how reliable is a modified scrambler 400.....
bored .40....
is it going to break down alot?
require rebuilds?
the guy im buying it from says it has never had a problem except water in the crank because the guy before him let it sit, it has a new crank now,
its a 97

 

Pick the Scrambler up,(must be ready to ride, gas, oil, etc..) hold it over your head and throw it. How far it goes is a direct relation of how far or long it will be reliable. You can figure about 1 foot for every 6 months of trouble free riding.

 

Don't listen to MXZX, he's trying to be funning. Really not a bad try at that. If the only thing that has been done to it has been a boring over of .40, only thing that means is you may have to resleave it on your next rebuild. Polaris's aren't bad units, I think is goes back to the rider and maintenance preformed. If you ride anything hard and put it away wet, your bound to have issues. I still ride my scram 400 just for the comfort of ride. Wheelie machine that's right with the piped 400ex's in a drag. Good Luck with it.

 

no, thats not all the mods it has... here is the list,
and the guy said it never had a rebuild or needed one.....


HPD Pipe. CLutch Kit, New Crank, New Weisco Pistons Bored .40 over, Bored Carb bored .40 over, Ritter Racing airbox, Chain tensioners, Delta v force reeds, New Waterpump, Uni Aifr Filter, new steering bearing,

and i thought that sounded a little odd since its a two stroke chok- full of mods,

speaking of comfort, this is a 97 scram, hows the ride?
and i wont be riding it hard, maybe 2% of my riding time will be fast/hard ,
but i do hit the occasional mud pit, and lots of stream crossings,
p.s.
how is the scram for hill climbing, and rock crawling?

 

Seriously,
be careful buying a machine with lots of mods on it. Unless you know the guy selling it, any story on how reliable it is will work to get it out of his garage. Especially if it's a POS he wants to get rid of. Best advice, ask to try it out in real riding conditions, not down the driveway. Look or have someone (who knows what to look for)look at the machine closely. Is it put together well, or slapped full of cheap mods to cover the crap?
Any question in your head, move on to another machine/seller.

 

Im on my second Polaris ATV.The first one was a 500cc Sportsman,I had a TON of problems with that piece of shi?Alot of it was caused by the dealership not making the repairs correctly.

Now,I own a 2000 Xplorer 400cc 4x4.It is not nearly as bad as the Sportsman was.Tie-rods seem to go bad every 5 months or so.I have replaced the chain/sprockets 2 times,the steering stem two times,a drive shaft,and a primary clutch.Everything was covered under the extended warrenty.I now have a GREAT dealership mechanic that is CUSTOMER friendly.

I have my eyes on the new 2002 660cc Grizz,but I wont jump ship because of my Polaris mechanic.Its hard to find a dealership mechanic that keeps the CUSTOMER in mind first.And I aint willing to take any chances by going to another brand,
Bill

 

Don't let those mods scare you. They shouldn't affect the reliability...if they were done right.
Ride it, listen to the engine. Does it have a knock? Check the grease fittings and see if it looks like the guy kept it greased. Check the air filter and see if it's clean or filthy. If the air filter hasn't been kept clean that should tell you the guy was not keeping up with his maintenance. You have to do routine maintenance on a 2 stroke so if you don't want to work on it yourself then it's not the quad for you. If however you enjoy tinkering with stuff like that then it might be just what you need.
One thing you mentioned is that you won't be riding fast & hard very often.
With those mods it's not meant to be ridden slow all the time. Make sure you buy a quad that suits your riding needs. I climb hills all the time with my '98 and creeks, rocks, whatever, it goes wherever I want to go. I ride mine fast & hard alot though so the modded Scrambler suits me.
I haven't had any problems to speak of though since I replaced the stock piston and I ride every weekend. Keep the air filter clean, grease the thing, and ride.

 

Muddy4life

How many miles before it broke down and gave you problems? Front drive shaft went bad? I ride in deep water and mud and I am thinking about a 400 to replacve my 1993 250 but I am not willing to constantly fix it. My 250 has been close to trouble free.

 

they guy says it has a lot of torque for slow driving,
when i meant i wont be driving it hard and fast,
imeant racing, and drag racing, and hill shooting,
i will be flying up and the down road a lot, and trying to carve the trails, and messing around on the biggass track we found,
and speeding on the occasional service road,
but there is a LOT of instances where medium-slow technical driving come into play,
and he said he can stay with an AC 500 in the woods

 

kukerdan,

A machine like you list should be as reliable as a stock one. It really isn't until you start messing with the carb and having the machine ported that the machine gets high strung. NewDSLover is incorrect, you can bore the machine out quite a bit farther than .040". The big bore kits are usually around .100"+ and standard bore kits go to .080". If the motor was done correctly, there shouldn't be a problem. Check out what Crawdad said and you'll be fine.