A couple more things I have discovered:

The flywheel in this engine must be VERY LIGHT! With this engines weak low end, this will mean a frequently stalled engine if you ride technical trail. Trail riders might benefit from a HEAVIER FLYWHEEL. While the bikes handling begs you to trail ride, THE ENGINE DOES NOT.
TRAIL RIDERS, STICK WITH THE 400EX!!

The studs on the hubs are KIND OF SHORT. When mounting ITP rims, you have to turn the lug nut around and place a washer under the nut (or the nut will chew up the aluminum rims). When you do this, the studs are only long enough to reach about 2/3 of the length of the lug nut. I haven't decided if this is going to be dangerous or not, but when you are flying down a desert wash at 60 mph, a failure would be a disaster.

I think I will end up running Holeshot XC tires. I tried the XCT's (they are nice because of higher clearance), but there was a lot of "feedback" from the road to the handlebars. A steering stabilizer may have helped. Also, the ride gets rougher with the Holeshots vs the stock tires. Obviously, the SOFT stock tires contribute a great deal to the bikes suspension!! The stockers handle nice, but wouldn't last one ride out in the desert.

I threw on a pair of Sand-Sport wheel extensions (see www.sand-sport.com) on the bike to see what it would be like when it has been widenened (+4" front and rear). The ride was incredible!!! This bike is extremely stabe at stock width, but at +4 you can fly through corners at incredible speed.

 

Ok, IMAO is nothing. It is IMHO which means "in my humble opinion". Anyhow, I love my Z. I am thinking that I am going to drop a tooth up front. I have ridden some very technical trails where a little slower would have been nice. I have talked with numerous people though who've piped and jetted theirs with very nice results in the low and top end gain. Myself, I am still leaning towards getting a 13 tooth up front since I'll be switching to 22's on the a$$ end anyhow for some clearance. I do not believe there is a better all around bike that the Z. Not even really a contest. I cannot wait to see your pics of that bad boy widened. I thought I wanted to go +2 myself, but after the trails I've been riding, no freakin way, this thing is almost too wide for them, so stock width is where it's at for me. I love this darn thing more every single day.

 

I want to move down to 13 tooth me too. 2nd Gear is to fast for trail ridding and whellie will be more easy in 2nd gear.

 

Changing the front sprocket is a cheap mod, so give it a try. I did this on the 400EX for a while. It was great fun for "play" riding. From a standstill, I could blip the throtle on even a small berm, and launch the bike 3'straight up in the air. The kids would crack up watching me. BUT, out on the trail, IT JUST WASN'T PRACTICAL!! The front would pop off the ground when you would power out of a turn, and you would have no stearing!! In the end, I went to 1 tooth larger in the rear, as a better compromise. Stock on the Z rear is 40, which is already pretty big.

 

I think my HMF silencer will solve the low end. Like 7 ft lbs and 5 hp on the low end, 2-3 up top. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

I'll know by next weekend.

 

What can you do about the stalling? Will pipeing the bike help? It does stall pretty easy.

I also have got to lose the thumb throttle.