Well, I got to ride mine around the dealer's parking lot today and I'll be giving them the money tomororow. First off, it is much more impressive looking in person!! Pictures don't do it justice. I didn't it look over in great detail but the workmanship appears to be very good. The air box is much better than the LT250R's!! No more stuffing a 6" wide filter into a 5" opening. I don't know how well the filter is held into place so crap doesn't get sucked in though.

When I went to take off in 1st, it stalled on me a couple times. Probably a combination of not being warmed up, brand new motor, and me being use to 2-strokes. I did not get on it because the owner was there and I don't like tearing around on something I have not paid for yet. The overall feel of the quad was excellent though.

So, I'm sure people would rather here how it whooped on 400ex or Raptor but this is all I can offer for now. I probably won't get a lot of ride time till this weekend. One comment the dealer (Honda & Suzuki there) made is he is going to start cutting down his 400ex orders and get as many Z400's in he can.

 

yeah i liked it when i saw it. looks 10 times better in person! the seating position is very nice! =)

 

speaking of cutting down on 400EXs... I was at the local Honda/Yamaha/Kawasaki/Suzuki dealership (they got 'em all!) to see if they had any Z400s... no luck... but they had a couple '02 400EXs on the floor, $600 off MSRP!!! crazy!!! They said that they are making room for the 9 Z400s they are getting, and they had sold 3 of them today... funny how the Z400 is already affecting the competition...

 

Personally, I hope every one of those 400ex's sit on the showroom floor. Dang brand loyal Honda guys keep buying them....they are letting Honda slide on building me a new quad....lol.

 

I got on the new z400 today and I was a bit dissapointed in it. It feels almost identical to the raptor with the a LITTLE more power then a 400ex. Very tippy! I would say head to head it would pull a 400ex by maybe 2 bike lengths. I am not saying this becouse i have a 400ex either. I ride a 250r and was thinking of going to a 4 stroke. I think it will siut the trail rider fine but it will not be the next best mx quad. If I was going to get a new one it would still be a 400ex.

 

How is it tippy with a lower seat height than a EX, and almost identical dimensions?

 

did you just get on it seven or did you ride it? mine feels great. it handles identical to the 400ex but like you said, it has more power. i guess different strokes for different folks.

 

A little more power than a 400EX?! I spent two hours getting familiarized with mine last night, and even limiting myself to 3/4 throttle, this thing would rough-up the EX I had.

 

Has anyone tried relating the tippiness issue to differences in tires? I wonder if part of the Raptor's problem in that regard is the Dunlop tires. Everything I've read says the Dunlops are superb and, if they have more grip than the Ohtsu's on the Honda, that may account for some of the 'tippiness.' It might also create a little of that characteristic in the Z400.

Another thing that might come into play is the yaw (willingness to swap ends) each quad has. At low speeds, a very neutral-handling Z400 or Raptor may exhibit greater tendency toward roll because the front end has relatively more bite than the Honda. I know the Raptor I rode impressed me with the sharp turn-in it exhibited.

Just some thoughts.

 

Yes, I rode it for a few laps. It just felt like a raptor with less power.Im not saying it is a bad quad,Just not what i hoped it would be. Im used to riding my mx 250r so about anything stock feels to high, But I would guess that the motor makes maybe 5 horse over a 400ex. It does turn sharp and seemed to be good for what it was intended for. As for it being the same seat height, You have to consider the radiator is towards the top of the frame with the fan assist, Giving it a much more top heavy feel with all the extra weight up high.Also the motor sits higher in the quad also. All ading up to a TIPPY bike. But for someone to play around on the trails and is less worried about getting every last advantage in stability it would be a great bike. And my local dealer has seven of them sitting waiting to be sold. Thay sent him two months worth in his first shipment. They are in Idaho.