Both feel almost the same when your riding them as far as handling manners. The Z,KFX,DVX have a slight advantage in power and have reverse and are a little lighter. Both are priced the same. The Z and its clones are the better buy new, but you can find a lot of good deals on used ex's. As far as the frame problem goes...well correct me if im wrong but i think it was fixed on the late 2003 models. My KFX gets jumped hard every time i ride it and i havent had any problems. Like said the 250r and banshee have been proven but its hard as hell to even find a 250r in decent shape and i personally dont think the banshee is worth the money for something that hasnt changed since 87. Its a great machine but i think either the price should drop or it should get updated a little. Personally i dont think theyres anything wrong with starting out with a 400 sport quad or any quad for that matter. Just dont try certain things untill you know the quad and how it reacts in different situations I actually started in sport quads with my brothers raptor and went down to a 400. No quad is dangerous as long as you dont push the quad to its limits and beyond yours. I say go with the Z, but if you find a good deal on a used EX i wouldnt pass it up.

 

I have a sport bike (GSX-R 600, which may or may not go away to make room for the quad), so the hand clutch will be familiar.

 

pick up a copy of cycle trader, find a chicago cycle center add, call them up, and you will find the best deal on a quad. I got my brand new 2003 z for 5 grand. Go for the z, best performing quad in there, best looks, solid quad.

 

Honda has dropped the MSRP on the 400ex to $5,299. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

the 4=50

 

They may have, I'm not sure. I was told they didn't fix it until the 2004 model. I had the 03' kfx and I wasn't going to take any chances. Besides, I like my yfz better anyways[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Just this past summer, my dad was buying a quad for himself so he and I could ride together. He wanted a sport bike, since we already had a utility quad (the Moto-4) and he wanted to show me how much fun sport machines are. He pretty much was looking for something with a good price, but he was leaning toward the Yamaha Warrior 350, Honda 400EX, or Suzuki z400. He ended up buying a z400 off of ebay. This is the quad I would recommend to you, me and my dad are both very happy with it.




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1986 Yamaha Moto-4 225
2003 Suzuki z400

 

theyre all just as good but i say get the kfx it looks the coolest

 

thanks everyone. i think i'm gonna go with the ex just becuase it's really the only bike i have gotten to try out. and needless to it was alot of fun. i'm not really sure which yea the ex changed there frame problem but i was just at the dealer yesterday and the 04's frame seemed pretty strong compared to the 01's frame that i road couple weekends back. the only reason i'm really thinkin of going with the ex is because there cheaper and there really nice bikes. i'm not says the other aren't nice bikes but i dunno i guess i don't like taking changes [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] but o well. i also want to get used to the honda's because i really would like to get my hands on one of those 450r's [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] man those bikes look awesome i love the way they look. it's so sweet what they did with the front fender flares seems like both the 450's are kinda models off the raptor? do i sound crazy? i really like how it's a kick start the guy at the dealership told me it wasn't going to be but the honda web site says "forward kick" ? what is the differents between forward kick and kick start i read the spec on the blaster and banshee and theres don't say forward kick they just say kick start? anyone know what that means?

 

I think the Z is a lot more bike stock for stock - both have good potential.

The 400EX is a good first sport quad. Kind of tame but in a good way. Handles well, jumps well, etc. Same goes for the Z but it is a little more powerful and people seem to like them better, but the EX might be better to start with.

As far as the Z's frames being weak, you can buy the gusset deals or whatever they are called and nobody seems to have a problem after that. Cheap fix for a big problem.