I am looking into getting into a serious build on my 95 Explorer 4x4 400L. I like machines that are a bit different than the rest have and this one would deffinatly be a sleeper. So I would like to hear opinions on these kits or simular mods. I dont want to hear the why you doing that for and stuff, I have made up my mind and want my money to go to a good quality build.

Any of the manufacturers that post hear, please "sell" your kit to me perse' . I wanna hear why I should buy your kit. I know alot of these were desighned around the scrammy but I am not affraid to make a few modifications necassary to make this work. I DO want to stay with electric start I do beleive. I think I will also go to mixing my own gas and loose the oil injection stuff. One last thing, my quad has the EBS installed on it. Can I switch it with the setup on my wifes Xpress 300? Shee needs the EBS alot more than I do.

I also would be more than happy to hear suggestions on what NOT to do as well.

I really appreciate the input on this and my other questions guys. The Bomb forum is a great place for good people that are always there to help eachother out. I hope the Polaris forum will be the same.

 

I forgot to ask....will any of these kits hold up to a 15-25 shot of N20 as well??

 

Also should add...the idea behind this is so I can still play with the big dogs on the DS's I used to run with at the dunes BUT still want to be able to run gas I can buy at any station and it can take the abuse of slower trail riding with the family. THAT IS IMPORTANT!

 

Well I can tell you that as far as builders go I highly reccomend HPD and Rick Ritter. Rick is by far the best in customer service you will find anywhere BAR NONE! I have a Race Modded 400 that will run with all the big boys and then some (and that's on pump gas). I'm not for sure on the Explorer mods even though they are both 400 two strokes and is the same motor. I found out recently that they are jetted differently than the Scramblers and Sports from the factory so I am real leary of giving advice when I found out something was different. I'm pretty sure Rick Ritter makes a pipe for the 400 explorer. If you are going to go "all out" then I would invest in what's called a "girdle kit" . This mod helps to keep the cylinder from twisting at high RPM's and breaking the front cylinder tabs. Also a HPD case saver would be a good investment as well. This mod will keep the crankcase from breaking with high horsepower engines. With these two modifications done your engine will be on it's way to being a very reliable motor. I highly reccomend Ricks "Race Porting". Combine that with his pipe a 39pwk carb and a higher compression head via milling the stock head or a Cool head made by HPD that will let you run different domes from a 12:1 ratio all the way to the 15:1 ratio dome. From what I've heard about the Aaen 440 kit (not bashing at all) the HPD race mod will out perform it. And you will still have the stock cylinder with all those bores left over. I've personally never compared these companies mods against each other but the bias I've seen on this forum is Rick Ritter and HPD by a landslide, so that's says alot right there. I run the stock driven clutch and have had great success. There's a aftermarket clutch out that's called a "Team" roller clutch. It's supposed to be the cats meow for every type riding imaginable. I'm not sure how well the EBS clutch would perform in drag racing but someone might know. I hope you've gleaned some info from this. I'm sure there'll be others here that will chime in something I missed. Good luck with your project and we'll be pulling for you. I'd love to see some good footage of a Explorer putting the smack down on some of those new thumpers.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

The Polaris Forum in my experience has been really great to me. Everyone enjoys helping one another out.

HPD

Ritter Cycle 618-644-3211 (He always answers the phone himself)

 

Demon, We have never done a shoot out or test with our set-up (HSP) verses hpd or aaen kit there are so many options I could go on for days but from what I've read you are looking for a reliable big bore kit that will run on pump gas @ elevation. You are going ot wnat ot get ride of the ebs for sure, did you put it on your quad? I've never heard of a xplorer coming with ebs before. On the kit it self you can either go with the big bore version or the std. bore version power will be a little better with the big bore though. We will port the cyl. run one of billet heads (comression ratio depends on elevation), run v-force reeds, reeds spacer, 38 or 42 tmx flatlside carb kit, k&n filter we can run stk air box or run filter direct to carb, Hsp pipe, you can run our silencer or the stk. one, oil injection block off, hard motor mounts, gasket kit, wiseco piston clearanced to our specs, clutch kit for stk. cluthces or weights primary and team secondary, team secondary is by far the best perfromance wise and the most reliable. Our tech lines are open 8-5 m-f and I'm on the forums at least once a day. We ahve been in business for over 10 years. We have had great reveiws from our customers on these kits as well. With all of these engine mods you r quad will put out about 68-70 hp on pump gas. pricing for engine work wil be about 1400-1800 depending on what you decide and cluthcing will be on top of that. Let me know if you have anymore ?'s thanx Jeremy. FYI you can also go tothe HSP/SPX topic int he forum section it towards the top.

 

you should be able to switch the drive and driven clutch out betwwen your bike and the express 300 you must switch them both though.

while most of these kits were designed for the scrambler the bottom ends are the same, the top ends are the same for early year sports and scrambler, but latter on the cylinder was given boost ports and the main jet upped two sizes. Hope that helps.

 

The EBS was installed by my Mom and Dad. I bought the quad from them as they needed some emergency money for a situation. Wasnt the quad i really wanted but family is family and I will do whatever it takes to help my family. So I could sell this quad and buy another one but after sitting down and looking at it all, I would be alot better off in the long run to just build this one into the quad I would want. Then take the money I would have spent to get a newer quad and put it towards a snowmachine!

Then as luck would have it, I came upon this absolutly CHERRY 96 Xpress 300. I would guess it to have MAYBE 400 mi on it and those were on a road. The bottom of it barely even has any scratches, yet alone paint missing. So for $1700 I picked it up for the wife. BUT last night I got thinking, I am the skilled rider and she is experienced but timid and I think she might be a bit scared of not having the "comfort" factor of the 4x4 and she wants the EBS but doesnt want to fork up $500.00. So I got thinking....What if I swapped motors, plastics, and put the 400 tranny on the 300 and do whatever i need to the 400 tranny wise?? Then I would be alot faster due to the weight loss of the 4x4, still have the snow pusher in the 300 and she would have the comfort of 4x4 and EBS. Alot of work, but she is worth it and heck so am I hehehe. I love to wrench and learn new things so I am kinda looking forward to it actually. NOW to convince her!

Jeremy, I will be calling you or someone in your company today.

Please dont let this thread die, i want to hear many more opinions. Thank to those so far.

 

Okay...for my opinion. I have a racemod setup done by Ritter Cycle. I have run his setup "Reliably" for over 4 years now. The power throughout is unbelievable. I have run against many other bikes with the other builders names, and I would have to say Rick has got it right. Rick can walk you through the right setup for you, and he is not in it for the money. You can get away with using the stock head, just get it modified if you want to raise the compression and check for flaws. You can lighten your flywheel and still use your electric start as well. Defenitely want to put a new piston in, and if you have the money get the bottom end checked out so that you won't have to take it apart later. With hight hp a casesaver and girdle kit are a must for in time you will most likey crack something somewhere and that isnt cheap. As far as carbs go.....I have never used the pwk, but I have heard good things about it. You might also want to think about getting a 40mm Lectron gas carb. They have great throttle response and are the easiest carb to tune. You can get one from Packard Ent racing or find one used on ebay. A clutch kit will get things going, and help bring the whole package together. A good set of reeds will help with throttle response and help get that fuel delivered to your engine. On the piston you could go big bore, but I think you are just wasting your bores. You will probably get more power, but it is not worth it and not noticeable enough to waste the bores. Call around for yourself and see what you like, but my vote is for Rick. You can pm me if you have anymore questions.

 

TTT

 

I talked to Darryll of HPD last week about nitrous. He basically said that, on the bottle the bottom end cases will crack all to pieces. He told me that the engine on the black drag bike, on his site has approx 5 different pieces of 1/4 inch plate welded to the cases in various spots. Just to hold it all together!