Are your plans MX racing? If so dont waste your money. I go regularly to the MX tracks & I also ride the practice nights & Polaris is not where it's at. I just about broke my jaw 2 weeks ago ofter casing it off a jump but the other quads didn't have a problem. I 've already taken off 55+lbs, just about everything you mention plus more & weighed each part. Your weight savings estimates are off & sorry to say you will probably come up way short of your attempted weight reduction ESPECIALLY w/ a 500 4 stroke. I would not even THINK about what your attempting unless it was w/ a 400 2 stoke which is already lighter in stock form not to mention the HIGH HP potential. I was just trying to stop you before you got really disappointed after spending lot's of money & time for nothing. Dont get me wrong I love my Scrambler & will continue to run the MX tracks but I know my place & it's not 20' in the air w/ the MX 400EX & 250R's. I estimate max weight reduction w/ all aftermarket parts availible & removal of all the obvious stuff to be about 70lbs from the stock weight of a 98 400 of 520lbs & thats w/o any frame changes.
Jim Maloney 98 400 Scambler
http://y42.photos.yahoo.com/jim400scram

 

ok this is kinda funny because at first you are all like go for it it will rip that will be awesome now you are saying no? i just love the sound of a thumper especially with my megamx II apark aresstor. i do have a sport but it is kinda rundown and needs alot of stuff so it would cost alot to get it goin really good. hey if i get all that stuff on will it be worthy of harescrambles?? i got it soup up my sport to race and then soup up my scram to harescramble with comon what do you think?????/ thanks
mike

 

foot pegs-nerfs what do you think i want to save weight but xplor said that they weigh the same so shoud i just weld on foot pegswhat do you guys think?

 

now u guys have me wondering should i make this project or not i really want to but with you answers i dont know any more what do you think

 

The greatest power to weight ratio potential is w/ the 400 2 stoke which what your after. The 400 is lighter & much more powerfull hopped up than the 500 so dont sell your self short. I tried making a 4wd Banshee since 98 & have come to realize the Polaris short commings. If your only interested in 2wd & you really want to be cometitive then I would go w/ another brand, if on the other hand you want the fastest 4wd out there then stick w/ a 400 Scrambler & modify the hell out of it. I'm just as fast as slightly modified Banshee, stock DS650 & faster than modified LT250's & it handle great since it's lighter lower & wider but I cant jump w/ more than a 5 foot vertical drop so there's one BIG disadvantage if your really trying to be competitive. I rode the slightly modifed 500 & theres a big difference between it & the modified 400. The 400 wants to rips your arms off from the get go. I actually had mx bikes pull out of my way on the MX practice track since it is just so fast out of corners, on up hills & basically all the short distances you can safely go fast in between big jumps. I only have 2 shots of me at the MX track at my photo site below but hope to add more in the next couple months.
good luck
Jim maloney 98 400 Scrambler
http://y42.photos.yahoo.com/jim400scram

 

Personally I would fix up the old sport 400. It's a two stroke and with enough mods I think it will go great!

 

Arcticatsux...Here's my opinion on your project. I have put just about everything there is to add to my Scrambler400. (about 3000$) She is very fast when not melting her piston. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] I did not want to admit it this winter, but no amount of mods, short of buying the HPD chassis can render the Scrambler competetive in racing other high-performance sports quads when not in a strait line drag race. It's the weight. I realized this fact when purchasing my Raptor. I do not want to get flamed for saying this though. It took me about 1 month to get used to my new raptor but now I can "really" jump, wheelie and ride much more agressively than on my Scrambler.

On the Scram I have a Trail Pipe, trail porting, clutch kit, 12:1 billet head, 39mm carb, Works Shocks, Hot Seat dual rate springs, lightened flywheel, DG alloy Banshee model nerf bars and a ton more stuff. At this point in time I regret investing so much into this quad considering it's limited handling and associated performance. I did not realize it untill getting the new quad a couple months ago.

Like I said before, I really don't want to be a bummer but that is how I feel. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

i was thinking about tradeing in my scrambler 500 4wheel drive for a ds 650 or a sport 400l what should i do

 

Xplor, you are SO correct. You found EXACTLY what I've know for quite a while now but I need 4wd & can only afford 1 quad so my scambler does it all just not at the front of the pack. At least I'm out there no matter what the season or weather. Thats what I love about it plus it's fast & handles great. I still get my kicks at the MX track & will continue to go since I just do it for fun but if I was serious I would not even think of using a Polaris for a second.
Jim Maloney 98 400 Scrambler