For years my son has ridden a 250 recon now he wants to race cross country. We starting looking at a 07 400EX and a 400z what ATV would you say is better? My son wants to race as well as trail ride.

What is the best website for buying parts and gear??? Thanks

 

You may not believe it, but when racing you will definitly want a 450. The extra 50cc's makes a huge difference. The yamaha yfz-450 is a great choice, suzuki ltr-450, honda trx450, or kawasaki kfx450 are also great choices but out of them all the suzuki and yamaha are the best in my opinion. You would be better off to get a used 450 then a brand new 400 if money is an issue. Hope this helps.

 

Use www.powersportsnetwork.com to look at reviews for all atv makes and models

 

the 450s r a high rev motor & if he is going to do alot of racing , that would b better , but for tight technial trails u will have to b on the clutch alot , dont get me wrong alot of people trail ride them , but they dont lug down like a 400ex , so it may depend on what he wants todo the most of , but thats just my opinion , ( dennis kirk has a outlet place on their web site and sometimes u can get awesome deals on closeout gear)

 

I know you didn't mention it, but my vote would be for the yamaha 450.

 

If you are staying in the 400 race class the Suzuki will be the way to go. Doug Gust was winning races on the Z400 competing in the 450 class of quads till Suzuki came out with R450. The 400 is a DOHC engine that likes to rev compared to the OHC engine found in Honda both bikes stock are bullit proof but the Zuke is the race bike of the two while the Honda is the trail bike as engine is more subseptabile to lugging than the Zuke take your pic of ither bike but if you are racing MX or open country the Zuke is the only way to go. **note ** for 09 the Suzuki Z400 is all new except the engine but it now comes with EFI in a stellar pkg that most 450's would admire!

 

yea the yfz 450 isa grest bike , my brother has a z 400 and its bad to, we think its pretty much stock and it will stand the front strait up n fourth ( i never wouldve believed it if i hadent seen it do it several times on the first day i got to ride it)

 

One note....the Z got completely redesigned for 08. Fuel injection, new frame, wider stance, etc. Might want to check it out. Have not ridden one yet myself.

The EX is the primo tight trail quad (the engie will lug down), and the Z is better for faster more open trails and wide open country. The EX has better low end grunt, and the Z is faster on the top end.

As for the track, my Z always jumped nose low and required a constant "panic rev" to keep the nose up. I just gave up on jumping it completely after a while, and finally got rid of it. The EX on the other hand, flies like a bird!

The 450's are all better for the track, but they aren't the hot setup for tight trails, because their engines like to be ridden reved out, and that means lots of annoying clutch slipping on tight slow trails.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: reconranger

One note....the Z got completely redesigned for 08. Fuel injection, new frame, wider stance, etc. Might want to check it out. Have not ridden one yet myself.



The EX is the primo tight trail quad (the engie will lug down), and the Z is better for faster more open trails and wide open country. The EX has better low end grunt, and the Z is faster on the top end.



As for the track, my Z always jumped nose low and required a constant "panic rev" to keep the nose up. I just gave up on jumping it completely after a while, and finally got rid of it. The EX on the other hand, flies like a bird!



The 450's are all better for the track, but they aren't the hot setup for tight trails, because their engines like to be ridden reved out, and that means lots of annoying clutch slipping on tight slow trails.</end quote></div>

Your Z jumped nose low? That is odd.... mine flies just about perfectly flat if I launch it right..... and even if it doesn't one quick yank on the bars and the nose would be right back up....

 

woultend it be easy to sipmly lower the gear ratio on the 450 so the engine dosen't lug on the tight stuff..i mean if your riding tech trails were the machine never sees 4th gear ...what is scarficing top speed going to hurt ...