i cant decide between a 300ex& a 400ex i have a warrior now.but the say you cant beat hondas quality.anyways i do a lot deep woods ridding ,& alot of playing in the mud.but i would also like something to beat the pants off a scrambler 500.400ex owners is it worth not having reverse gear.everyone keeps telling me not to buy a quad with out reverse whats your opinion?thanks........also will rims from a yamaha warrior,mount on a 300ex or a 400ex,just wondering because igot new mudsharks withdouglas rims .& i would really like o try them out

 

Honda makes a good quad,i would buy a 400ex. Reverse is not a big deal. Im not sure that a 400ex will smoke a scrambler 500 though, might not even beat it. Ohwell, you would like a 400ex cause it will handle much better than your warrior and have better low and top end.

 

How often do you race backwards?.. and when was the last jump you went backwards off of?-

Reverse is cool- but it's not THAT cool...

 

For woods riding, no one I ride with would ever even consider buying a quad without reverse. The people who don't care about it must never ride in tight woods, or explore tight mountain trails. They all just laughed when I told them that people on this conference said that they don't need reverse. If they ride in different conditions maybe it makes sense (dunes or wider open spaces?). I think that the 300ex is about perfect for a woods machine in my opinion. I had a Scrambler 400 ,and just bought a 300ex for my wife, son, and friends to share. Everyone who rides it loves it. As far as a Scrambler 500 goes, while the Hondas both handle MUCH better on bumps than the Scrambler, and are faster on the tight trails, neither will be faster in acceleration (the 400ex may just a hair faster in a straight line, but the one I test rode didn't seem like it). The Polaris is like riding a very comfortable small jeep. It's kind of deceiving when you ride a Polaris, the power delivery from the automatic makes you think that it is much slower than it actually is. Everyone who rides my Scrambler thinks its slower than my 300ex until you both take off side by side, and the Scrambler leaves them in the dust. I'm 6'5", and while I can ride the 300ex somewhat comfortably, it does feel a little small for taller riders. I think you can't wrong with either Honda, but I bought a Raptor instead of a 400ex just because of reverse so make sure you can live without it. I've had lots of motorcycles, and now a few ATV's, and every time I work on a Honda, I'm very impressed with the way it's designed and built. The Honda 300ex is so simple and rock solid reliable that I'm sure mine will run longer than I will. I use the 300ex to convert my dirt bike buddies to ATV riders, so it must be pretty good...

Good luck,
Lorrin Lee

 

I just recently traded my 500 scrambler for a 400ex. There is no comparison. The 400ex will run circles around the scrambler. My freind has a new warior and the ex will out-do that in every catigory. 99% of the riding I do is with him and yesterday we rode for 5 hours solid at an old sand pit that had lots of varying terain and he had a hard time keeping up. I could not hardly keep up with him on the scrambler. I could out accelerate him but only out of the hole. After 50-100 feet he would pass me. Everyone says that the scramblers are supper fast but I dont think so. I have yet to curse the machine because of no revers. There are times when it would have been nice but unless you are a lazy person it takes very little efort to get off and pull it back. I think it is a small price to pay for all the performance you get over a 300ex.

 

leel states that no one would ever buy a quad without reverse for woods and trail riding. The whole reason i bought it was for woods and trail riding (and jumping.) Its what the 400ex does best. Look at it this way, dont put your quad in a position the you have to have reverse and you will be fine. And if you do, turn it around and go.

 

I owned a 300ex for about a year and then traded it in for a 400ex. The handling, gearing and suspension on the 400ex are a lot better than on the 300ex, in my opinion.
And YES .. YES you can live without reverse. We ride tight, twisty trails too. Sometimes I have to jump off and move the machine around myself..but I don't mind. I LOVE my quad..even without the reverse!! You learn to "work around" not having it.
Good luck...
Later, Sherri

 

You can definately live without it, but it does SUCK not having it in tight trails or when you get stuck in deep snow/mud. That reverse got me out of some hairy situations.

What bothers me isnt the fact that the 400ex doesnt have reverse. It's the fact that a great company like honda would build such a great machine and forget to add reverse. I know i'm going to get alot of crap from people saying that a sport/race bike doesnt need reverse, but when i'm paying close to six grand for a quad it better have everything....including the kitchen sink...LOL
Sure race quads dont need reverse, but think about it, how many people are really using their 400ex strictly for racing?

 

I guess I'm lazy reverse is great!

 

Banshees reverse....nope
250r reverse.....nope
quadzilla...nope
quad racer...nope
honda 400ex....nope

a see a pattern, and it isnt that big of a deal