great post. i talked to tc racing last week. tom said $2000 for the 440 kit (like doug gust's bike). that's $2000 for the motor alone.no hinson clutch basket, no pipe, no carb. i think $3200 will probally get the whole thing rolling. he claims around 55hp. no torque numbers. no matter, this thing should rip. tom also said it was bullet proof. i will have a suzuki lt 400, unless honda comes out with a 450ex this year. airtime

 

Ouch, $2000 for a 440 kit less accessories. Unless you are going to race it that seems a little extreme. Hell, for a little over $500 you can get a pipe and pro-flow kit for a Raptor and make close to 50HP. I guess it just depends on what you really want.

For an all around screamer that is what I have done to my Raptor. Eventually I would like to get a 400-class machine and enter a couple races, but I will wait a couple years to see how the market pans out.

It would be nice to see Suzuki bump the Z-400 up to 440cc so it would be more cometitive right out of the box in the National series. If Suzuki really does get behind the Z-400 and race it like everyone says, that will probably happen.

 

The DRZ-400 motor can gain extra cc's for ALOT less then $2000; I'm not sure if that is an accurate price for the 440 stroker motor, it may very well be. The DRZ-400 motor jug has so much extra material that in between the bore and the water jackets that it can be bored all the way out to 470cc's. As seen at thumper racings web site, they are charging only approximately $200 dollars for the piston kit, new sleeve, and all new gaskets, and then they are only charging $130 to install everything. Now this does not include jetting, cams, valve springs, head porting, pipe, filter, or clutch kit, but if you go through and add up all of these individual parts and services you will see that a 470cc 50 plus horsepower motor can be built for around $1500.

 

Yoshimura said they have built there engines up to 470cc however after working with Mike Kiedrowski and steve Hatch they feel that it is pushing the envelope of reliability for everyday use and the power was better all around with the 430cc kit. If these proffesional racers prefer the smaller engine maybe it is the best way to go. Yosh says they may offer the 470cc kit for people who just want to climb sand hills, only time will telll.
Bearman

 

zukiscott, the price i gave came directly from tom carlson's mouth (tc racing).$2000 this is a full race engine or national kit like everybody else calls it. it sounds high to me also, but when you have a pro-rider getting the holeshot on every other pro-rider at loretta lynn's national then you can command top dollar. tc's engine out performed the nation's top two stroke motors ( curtis sparks power valve 265 motors are close to 65 hp). so when a four stroke can hang with a two stroke, that's pretty good. a pipe and airbox mod will be a big improvement over stock for sure, but when you start talking racing, you had better be ready to go all out or you'll be smelling pre-mix before the first curve. a quote from curtis sparks on the importance of the start. "the starting line is the only place where you can pass 19 other riders at one time". i hope a honda 450ex is coming soon or i'll be riding yellow for sure. airtime[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

That's what we need to make things a little crazier! We need KTM to put that howlin' 520 motor in a quad!

 

A KTM 520! AWESOME! A quad like that would rip. Airtime your right, the $2000 price does seem high but like you were talking about its from the best 4-stroke engine builder out there.

 

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airtimehocutt, you hit it on the head......I was there and saw it first hand the 4 strokes were awesome. Shane Hitt and Tim Farr were playing around and Shane pulled a couple of hole shots on the 426, but during the racing it was the 4 strokes getting the hole shots. What is interesting is the article on Kory Ellis, he is riding the new Cannondale and says that it is as fast as his modified 426. Now that is impressive.

 

From what I heard its a lot easier to get 50 hp out of that motor. Dirtwheels said that stock it has 40 and some guy told me at a local track that had the dirtbike that just by piping it and doing air mods that it can boost it to 50 hp right there! But thats on a bike? Is this even true? If so this quad is gonna rip. I cant wait to get all my financing paid off so I can get one. I here that may is when they will be here and they are taking down deposits. and its not as outrageously priced like I expected.
And whats the deal with the 450ex? so honda isnt gonna make a 650ex ever? That would be what I want? Just how much more powerful is the 450 motor over the 400ex motor? A lot? I'd hope so or what would be the point of having both?