Hey all,

I just joined the site. I bought a 2006 z400 for Christmas. I love the bike.

Couple of quick questions:

1st time out on the bike and it starts to run rough at idle and eventually stalls. It is very hard to get it started again. Also, when I put the bike in reverse it starts to run rough, like the choke is on. These symptoms seem to come and go. Any ideas?

My back brakes squeal bad. What can I do to correct the problem? I drove the bike around the house with the parking brake on by accident when I brought it home from the dealer. Is is possible this might have caused the brakes to squeal?

On a positive note, the bike is just awesome. I went riding with my budding Saturday and got a taste of all types of riding. Jumping, hill climbing, and racing through the trails(my favorite). I just love it.

You really need goggles or glasses. With another quad in front of you, you really get pelted with mud and dirt.

Oh Yeah, one more question. What psi should I be running in the rear tires. I notice after my time out Saturday that one of my rear wheels was dented up around the outside edge from racing around the trails. I believe mine have 4psi in them from the dealer.

Thanks,
Chris

 

You should run prob about 4 psi in the tires it should say on one of the sticker on the fenders...The rims will get dented up if you hit something hard or come down off of a jump...Have you gotten the bike started up again because if not make sure that you pull in the clutch and start her...Make sure that it has enough gas, the fuel petcock is on on or res not pri...If you still can't get it running try and check to see if anything is obstructing the airfilter and make sure that fuel is getting to the carb and not getting stuck in either the petcock or the float from the carb...If the parking brake was on while trying to move the quad thats why it was squelling...It sounds like this is prob you first quad so make sure you clean the chain after long rides and spray chain lube on it(bel ray), clean the airfilter and check oil(change when needed),on the break in period ride it like you stole it don't baby it because you want the rings on the piston to seat correctly and now is the best time to do so,grease the grease zerks,after a while you will want to repack the rear bearings or you can wind up breaking them one day while riding, and finally make sure you check the valves after you have had a good amount of gas through the bike. wish ya luck

 

The rough running in reverse is the reverse rev limiter. It only lets it rev just alittle bit above idle. Are you using the choke to get it started? If you start it inside with the choke off then pull it out inthe cold it would run rough. You might need to turn the choke on about half way till it warms up. Take the time to read your manual it will give you more info on the choke. The brakes should be fine might just need to wear off a hard spot.

Rob

 

Thanks for the info Bombrider. This is my first quad ever. I grew up on dirt bikes in the early 90's. As for the brakes, how can I correct the squeal? (rough up the disc and/or pads)

The rough idle is not related to the fuel valve. I have it set to ON. You can get the bike started with a little finess, and like I said the problem seems to come and go. I will check for obstructions around the air filter. How do I verify fuel is getting to the carb?

 

RobBob,

The rough running in reverse just started Saturday. My first couple of up and down the street runs were without problem. The bike felt like it would run 10-15mph backwards with no hesitation or rough running.

The bike was not cold when the problem started. I had been riding for about 2 hours before it started to occur. Choke was off and the gas vavle was turned on. (FYI, I do start the bike using the choke and allow it time to warm up.)

 

I bought one too for christmas for my daughter. She"ll grow into it. My 450r fit's her better and I really like the z. The parking brake holds the front brakes so the squeak is not from that. My daughter drove hers alittle ways also with the parking brake on. Ours squeaks also. We might have to replace the pads with some made from a harder material or try some of that anti squeak spray at auto-zone. It sure is an awesome quad. I've got PRM skid plate, a-arm guards front and rear bumper. Soon I'll be adding a whitebrothers E2 exhaust along with a Prodesign airfilter and bumping up the main jet to about a 160.
That should do it for a while. I'll post some new pictures real soon. I'm pretty sure your little problem was with the choke and not getting it warmed up. Remember this engine is a DRY SUMP design. Let it idle a minunite or so before reving it high to get oil circulating. It doesent sit in a oil bath so it can rev faster without the resistenice of the oil. It's pumped in from the holding tank. If you check your oil cold it might not even show anything on the stick, but let it run about 3 minunite and cut it off,wait another 3 minunites then check and it will give the right reading. Always were eye protection even when your out in the front which will be most of the time on your Z.... you might get a bug in your eye.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I just talked with the dealer, they asked me to check for a fouled spark plug and to ensure the clutch was releasing all of the way.

 

Had to adjust the clutch just a bit on my new kfx. Other than that, it's ran fine.

 

yea on the z400's the clutch has to be pulled in to even start it in nuetral unlike some other quads if you don't get it to go let me know and I would be glad to help...jack up the quad in the rear and turn the rear tires listening for squeeling, it may be dirt particles on the pads and they rub on the rotors, could be that the rotor isn't lined up straight, so check to see and spray some water on it and see if that helps it any...Most likely there is dirt in it still from riding...I though you still had the parking brake on when it was making noises...Firs things to check on an atv are,gas,spark(you will foul a plug if the jetting is off otherwise a 4 stroke shouldn't foul plugs, thats a 2 stroke),wiring problem(the wires at the killswitch may be loose causing the quad to shut off,and just for the heck of it try popstarting it and see if it'll start up.

 

I'm still going to say it is the rev limiter on the reverse. Sometimes mine will kick in at a lower RPM and sometimes it seems to rev a bit higher. The parking brake does hook to the rear brakes also. Most people disconect them and cover them with a block off plate anyway. They need adjusted just about every ride so they really arn't worth the hassle. Driving around the house with them on would have just worn them alittle. Might be a bit of dirt in them.

Rob