Hey everyone, I am going to hopefully be selling my 1991 Honda XR250R in a couple months for a 2002 Honda 400ex, I have heard of the 400ex being hard to start in cold wheather, and here in North Carolina we get down in the double and single digits in the winter, How big of a problem is the 400ex going to be to start in cold weather? I have also heard on here that they foul plugs when trying to start in cold weather, Is any of this true? Thanks Matt

 

I never had a problem with my 2000 400EX. I live 50 miles north of the North Carolina line in Dinwiddie, VA. Full choke and a little gas and it should start right up.

 

Well, if you chose to get the 400EX, thats great. In the winter, you better start it daily and let it run for a few minutes, or your gonna be seriously pi$$ed off when you wait a month, then come back and start it on a super cold day. I let mine sit for about 3 months at a time, and in the winter, I have to take it up on top of the hill, and bump start it, sometimes I dont get it started till I get down the 1/8 mile hill either. Its a pain!! But once it starts, its all worth it! Just keep it started at least once or twice a week, and things will be fine.

 

This message is for PRS311, I noticed you live in hillsville, pa. I've heard there is some great riding places up there. Are they still open & can give me some info on how to get to them. I may be interested in making a road trip up there this summer.

 

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Well actually, the big "Hillsville" Area is closed now, it was turned over to the Game Commission in June of 2001. Awesome place to ride. Lots of people still go back there though, on weekends stay away from it unless you park at someones house outside of the quarry. There IS a lot of riding around here, its just seperated in certain area's. Since Hillsville has been shut down, I havent went there, I been looking for new places, so far I been hearing a lot, and I went to see a couple yesterday, they looked pretty cool. I'll have more info on it when i take my quad down there. How far are you away from here do you think? I used to ride hillsville everyday so that was a home away from home for me.

 

prs where do u live? beacuse i live in canfield and been to hillsville many times jus last weekend at these huge hills.

 

I live in parkersburg, wv. I think your like 200 miles from me. I used to be on this site alot talking to people that place. This one dude sent me some pics of that place, it looked like it would be a killer place to ride. Sucks that they shut it down!

 

<< prs where do u live? beacuse i live in canfield and been to hillsville many times jus last weekend at these huge hills. >>




I live two minutes from the Hillsville quarry, right near nite trax on 224. If you went last weekend and didnt get caught, your lucky! The game commission was back there chasing folks out of the place. They had a poker run for some guy who had a heart surgery and there were about 500 bikes there, so the game commission was having a field day. They didnt leave till around 6 that night. Your in canfield eh? I am about 20 minutes or so from there. I see you have a cannondale, are you the one who's selling it? I saw two in the cycle trader from canfield [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Which area in the quarry did you go too? I imagine the ruts would be pretty bad by now, since no one has been riding there.

 

I have two 400EX's... one starts right away... the other one can be a pain. The one I ride at the moto-x track is hard to start... probably because it blows a little smoke at startup. Nothing a new spark plug once or twice a year can't fix.

Has anybody found a spark plug socket that fits inside the 400ex engine? Or am I forced to use the supplied tools?

 

If you plan on buying a brand new 2002 400ex you can bet that you will have problems starting it in cold weather. I live in Ohio and in the winter time it gets pretty cold up here. When I bought my 400ex I had problems starting it in cold weather. The brand new motor and cold weather don't match. I think it is partially because I heard that the 400ex comes from the factory jetted a little bit rich. I don't know why, that just what I heard.

I think that best way to deal with a new &quot;cold-blooded&quot; 400ex is to just well, deal with it. You can spray some &quot;firestarter&quot;, (you know that special kind of alcohol that is used to start 4-storke engines) on the spark plug but I wouldn't recommend it. It works good but I don't think that it is good for the engine. I would say about after your first 10 hours, or first 5 tanks of gas, take it in to your dealer for its first tune-up. Have them re-set the valves, change the oil, things like that. After its first tune-up it should be ready to go.

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