my girlfriend has a z400 with a yoshi full exhaust kit and a K&N filter and that thing has ridiculous power for me. i weigh about 150 and that thing completely rips with me AND her on it which is the equivalent of a 250 lb rider. i absolutely love it and am selling my recon to get one.

 

The 05 Z's have some updates, like reservoir shocks and a new, larger carb with TPS sensor. One or both of the clones didn't get the 05 mods. Check this out before making a decision.

The Z really has a superb engine! The power is pretty mild in stock form, but this thing will hop up real well. Even just venting the airbox lid, makes a huge difference.

I did find that mine (like most any machine) benefited greatly from the addition of a sterring stabilizer.

 

I'm in the same boat that you're in. I've had my lt250r for quite some time now and I'm looking to get a z400 in the near future. I'm 6'3" and weigh about 210 also. I ride at the dunes 90% of the time and my 250 takes me everywhere I want to go (I'm not much into racing though). Anyways to the point of my post: I'm going to be renting a stock 05 z400 this weekend and taking it to the dunes. I'll let you know my thoughts on how it compares to the other quads I've ridden.

 

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. At this point, I'm still looking at the Z400, Kawasaki KFX400 and even Kawi's KFX700.

KPM, I'd be very interested in hearing how you like the Z400 being that we roughly share the same height and body weight and I'm not into racing either. I just want something that's fast, fun and handles nicely. After seeing the pics in your gallery, I'm ready to move to Utah like right now.

 

I'll be sure to post a full review for you of my thoughts on the 05 z400 at the sand dunes.

I've ridden my lt20r, a raptor, polaris scrambler (400 two-stroke), and banshee so I should be able to get a decent idea of how it compares to some of the other quads out there. I haven't ridden a yfz 450 yet. I've sat on one and it felt really small to me. My brother who races a raptor rode his buddies yfz and he says the thing rips. I think they're just a bit too race oriented for my blood and I'm ready to have a quad with reverse.

Back to the z, I hear that you have to pipe, rejet, and open the airbox to really make it come alive.

I'll let you know how things turn out and if I'm ambitious enough I'll take some pics so you can see where I rode it at.

 

I just got back from my weekend with the z400 and I had a blast. It was an 04 (even though they said it would be an 05) and my wife and I had a lot of fun on it. It is by far the most comfortable and best handling quad that I have been on. The ds650 is might be a bit more comfy, but it feels like I'm on a tank. We spent most of our time riding on the smaller dunes by the camp ground and had a ton of fun. It had plenty of power to handle all of the places that we went by the camp ground.

I was 100% sure that it was going to be my next quad until we went to sand mountain. (go to www.dunereview.com to see pics of it) My lt250r that I have right now can go up sand moutain at about 35 mph. Definately not the fastest quad out there by a long shot but enough power for what I do. Well on a stock z400 I made it up about half way before I had to turn around. I tried it a few times but couldn't get any farther. I still bet I end up getting a z400 but I definately will be putting some mods into it (yoshi or hmf exhaust, k & n filter and powerlid, rejet, gearing 13:41/42 and eventually I would like to put in an athena stroker kit)

I hope this helps you.

 

KPM, thanks for the update.

Sounds a bit disappointing that the Z couldn't make it up the same dune that your 250 could. Was there something wrong with it?

I went and saw the Z400/KFX400 at local dealers and am heavily leaning towards one at this point. I'll probably go with the Kawi cause I like the green. I would also do some minor mods such as pipe, air filter and maybe a rejet. I'm sure with some decent mods you can squeeze more power out of it.

Thanks again for your report and make sure you post another update whether you go with the Z or another quad. -Cap

 

I'm pretty sure nothing was wrong with the z that I rode but I wasn't dissappointed at all with it. Sand Mt is quite the hill and I was trying to go up the steep part. Plus my lt250r runs really strong. I've put around $3000 of mods (big bore, port and polish, full fmf system, air filter directly bolted on to carb, work shocks, etc) into it and I'v3 smoked my brother's stock banshee and raptor with it. So comparing my modified two-stroke lt250r to a stock z400 really isn't that fair. I'm willing to bet that with and exhaust, air filter, paddles and proper jetting I'd have no problem going up sand mt. Plus I hear that the 05 are a bit faster. I think you'll be extremely happy with a kfx 400, and if you ever feel like you want more power you can always add a big bore kit and still be around the 7K price tag of a yfz. If you go with the green make sure you check out the green powder coated pipe by hmf. I've seen it on a kfx and it looked sweet plus it has great performance. Good luck with everything!

 

i love my z and think its the best all around sport quad.you could add the drz base gasket and both hot cams ,and pipe and you will run right with the yfz and trx 450r ,but not beat them but it would be a close race.or you could wait till aug and get the suzuki 450 quad,but its going to be a race quad.

 

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