Ride Red or dont ride at all

I have a 400 ex and ive beat people with z's and ive been beaten it all depends on the rider

 

Anyone read the May ATVSport magazine midsize sport shootout? It puts the '05 Z, KFX, 400EX and Raptor 350 against each other. Interesting highlights to me are that the 400's all got to 20 mph and then 35 mph at the same time(roughly 2 and 4 seconds respectively). In the span of 18 seconds the Z/KFX both got to roughy 55 mph while the EX got to 52-53. The Z/KFX got props they deserve for the new front shocks, engine upgrades and lighter weight components(compared to earlier years). The 400EX got props for it's easier chain adjust method compared to the others. The claimed dry weight for the Z/KFX is 370 lbs while the EX is 386 lbs, BUT ATVSport put them on the scales 'wet' and the EX came in lower at 404 lbs while the Z/KFX came in at 419/417 respectively(don't ask me why the KFX came in lighter). The Raptor 350 came in at 408 lbs wet.

The fact that the EX came in at 404 lbs wet really interests me considering that last month ATVSport did the shootout between the 450's and on their scale the 450R came in at 404 lbs wet and the YFZ came in at 387. Makes me wonder what the 99-04 EX's come in at wet, considering their claimed dry weight is 374 lbs compared to the 386 of the 05's.

Anyway the Z/KFX won the shootout, a large part because of the new shocks and slight power edge, but as you can see by the numbers there is no dominating going on between the 400's.

 

Sorry KMH! I misread. My bad! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Z400 is more modern - biggest thing to me is the water cooled motor - but that could be a pro OR a con, depending how you look at it.

Performance wise - you probably wouldn't notice too much of a difference - these guys who claim there Z or EX would spank the other are just full of it. They are very close performance wise, gonna come down the the rider 9 times out of 10.

 

Pulling a long dune on a hot day, I can feel the air cooled EX begin to fade from under me, as it heats up. The water cooled Z does much better!

 

Wow another z400 v/s 400ex thread [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] no way are we that lucky [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

I caught a bunch of crap in another similar thread for my opinion that these models are more similar than different, but its still true and when you ride them both (especially stock) you will be able to feel how much that is true.

When you think about it the differences do make sense as the 400ex started the sport "craze" that we see now with so many new better performing models avail to us etc, and since the Z400 come out later it only makes sense that it was designed with features that would improve both sales and performance.

Maybe the emphasis was more on increasing sales than peformance and the reverse and liquid cooling are more powerfull to increasing sales than performance (two of the major differences between the models) but the DOHC design though also a sales feature actually does improve performance at higher rpms.

Even though the honda's sohc design has one less cam to turn (and for us to buy when modding the engine) and that does take less power from the engine to turn it etc it is more limited in the rpms it can spin and will not allow the same redline as the dohc.

Well now even honda threw in the reverse and though I doubt they will update the engine beyond small stuff its still a good performer but just like the Z its a little low on power compared to the newer 450's etc.

I know we cant believe everything we read in the mags but even when they compare the two they are very comparable, and I have to agree that overall the z has a slight advantage in acceleration, but I also know this is miniscule compared to the advantage a better rider would have.

I like them both and their very compareable and achieve similar performance stock (both respond well to mods too) and either would be a great choice for any rider not wanting the power or design of the new 450's or just not wanting to fork over the diff of the $$$ and prefers to mod their stuff on their own etc.

You can debate the advantages of the diff engine designs, and even the liquid v/s air cooling as they all have their strong points, but in the end unless your going to be building up the additional heat of running 13:1+ comp and hi rpm useage etc I dont think this should be what you base your decision on. And honestly the air cooled ex can handle it with some cooling mods and since I am running just under that 13:1 I know what it does etc.

So if your tryin to decide which to buy etc just hurry up and make your decision because the time your losing from riding either is more an issue than the differences between them.

 

my friend has an EX and I have a Z and whne I first got mine I couldn't touch him. But whne I learned how to drive it I beta him and now he can't pass me. We race down a half mile strip and we stay the same lenght aprt the whole time(about 20 feet. Hes geared down 1 toooth on fornt and I am losing power wiht a slip-on WB not jetted. And we stay like that. When he has stock gearing we are side by side and we don't move. But whne im stokc I beat him good. So once im jettted ill take him a lot better. His EX is buletproof

 

I disagree. Neither are pushing the rpm limits in stock form and both are capable of getting way up there.


I used to the think the advantage to dohc was variable valve timing until I read where someone pulled it off on a 4 valve sohc. So that theory went out the window.