Hey, i go to the badland freequently. No duh the 400exs beat the warriors, every hill has atleast a mile run at it at the badlands. The 400ex just chugs right up it. You ride along a creek, that has long tall steep banks, turn your warrior up hill, get it straightened out, lean forward and go, you would beat me up a hill, and dont tell me i cant ride. Think about this, which one wheelies better? The 400ex, because it has a stronger engine and about no weight on the front end.

 

actually they were stock !!! except for a pipe on them and I dont think that really made any difference in the swingarm length but maybe it does. Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

the 400 has a much stronger engine. thats why it would be better for what you just mentioned. so what if its lighter in front? you lean forward. there is a weight difference but whern your at a steep angle like that it doesn't make too much of a difference. don't tell me you can't ride a 400 without wheeling it. its easy to do wheelies and its not all that hard to keep the front end down either. i can pop the clutch in first and keep it down..not hard. and i've climbed many a hill like the one you just described derekhonda. also the 400's tires are better too.

 

funny, everytime i rev up the engine and pop the clutch, i ride a wheelie for a really long time. there must be something wrong with yours.

 

You know the old saying, "there's no replacement for displacement". I've never ridden a 400EX but since its lighter and has more motor between your legs, its probibly the better climber as long as you kiss the front bumper all the way up the hill. My warrior is so front heavy it made me lazy when it came to climbing hills, I would stay seated all the time because the thing would never come close to flipping. That was a mistake, I flipped both of my daughters quads in the same day before it finally dawned on me that I was staying seated while climbing. Stupid real stupid!

 

nope nothin wrong with mine and theres nothin wrong with my 3 friends' that have em too...

 

i have only seen a warrior climb a hill once, tons of times on a 400ex. And they both did about the same, but that might just be the rider!

 

Well, lets see, better suspention, tires, motor, lighter weight, I dont see the argument. The warrior is oviously a far supirior machine at everything. I dont think the 400ex could hold a candle to it. I was going to get a warrior, but didnt think I could handle it after reading some of the posts about how much faster the warrior is than the 400ex!

 

DerekHonda is hitting the nail on the head. I had a Warrior for two years and only stood it up once and had to bail off. However with my 400EX I have had some serious crashes back down hills I had no problem with on my Warrior. Some of that was WITH some bumper kissing but I am a light rider so I know I am not able to put much weight up front. With some practice, prayers and a lot more nerve I have not given up on hill climbing and was even able to conquer the same hill on my 400EX I had previously done a "cliff dive" on. The Warrior's heavy front end is an advantage on the hill climbs with no running room but that is one of the very few advantages over my beloved 400EX. The light front end of the 400 gives me a floating sensation when jumping and it is a dream to ride. The handling is far superior and allows higher speeds within more safety range over rugged terrain that would rattle your brain on a Warrior. Don't get me wrong...I had a blast on my Warrior for 2 years and it is awesome in tight wooded trails and slower hill climbs.

 

My xr250 dirtbike(before it blew up) would out climb my friends xr500 on steep hills. they both had the same tires and everything. more power is not always better. the xr500 had too much power, if you accidently grabbed some throttle going up a hill, you were done for. with the xr250, if you grabbed some throttle going up a steep hill, it would stay in the powerband and not overpower the rear wheels and send the front end sky-ward. the xr250 was like a mountain goat, where the xr500 is like a bull(larger, more powerful, but can't climb for ****) i'm assuming what i just said applies to quads and not just dirt bikes.

laterz