Fast trails with a little mud? I would buy it. It probably won't be as comfy as the EX, butyou do gain in other areas. It kind of sounds like the 04/05 models may be better trail quads overall.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Having both, I would not want to spend 80 miles on my 450, on a trail ride. The 450r will be faster, but you would ride longer on the EX. Stock the 450 comes with a smaller main jet, then the 400ex's do. I have never really checked economy, but think it must be close MPG. I think the 450 has a smaller tank, so that will reduce distance.


I would recommend a Z typed 400, if you need a new quad.

 

according to honda's website:

2005/6 400EX: 2.6 gallons, including 0.4-gallon reserve

2004/5 450R 3.2 gallons (manual has this too)
2006 450R 3.1 gallons (apparently lost a little capacity for some reason. does anyone know why?)


but as far as economy, i am suprised of how well the 450R does. after '***** to the wall' runs and riding, seems like that 42mm carb (40mm fcr on 06 model) would drink more. i tell you, it sure beats going back to the truck to fill up like twice when i ride the R or when i had the banshee. banshees love gas. the older R is a little more fuel efficient and can suprising run for a while on reserve but its still a 2 stroke and 2 strokes drink alot more fuel by mere principle of the engine design.

but if you want a bike primarily for trails, the 400ex, z400, raptor 700r is what id be looking at if i were you. all are nice comfy bikes and have reverse; which in my book is not a priority but it can be useful. if you are in the trails alot, its even more useful. id pick the z400 overall. its the best all round bike for the money on the market,imo. plus if you get bored with the power they respond well to bolt ons, and obviously even better with a yoshi 450 kit.

 

Wow I thought those # numbers were just about opposite. I guess its a good thing people look info up some times.

 

I talked to some friends of mine when I was recently shopping for a sport quad and was trying to decide between a 400EX and a 450R, as they have ridden both. We all ride on a combination of twisty slow stuff and very fast very wide trails. They said that the 450R was very fast, almost too fast, said that it doesn't like going slow through the twisty stuff at all since it's geared very high and the engine sounds really funny going slow. Plus it sounded like a 450R may be a little more maintenance but I may be wrong. Anyway, I ended up getting the 400EX. I wonder if I should have gotten the 450R mainly just for the suspension but otherwise I am very happy with the 400EX. It's got more power and more speed than I can use. If the 450R is in fact geared alot higher like most people say it is, I don't think I would like the gearing where I ride, the 400 is actually a little high for this area so I can't imagine wanting to go higher. The biggest thing that sucks is that if I ever wanted to race it, it would be hard to compete in the stock class because 400EX's did not come stock with reservoirs on the front shocks so I would have to compete against 450R's and other quads that do have them. The rules now let you upgrade to something like an entry level Works shock, since some people can trash the shocks on a 400EX with one race, but the upgraded shocks cannot have a reservoir. As many people that are racing these things and riding them ***** out, I can't believe that Honda won't put better shocks on them. 2005 models are only like $200 difference between the 400EX and 450R for the entire quad, so it can't be that expensive to implement reservoirs. By the time that you get a 400EX and upgrade the shocks to be on the same level as a 450R, even if you only buy used stock 450R front shocks, you've already spent more than a 450R would be in the first place.

 

Thanks again for the info, I think im fooling myself thinking I need a 450. The 400ex is a good trail quad and I dont think Im a good enough rider to use the 450 power. They are just sooo cool. I do like the Ex, it does everything I need and I dont need to bring it in for maintenance(is that spelled right?) Like valve adjusts,isnt the 450 a shim motor? Now I just need to decide on a new Ex (I do like the new plastic and rev. would be nice) or a used Ex. Then again that new Raptor is pretty cool too, I just want everything I see[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] If I just had more money[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] later