I am surprised I didn't catch this thread sooner. There is a few areas of the forums I don't visit to often because they seems to be little or no problems with users posting. When a user has to resort to name calling as is posted in this thread they have there own personal issues to deal with.

Chet

 

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Dude qwerty, not every Z has probs with the frame just some do. It's just like the damn trannies on rappys. It happened to some but not all. My uncle has a Z and he rides the crap out of it everyday and the frame is perfecly fine. Yes your EX frame is awesome but to bad your motor is an out dated pile that gets smoked by everything. Don't get mad that mudslinger has a better & faster quad than you, just be happy you got one. Quite your bitchin' and go ride!!

 

I agree, It doesn't bother me at all that a raptor,ds,predator, or a yfz are faster than my z. I got what I wanted that's all that I care about. If I had wanted the fastest quad out there I would have got a banshee. If I wanted the best handling I would have got a 400ex. I just liked the way the z looked and what I read about it and I knew I had to have one. I still like almost all the other quads and I'm not jealous of any of them (maybe the yfz450[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]). I'm still sorry for how I conducted myself and I definitly should have left the personal insults against qwerty in my head instead of posting it.

 

I think that both 400's have their strong points but I will have to say even though the z400 may have some issues with its frame for 2003, it is geared for a more trail/mx mix while I can see the 400ex being more suitable for racing (mainly due to he fact there is no reverse). Not to say the z400 is not mean for racing, but when the z400 is bought stock from the dealership it may need the extra gussets for support and possibly new a-arms to compete on a track. I have had my z for one month and have mainly done trails every weak and the frame is the same as the day I picked it up, and I look that frame up and down each time.

 

The fact is that all of the Professional riders have Extensive modifications done to their Quads. All the way from gusseting and various other frame strengthening additions, to completely new aftermarket frames. If you are going to race at that level, it is mandatory that you make these changes. As far as which one requires more modifications to make it race ready, they both will have things such as Shocks, A-Arms, Swing-Arm and other Suspension and Frame upgrades done to them to make them competitive.

The Z/KFX Frames are not intended to be used by Professional Riders for race applications. For the average Joe and Jolene, the Z/KFX Frames will withstand the abuse of casual riding with no troubles at all. As your aggressiveness increases so will the possibility of causing damage to the Frame, as is the truth with any quad (Except for maybe the C-Dales)

This whole Frame issue has gotten blown all out of proportion. In a majority of the initial posts about the Z Frames cracking, the Posts included the words "I hit" or "I crashed" in the description. DUH, If you run into a TREE at 35+ mph, your chances of breaking something increases greatly. It's not Rocket Science. The other issue is that with the number of Z/KFX quads that have been sold, the Frame Breakage (Or Crackage), has really been insignificant. If you sell 100 quads, and 50 frames break, that is a problem. If you sell 25,000 and 50 break, that is far from being an epidemic. The fact is that for every 1 person that has had a problem with their Frame, there are 300 that have Not.

Are the Z/KFX Frames the strongest Frames on the market? No. Is there a need for Suzuki to strengthen them? Yes. Will they work for the average rider? Yes.

 

This house is clear [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I know I'm getting here "late".....but I'm curious if my '03 KFX400 has the weak axle and the "frame issue".......?

 

I don't know dude, I guess it just has pretty much the same frame and axle every one of us got. I think they did fix the axle problem, it was supposed to be confirmed. I hit a tree today after hitting a hill and jumping up the last five feet and landing but a tree was in the way. My wheels were, according to my buddies about three feet off the ground and my bumper hit about three and a half feet on the tree. I was going probably about 15mph or so, if I had to estimate it. I braced my arms and my butte and stuff flew up in the air and I was in the superman position for a few seconds I came down with my chest on the handlebars but I was fine just a bruise or two. Anyways one of the first thoughts was man check those welds up front, I did and they looked like the day I got them. I then checked over the entire quad, everything cool except the plastic popped out a couple of places on the side and front fender. It snapped right back and looked as cool as ever. Thank God for that flimsy plastic it'll bend and not break usually. Anyways that was my test of the frame today. It wasn't on purpose but I felt if my frame would break by just normal riding then this would definitly have broken it. I rode at a track yesterday also for four hours. Two or three pretty good jumps on it and we raced ten to twenty laps each race for four hours and it held up there also. I don't expect it to take this abuse very long on the track though so I'm getting mine gusseted any day now. This is just a homemade track my buddies dad made but we race pretty competitivly and we keep points, kind of like a little wannabe mx championship. Point is my frame has held so far and I agree with RPM for normal riding I think they should be fine. It would make me mad to be riding a smooth trail and hit a little dip and my frame crack. That might turn me against suzuki but so far so good.

 

My understanding is that the Axle problem was on the early Z's, and they fixed the problem before the KFX's were produced. As far as I know, they all use the same Frame. There is talk that they have made some changes in their welding process and this has improved the strength of the Frame. I'm not sure if this is correct, or if it is, when the change was made.