirements to match that of the newer Z/KFX. I took the plunge in 99 and bought a 400ex when they first came out. It was fun but I outgrew it in about a week. Some real questions you should ask yourself is how old are you? What kind of people do you ride with and what style do they have? There is no denying that if your friends own other quads that may be banshees, Z/KFX 400's, raptors, cannondales, and or YZF 450's and you own a 400ex your deffinatley going to be on the lower end of the scale pretty much no mater what kind of riding your doing. Now if I was going in knowing this, I deffinately wouldn't buy a 400ex. And the problem is having to mod the 400ex to a 440 just to keep up with the bigger boys your going to sacrafice the logic you probably bought the 400ex for in the first place. Which is I bought the 400ex for reliability and all around general reasons. Now, I'm not going to completely deny the 400ex credit here. IF I had a 16 year old son, I might consider the 400ex for him, but long term I'm sure he would quickly outgrow it, and mainly because I would want a machine with a little more power possibilites. Also, if my son wanted to ride MX or hairscrambles its far more likely that the Z would be a better choice as most riders I know have already long ago replaced there 400ex's for Z's and now a few are moving to YZF450's. There's no way a piped and jetted 400ex is going to keep up with a piped and jetted Z. And for the vast broad range of riding I would do with my family from dunes, trails, MX ect; I would much rather have the Z. Now, on a side note why even consider the 400ex when the 450 is right around the corner? I seriously wonder if the 300ex is going to say bye bye and the 400ex pretty much takes the 300ex's place as younger sibling. Either that or the 400ex goes bye bye and the 300ex remains. The 400ex and 300ex are kind of in a bad position right now. One IMO is going to have to go.

 

NOBODY should be saying anything about HONDA frames being weak. You wanna get a weak frame get a z. Everyone knows that there isn't a more reliable engine than a honda. Suzuki corrected the weak frame on the z for 2004, but before then they were crap. I jump my ex over 30ft doubles and the sort all the time, yes I've come up short on it a couple of times and imagine that still runs like it's brand new. The power difference between the two is 2-3 hp. You can't even feel it while riding. Yes, the z's do rev a little quicker though. And the only time the air cooling comes into play is when you stay at extremely high rpms for a LONG time. I cruise around on trails at like 60 for hours on end and haven't over heated yet. I will admit that z's are a little nicer in 60% of cases with liquid cooling, and a little faster revving and all. But you have to look at every situation on a case by case basis. Ex is the nicest trail bike ever. He said top speed doesn't matter to him at all. The 2mph difference doesn't matter for him. The air cooling doesn't matter at all for him because he wont have it topped out for a half an hour straight. He wants something reliable and he will be guaranteed that with the Honda. In some cases you should get a z, in some cases you should get an ex. In this case he should get an ex. I guarantee you won't regret it. plus the price difference between the two used is rediculous. Average used, nice running z 4200. Average used, nice running 400ex 3200. I am not biased because I own a honda. A couple of my riding buddies, and neighbors have z's and they are excellent bikes, but yet again in this case the Honda would be better. Reliability wise the two don't compare.

 

Hey how is it going i have rode all the bikes youve listed and i am a true 2 stoke guy but of those bike i was most impressed with the yzf it handles has awsome out the hole and great mid and top end as well for the price it is a great buy.

 

well, another weekend in the books trail riding the YFZ..rode 4 hours saturday, and about 8 hours yesterday. Roosted up some leaves, got muddy (YFZ is almost black) and had a great time. No problems with the quad, even with rock crawling in first gear and riding over downed trees.

I really dont see where anyone gets off saying this isn't a very good trail bike...plus it will get up and GO, and eats up the ruts and bumps with ease.

anyways, this is the original question..
I like the 400ex..and it is a great trail quad..however I dont think you could ever confuse it with being quick, or a great hill climber. With some power upgrades.. (piston, cam, pipe, head porting etc) it can be..but stock, they dont have the power to climb real big hills with authority unless you want to mod it..

JMO

 

they feel like they handle about the same.......but the power differences alone is WELL worth the extra cash to get a z/kfx/dvx
not to mention reverse.......that comes in very handy on the trails....

 

I ride a raptor and I think you would be totally happy with one as a trail bike. The 400ex is a great choice too. The YFZ450 is an awesome machine but I dont think it is first choice for a trail bike because it has a low clearance and the seat is hard. If your not worried about having the fastest bike out there go with either the 400 or raptor.

 

I agree completely Spanx, if a 400ex can hand a Raptor rider his ***, the guy driving the raptor needs a good beating.

 

Dill I know this quote is from an old post, but I am curious where in northern Minnesota you went riding?