Too bad you only had 400cc on him. Thats what I am talking about. It takes a hell of a lot more 4 stroke motor to beat a 2 stroke. I also think that if you need the "convenience" of a 4 stroke your getting lazy or soft, because it is not that much harder to maintain a 2 stroke if you know what your doing.

"almsost 20 years old and lacks the reliability, comfort, easy maintenance, and resale value of my stock DS"
Reliabilty-My 2 stroke has never failed me, so I have no problems
Comfort- The big 4 stroke feel like tanks to me, so my quad is more comfortable
Easy maintenace-mix oil and gas, put in quad, and ride.
Resale value-propoportionaly the resale value is probably pretty close. Ill have to look up what a new LT250 cost. Not $6000 I know that.

I was almost going to get a z400, because I was getting beat by them at the hills, but after a couple more mods on my quad, that changed. I was also able to hang pretty tight with raptors. I must admit the new Yamaha 450 is a hell of a machine and very fast. If I was to get a new quad, I would probably get that.