See my advice in the Cannondale forum. I think all around, people will be riding blue and red this coming season. Suzuki/Kawi/AC will come to the plate with a performance machine but they are a lil late. If you want YFZ or TRX performance right now, you either need a deep pocket or ... a YFZ, a TRX, or a Cannondale. Cannondales aren't for everyone though...

 

ok sand...hear ya go...these mods all worked well on my bike. Replace the base gasket...you need the gasket from a DRZ dirt bike motor...this will raise your compression jus shy of a full point. While you have the motor appart...replace the intake cam with the one from HOTCAMS...(if money is no object...replace both of them). Your at less than 200 bucks at this point. I know for a fact changing the carb will make a huge difference. I like the bore-out sugestion...even though i havent tried it myself. I DO know a guy that can keep up with a raptor on a *hill climb* with a 39mm carb and the same mods *that you have and that ive sugested*. What tires and gears do you have? This makes a huge diffence as well in the sand. Loose a tooth off your front sproket and make sure you have straight paddle tires...not the V-paddles...youll loose lots of power with the V's. Try the Dyna ignition also...and that should get you close to a grand. You WILL notice a difference in your quad!!!!!!

This is your bigest problem!!! Your comparing apples and oranges. These quads have huge torque!!! Thats jus what you need in the sand!!! The 400 makes good HP...but in the sand you need lots more than that. As the old sayin goes....there is no replacment for displacement. If you wanna keep up with these guys on YOUR quad...your gonna need a displacement increase.

Have fun!

 

Now we are talking i've got two pages of solid advice to build from. The most common issue seems to be cam replacement and carborator upgrade. I like the gasket swap idea but wont it affect reliability? Can the stock bottom handle the extra compression?

 

the bottom end is very strong on this quad...the jump in compression is minimal. they are bulidin motors with 45+hp and having no problems at all with the guts [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I can't remember the guy's name, but he mentioned the DRZ400 base gasket. This is wrong. He ment to say "Head" gasket. If the Z400 is anything like the 400ex in this department, it will increase compression and since you will be down to the cams anyway, you might as well change out the head gasket. It will give you a little more oomph at the bottom end. And it probably only costs around $20.
JP