Just got back from Glamis with my 2000 Scram 400 2x4 (with HPD trail pipe, RCR clutch kit, airbox mod,jet kit) and it ran freakin great...except near the top of the major hills (comp and olds). It went up them no problem, but... it started off at the bottom strong, but near the top, the power just kinda lagged. It seemed like the CVT was chillin in a higher gear than what it should've been in. I blip the throttle to try and help-it didn't. I still have to get rid of the terrible stock 50lb silencer, which replacement is best HPD, FMF, etc. Can yuse guys give me some bang for the buck solutions for hill climbing? By the way, the grade of these dune hills aren't real steep, they're just long.

 

Make sure the buttons and bushings in the rear clutch are good. If either of these gets worn or 'sticky' it won't backshift like it should.

Check the position of the spring in the rear clutch. Check with HPD or RCR, tell them what clutch kit you have, as well as any engine mods, and they will be able to recommend which spring to use, as well as what position to have it in.

If all else fails, convert your rear clutch to the HPD roller unit. Makes it backshift like it is supposed to - no binding.

 

Csonksters

How did you run against the other big bores?? Did you try any Banshee, Craptors, 400EX, DS 650, etc... If you got beat how long did you hang with which machine, etc....

Chunky

 

What up Chunky, I did not get the chance to do any real racing against big bores, but my two friends ride 250r fourtrax's one is an '88 the other is like '87 or '89 I forget. But they are modified nicely, with trick carbs, pipes, pistons, etc. Let me tell you, they couldn't believe how well the Scrambler was hanging with them. I already had my HPD pipe, and clutch kit, but this was my first time out with the airbox mod from RCR, and it made a real difference in performance. I just wish my Scrambler would've done better near the top of big hills. But on level ground straight-aways I was hanging with them for a good bit neck and neck, before they started pulling away (at a pretty fast rate). I don't know exactly how many yards I hung with them, I don't want to mislead anyone, but it was very roughly like 50 yds give or take. Everybody I know talks sh** on the "Slolaris", but they are always impressed after they see it run.

 

Oh yeah, hey Chunky how well do you run against those machines? And how do you like your 39PWK carb? After dumping the crappy stock silencer, I am thinking of that as my next mod.

 

SLOLARIS i cant tell you how many times i heard that one!!

 

Csonksters

You asked how I did against some big bores. Well, I haven't really ran any. I don't count the 400EX as a "Big Bore". I spank them BADLY. It is laughable. I know when they kit them, they should hang, but stock, they are pathetic in speed.

But I haven't ran an Craptors or Banshee's. A friend has a stock 88 250R with FMF pipe, jets and some air box mods. He won't race me. He has been around Polaris' a lot and because some of his family members have various quads, including Trail Blazer, Craptor, etc... he knows the Scrambler 400's are sleepers in performance.

The weak area I notice time a gain in people's discussion of racing the Scramblers/Sports is the run out of speed on the big end. I think it is because of the tranny/auto clutch and not the motor. I talked to Darrell at HPD and that is what he says, too. He says nothing hops up like a Polaris 400 and is reliable daily.

He says once you do the full Trail mods (pipe, 39PWK carb, head, clutch, etc...) that the sprockets need adjusting to push the power to the top end. The 400 will have so much power, that the low end can scrafice for the big end.

He says they never put extended swing arms in theirs (exluding the Scrambler 4x4 and fully race motors). They adjust the sprokets and clutches to have the power in the big end. The 400 motor has plenty of power just starting out to afford changing the gearing.

Those other big bores (Craptors, DS/Baja 650, Banshee, etc...) have manual gears that are really good on the big end (4th and 5th gear.). We have to adjust the auto tranny to help move the power from the low end to the big end.

I dunno cause I haven't done it yet. But I have been around motors enough to see, this Scrambler 400 engine is extremely high performance running and greatly de-tuned from the factory. It can cheaply be modded and stay almost as reliable as a stock engine.

BTW, has anybody read the Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki or the Bombardier forums? They got serious issues with their sport quads, too. Craptor reliablility issues/weight/tallness, Honda very slow and air cooled/small, Suzuki Quadzilla's fast/poor handlers/lack of parts, DS spinning low end bearings after modding/expensive/darty handling, etc...

You finally get to the point of picking what issues you can live with and afford to try to fix, and the rest is up to the person to get over and go have fun. The Scrambler is the best all-around/generalist quad made. You can do all types of riding very good.

But ain't nobody talking me into their propaganda. I worked professionally on the most of these other "true sport" quads, and they don't do as well as you might expect after a little time has past by.

Remember, a lot of why people buy things is on how they want to be viewed. Not on what they can do to get their quad to their liking. There isn't one quad out there that any one particular person won't start modding. That alone will tell you they are lacking in something, and the person doing the modding is trying to overcome some deficiencies.

Just read the forums, listen to what they moan about and what they need to do to have something better.

Chunky

 

Csonksters,

Replace that dead weight muffler with a MSA silencer by HPD. It's spark arrested and has a fairly quiet 92db output. More than likely you aren't getting enough flow through the stock P.O.S. muffler to do justice to the pipe.

 

Thanks for your guys help. I've always heard the doubters of Polaris myself, and I couldn't be happier with it. And when I'm gunnin it full throttle it definitely gets lots of looks, but its funny that the quads I do pass up on the trails/dunes don't try and challenge me when I do slow down for them. I don't know if they don't got the guts, or if they would just be too damn shamed to be eating Polaris dust. My friends on those 250r's are the only guys who will race, and they give the Polaris nothing but respect now (because they can't even outrun it until their high gears).