All those guyes that have them said they would post there thoughts on the Z400.


It's 6:15 saturday afternoon, WE ARE WAITING....

We prob woln't here from these guyes for a week, they are still out there bustin the trails!!!

Must be a good sign...

 

OK! Here's the first one. Tried out the new Z today. We rode for about 3 hours at Appalachia Bay on Lake Keystone, Just west of Tulsa. Shortly after unloading and starting to ride, my Z stalls and won't start. Battery seems dead. My wife is on her 250EX and says "You should have got the Honda, We've never had any problems with them". She was trying to press my buttons (In a lighthearted way of course). Anyway, I found the negative battery cable was very loose, so I tightened it up and was on my way. She was literally in my roost the rest of the day. I was totally thrilled with the ride on the Z400. Remember, I'm stepping up from the 250EX, so I'm not trying to compare to the 400EX or any other quad. I was amazed how much the rough stuff was absorbed by the long travel suspension. The rear end is very easy to slide around wherever you want it. I can easily wheelie is 3 gears, but I've got it restricted to 70% throttle, so I'm sure it will wheelie in at least 4. Later in the day we were jumping some small hills. My wife hit about a 4 ft. ramp that had an uneven top. She got unbalanced in the air and landed on her right front wheel. It threw her to the right and the quad went on its side. She's Ok, but will probably be sore tomorrow. The suspension on the 250EX is just too stiff for safe jumping. I tried the same jump on the Z. Got crazy in the air just like she did. The right front shock absorbed almost all of it and I had a smooth landing. My first impressions of the Z400 are 100% positive. Too bad about that battery cable though. She'll never let me live that down.

 

Today I saw the z-400 today for the first time in person. I was not impressed at all on the quality of the welds. The welds were not consistent: some of the welds were very wide and strong, some were very narrow and looked really weak. I was examining the a-arms when I noticed that there was a 1/6 to 1/4 gap between where the weld was started and where it ended. The swing arm was the biggest i've ever seen on a quad. It looked stable when I was looking at it from the front but as soon as i sat on it, it felt very tippy(probably because of the high seat height). To me the z400 is a liquid cooled 400ex with reverse, raptor plastic and raptor tires.
These are just my opinions so feel free to disagree.

JaMeS

 

I said the same thing a couple of days ago and everybody thought i was full of it. Top heavy, about 5 more hp then a 400ex.

 

<< I said the same thing a couple of days ago and everybody thought i was full of it. Top heavy, about 5 more hp then a 400ex. >>


After riding a LT250R with extended a-arms and axle for years, I would think I would notice if the Z400 is tippy or not and it's not even close in my opinion. I have about 5 hours on it so far and I haven't two-wheeled it once. Of course I didn't have to put as much effort on the LT250R when turning but you just lean a little on the Z400 and there is no problem at all. Maybe all these tippy people don't know how to ride or something.

Overall, I am very happy with the Z400. I did some desert riding today and didn't have one problem at all. It ran strong the whole time. Everyone is going to perceive it differently and that's fine...unless someone on crack starts saying it's slower than a 400ex [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Just curious, what makes the Z feel &quot;top heavy&quot;. I am goeing to buy a ex or Z(soon).

Most agree that the 400EX is the best all around trail quad, but the water cooled, reverse,and 5lbs lighter Z400 seems to be the better choice. IF IT HANDLES LIKE THE EX!!!

I have riden only one sport quad(300ex\2yrs) so my knowledge is limited, now, if we take 2 quads, with the same tire width, suspension set to the same stiffnes, and the front to rear weight ratio is close, and your butt is at the same height from the ground, why would they not feel &quot;exactly&quot; identical?

I am asking for my own benefit, I haven't even sat on a 400ex,Z or any other sport quad, so I have no complaints with any brand, I am just gathering all the info you guyes are willing to give me so I can make a better decision or at least know the pros\cons to the diff models.

Later guys...

 

and I forgot to add, it is now almost 11:00, we only have 2 replys from owners, and 1 who saw one!

Details guyes,,,,DETAILS!!!

 

The spring that connects the rear brake light to the rear brake pedal keeps coming off. That what you're looking for? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

i rode a Z400 today AT MY dealers.i only rode for 5min or so but here are my very unbiased opinions.handles very well,feels very stable and doesnt feel tippy at all,nothing like a stock raptor.sitting on it,everything feels simalar to a raptor but the bars felt narrower.corners great,and power slide great,the front shocks felt a little stiff over rutts ect but way better than my old warrior,steering was very good and easy to steer.trany shifted smooth,clutch had a very light pull,it had decent power,it would pull the wheels in 1st and 2nd if you tried,i was expecting a little more power than what it had,it didnt seem to pull that good on the bottem end,but turned on pretty good in the mid and top end,bottem line with a few modds i think i would make a great woods quad,in stock form itd be a great quad for my wife to ride,and i would defently buy it over a warrior,400ex,300ex.after reading some of the other posts i edited this in,the z runs good,but doesnt run like the raptor,ds,or banshee,its going to take some modds to get it up to there speed,i would like to ride one with no airbox lid,piped and jetted,the airbox is really choked up

 

I rode the Z400 yesterday. The power is very good, the handling is excellant. The bike does not feel &quot;tippy&quot; or top heavy. The guy who bought it was riding with a DS650 modded with the Ron Woods stage three kit. The Z400 stock will run with it thru the first three gears before the big DS takes over. Very respectable in my opinion.
Hey, this thing is smooth, good power, liquid cooled, reverse, fit &amp; finish are very good (I spent a lot of time looking it over while waiting @ the drags), handles very good, the price is competive, and its a Suzuki, what more do you want?