My brother is thinking about getting some new tires for his 400ex. Currently he has 20x11x9 razors on it but he is looking at getting some 22x11x9 razors or holeshot xct, so he has a little bit more ground clearance. But he wants to know how much power he will loose, if he should change the gearing and if he should put 23” tires up front. His ex is all stock except for a k&n air filter and jet kit and he plans to get an aftermarket pipe.

 

My wife has 22x11x8 paddles on her 400ex. We just dropped one tooth on the front and it hauls. He should be fine.

 

I agree, drop one on the front

 

I ran the Holeshot XCT's for a while, and didn't like them real well. The heavy XCT's just made the bike handle kind of clunky, even for wide open desert riding. I geared down a little by going one tooth larger in the rear. I now have gone back to the Holeshot XC's.

 

what is wrong with the stock tires???

unless you wanted more ground clearance, I wouldn't want any other tire.... they are the best combination for mud, sand, and dirt
nice and soft too.... good ride....

 

DSSAP,

Two words, Puncture Resistance. Stock two plys stink where I ride. But if you feel the need to perfect your on trail tire plugging abilities, by all means, go for it.

Also two words you mentioned, Ground Clearance. Unless you really want to see how well that "cheesy" stock plastic skid plate can protect your engine from rocks, or you ride on pavement, fire roads or nice smooth TT or MX tracks, ground clearance isn't that much of a problem. Also stiffer sidewalls from aftermarket tires will help protect your rims in the rocks.

Other than those two little reasons, I can't think of a thing.

01redrecon,

By going down to a 14 tooth in the front he will gain back all of the power he lost, and then some. In fact he might gain a little more power (with a corresponding loss in top speed). By going from a 20" tire to a 22", he is basicallly losing 10% of his power. By going to a 14 tooth front sprocket he is gaining 18% more power. Thus there is an 8% gain in power (with a corresponding 8% loss of speed) with 22" tires and a 14 tooth sprocket. In short the quad will feel like it was when it was stock.

 

I run this setup. 23" Fronts, 22" rears XCTs. 14 tooth front sprocket. I ran this before I had my 440 kit with goodies put in this past winter. But it was always perfect for the woods. If you run a lot of places with rutted up hillclimbs the 22" rears are the ticket. That overall 1" higher swingarm, makes a big difference in getting hung up. If all you do is drag race then this setup will slow you down, as the tires are bigger and therefore heavier. For the woods, it's good.