Been there tried those. I've taken over 100 lbs of my machine, this changes everything spring rate wise, that's why the HPD setup is the way to go for my machine. The fox front struts are an improvement over the stock Sachs struts, and the Works units are an improvement over the Fox's. The Hot Seat dual rate springs are good for a slightly lightened or stock weight machine. The 2000-2002 era uses a longer travel rear shock. Polaris had Fox's on before that, but the lower shock mount in the rear was farther forward.

Ken

 

i have the works struts they are unreal how much different from stock and you use stock spring also.

i had PEP to rework my rear they did it too my weight also to weight of quad and riding style.i have 589.00 in my setup and its like night and day from stock.i have yet to bottom them out and ive hit some pretty nasty jumps with it too.

 

Golly Ms. Molly!!

You took over 100 lbs off a stock Scrambler 400?? Tell me how, PLEEEEEZE.

I have removed the oil injection and replaced the 1000 lb factory exhaust with a HPD Trail pipe. How much (if any) did that shave?? Where else can I shave and still have a good Cross Country quad?

Impressed,
Chunky

 

Hey bermbanger,

How does your modified suspension hang with some of those 400EX's you want to buy? Is your modified suspension on par with those?

Where is your 400's suspension good and where is it still lacking (weight???) ?

Chunky

 

Weight saving tips:

Obviously you already did the oil injector/reservoir and OE exhaust.
Other items of no use are:

cooling fan
battery
starter/all electrical components
complete air box
HSP chromolly steering stem and swingarm
Durablue axle (or gundrill the OE)
lighter wheels and tires
cut off floorboards
trim plastic
remove reverse gear and gear selector
race shave flywheel
removed front brake system and machine down hubs
aftermarket handlebars
cut off various brackets on frame (like petcock mount, gear selector mount, small arms under subframe, floorbaord brackets)
aluminum front bumper
use coolant reservoir from SP500
obviously porting and boring saves a few ounces too

All of these I have done to mine and the difference is night and day. See the pics in my sig of when I had it tore down to the frame. The weight savings almost makes the OE suspension handle like it should.

 

chunky i dont think you can get a scrambler to handle as good as a 400ex or 250r just wont happen with struts. Honda no doubt built the best quad ever made in the 250r and the 400ex is about the same as far as frame and handling.so polaris is really gonna have to do some miracle work to compete with them on handling.But.... the mods i made are like night and day from stock believe me.maybe if you remove struts and go with a double aarm setup in front it would help the scram.but unless your a very skilled craftsman that would be a hellva job.

 

Don't forget to go nuts with Titanium. Pull up Mettec.com (tell 'em Ken sent you) and go nuts with almost any standard or metric fastener. From my drag racing days....the ole an ounce in sixteen places equals a pound. Can't forget the custom lower trans mount....yea, it's Ti too.

Ken...just blowin' smoke, don't mean to sound too snuffy. Just get creative. I stare at my quad like Homer Simpson looks at a jelly donut. Tryin' to figure what to mod next. Also, dump the stock shifter and fab something direct.

 

You know, suspension plays a LARGE part in how long you ride. Two years ago I took my friend Jim on a ride around the Marienville Trailbike trail. We started at the main trailhead on the Timberline trail (5 miles), rode half of the Marienville ATV trail (8 miles), rode the Marienville bike trail (20 miles of rocks), the other half of the ATV trail (8 miles) and back to the Timberline main trail head (5 miles). When we got done, Jim was beat and I was ready to go again. At the time, he had the stock suspension still on his quad. I had the long travel Works struts and the stock Fox shock on the rear. We switched off near the end of the bike trail so he could see how well the front struts worked. He was impressed and the next week went out and bought his own Works struts for his Scrambler. Now 46 miles really isn't a long ride for me, but with the poor suspension performance of the stock set up Jim was using it must have seemed like 146 miles.

I've since made some improvements to my machine. For one, I've replaced the front springs with the Hot Seat dual rate spring kit. this gives a nice cushy ride up front and allows me to use more of my suspension travel than the stock springs did. I've also gone to a Works Performance Shock in the back. It has adjustable rebound dampening and a finned reservoir. The spring is set at it's full soft position because the shock has more than enough compression dampening to take care of any large hits I might happen upon. The rebound dampening is set two clicks from it's lightest position.

I've lowered the quad considerably from the time I put the long travel front end on. It now sits even with Celeste's Trailblazer. However, I have about 3" more travel in the front and 2" more in the rear (due to the longer swingarm). The suspension I have now will keep me riding even longer than before because of it's plushness.

Like someone here said, Motor mods are fine as long as all you plan on doing is drag racing. But if you're going to be riding a while, you might want to move up from the stock suspension into the aftermarket.

 

Bermbanger,

I appreciate the response. I guess for your taste Honda did create the best quad (250R). But for me and I suspect most, they didn't. I bet the Sportsman would win that award if all owners were collectively asked. The world is bigger than the specialized MX view the 400EX targets. Quading is a big pond with a lot of fish in it.

I not bashing Honda, I was a Honda Motorcycle/Quad mechanic by professional for 4 years. They make fabulous stuff. But they aren't the only ball game in town. They loved to market themselves that way, but sorry I have been around the block a few times.

I looked at a 400EX and agree it handles as good as anything made. Top notch. But I wanted more than a good handler. I wanted a Big bore with reverse that can be modded easily & economically upgraded. I wanted to ride everywhere, not just with the "dudes" at the MX track.

The air cooled, no-reverse, small framed, under powered, very expensive to mod MX 400 wasn't for me. To some, the belief of having a good Mx'er means you have the best all-around sport quad does wash with me.

The Scrambler 400 is so cheap to get into, takes common mechancial knowledge to work on, and VERY EASY to mod for violent power. With some suspension work (like any of the other quad owners will want to do too), it makes a great quad. It isn't the greatest in any one specialized area, but it is the best all around sport quad. The Scrambler 400 frame is more than able to handle doubling the horsepower, and finding the excellent suspension for a 400 is no harder than for any other.

It will be hard for a 400 EX to beat the Scrambler 400 in all areas, or even most areas. But I don't want to get into a tic-for-tac comparision.

I've had the top of line Honda's bikes (CBR110F, CB900F, CBX greatly modded) and others' top of the line (Husky XC530, Yammy YZ125/400, Hodoka 250, Zuk GS 1100, Kaw KZ 1000, BMW RS 1000 and a few others).

The issues with pumping a Honda's engine up are much more than most others (over-heating, valves, valve seats, cam, head, port, polish, welding of crank, engine case work, clutch, loss of the "Honda reliability" factor, very expensive to have modded, did I mention the air cool issue??). Then we got the suspension/frame issues that need addressing after making the 400EX run with the rest of the big bores.

As for the 250R, it is little cheaper to mod, being a 2 cycle, but all the above issues still apply.

Like I said, I fed my family being a certified Honda mechanic on these bikes. And after you pump a 400EX to run with a Scrambler 400, the realization may come there is more power than the small stock framed/suspension can handle. Then the well balanced 400EX is no longer well balanced.

I could go on for some time. I would like to say again Handa is tops, but they aren't all encompassing. I also worked on Yamaha's too. The dealership I worked at had Honda, Yamaha & Harley. I was a auto mechanic too. Did that for 11 years. Now I am an engineer for Lucent Technologies (went to night school for 11 years).

So, I understand your view perspective, but I disagree on making Honda diety. I am interested in where the Scrambler 400 is lakcing as a Cross Country/Trail Riding/Baja quad after doing suspension work like you have.

I am not wanting to start a argument, a bragging comparision, a "mine can beat yours" kid-like flame via the chat room, getting the Honda guys talking smack in retaliation, or anything. Let me say it again, Honda is top-notch stuff! But they DON'T have an exclusive market on being top-notch, nor are they usually the most innovative in technology.

As for MX, well I'll pass for something more fun and challenging.

In summary, I would own Honda. They are way too good not to own from time to time. But, there is a big world out there, bigger than Honda, or Yamaha, or Suzuki, or Polaris, or Artic Cat, or etc....

Please, share your observations on how the 400 behaves on the modded suspension, but I'll pass on Honda's propaganda.

Chunky

 

"Violent Power".....That has a nice ring to it.