Hi guys, I own a 2001 Honda 400EX and I am not very mechanical, so here is my question.

What should I do in order to bring back my 400ex to life after a hard winter (from -0 to -40 celcius, that is VERY VERY VERY COLD, I live in Canada)? I never used it between october and now.. So what should I do? I guess the battery is dead, I must change the oil?? empty the gaz tank and refill it? change the sparkplug?? any suggestion? what order? Thank you very much.

 

Just do same stuff you would normally do. Change oil, plug,check battery, gas tank. I would do things in steps. Take the plastic off and then gas tank while its off drains and let it set for a whole day maybe even flush it. then the oil and the battery. Also did you run it out of gas??? If not you need to clean the carb out as well. Next year when you do this you should put so gas stablizer in the tank the the gas won't go bad and that would be one less step to do. If you don't have a battery charger and the battery seems slugish just fire it up and let it idle for a little bit until the battery gets charged. Also you might want to grease a few of the moving parts and check all the nuts and bolts. Make sure that no mouse has moved in to your airboke either. ( I've seem it done)

 

I guess I will bring it to the dealer then.. I have no idea how to clean the carb.

 

Also, to prevent a future disaster, I would remove the swingarm pivot bolt, grease it, and put it back. This will save you a ton of troubles down the road. It takes about ten minutes to do.

 

the dealers gonna charge u a nut to clean the carb, if u dont vic for it that is...

 

Go buy a manual and tear into it. tear off the plastic the tank then just pull the carb off and clean it. If you can change the oil I think you should beable to do this. Just get a manual.

 

Thank you guys, I will order the manual and follow it.. What kind of grease do you use to do all that stuff?

 

Don't assume you need to clean the carb, gas keeps well at cold dry temps. But you should drain it via the screw on the bottem of the float bowl. Matter of fact, you should drain it if you think it is gonna be sitting more than 30 days. If it won't run, with fresh gas IN the carb, then clean it. If it runs, ride it around a little and if it runs ok, you're good to go.

 

That was what I was going to do in the first place.. Drain the carb and make sure there is nothing left in the carb and the tank. I just wanted to make sure I dont screw anything by going the easy way..

 

Just drive it its a HONDA she will run like the day you bought it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]