is it possible to ride it out of the trails??? how did you get back to saftey??

 

Landing a 75ft double in the flats somehow constitutes a faulty swingarm by Honda??? I'm sure this wasn't the first time was it?

Don't get me wrong, I have landed plenty of big air jumps in the flats, luckily my swingarm hasn't broken, I also believe some of them (400EX swingarm batches) are stronger than others, but how can you blame Honda for your bad landings?

Yes, we have broken one too (as well as steel swingarms on other bikes), wasn't Honda's fault by any means, although they did warranty it.

Try taking any other stock quad thru the same abuse and see what breaks. The stock suspension on the EX is good, building the confidence to get the big, suspension crushing air, that's why these swingarms break.

 

I broke my in the snow not really knowing how. But i have a race track in my back yard with 50 foot gap and have cleared the whole thing on flats and not had a prob. with it. I think it was just a bad 400ex

 

That's a great post except for 2 things. 1) I have all works suspension. and 2) It was the first time I EVER landed a jump hard.

 

Like I said, after dealing with them for a while, I have come to the conclusion that some batchs are stronger than others. Mine has went through a tremendous amount of abuse on it's stock rear shock (just installed my TCS on Saturday). I inspect it after every ride because I bottom the rear quite regularly (before the new shock). Fortunately it hasn't failed yet.

My weight varies from about 170 to 185. I think this plays a big factor as well. I have a '99 model bike at my house right now that the swingarm was broken on in January of 1999, the guy that did it weighed in at about 220 lbs and rides like I do. Seems like I read that Honda states that the maximum rider weight is 225 lbs on the 400EX, something to keep in mind.

Other factors would include the presence of an extended axle and/or offset wheels, which also place additional stress on the swingarm when you have a bad/one wheel landing. Those 18" rear tires don't help either, the tires absorb a tremendous amount of shock, the smaller sidewalls of the 18's make a difference which can also be felt by the rider in the ride quality of the bike. Also things most don't think about will affect the swingarm over time, such as how many trees you have slid the rear into or bounced off of, etc.... Any lateral stress goes directly to the swingarm, no suspension to soak it up...

If you bottomed really hard, it doesn't matter what kind of shocks you run, they still bottomed, that stress was transferred directly to the swingarm and frame.