Just out of boredom I was looking at the honda website and I noticed that the 400ex now looks like a 450r. Yes, apparently they redesigned it so it looks almost exactly the same. I never really loved the look of the ex, but I just cant stand it when a manufacturer tries to make everything look the same. Yes that includes yamaha and their long list of raptors. The father/son kind of thing with like a 660 rap and a 50 or 80 rap is okay, but then they redesigned the warrior to the raptor 350. I personally hate the new look, but I give them a little more credit than honda because they didnt just take 660r plastics and throw them on the warrior, they did a little bit of design work. But honda obviously doesnt understand. I was just looking at the 450R the other day and thinking of how it really doesnt look half bad, it's starting to grow on me. Then they turn around and do this. They also redesigned the recon 250 to look like a rancher 400. Bombardier's pretty much all look the same, and so do Polaris'. Is there a lack of personnel in the design departments of these companies or are they just getting lazy?

 

Personally I have given up hope for Honda, sure they popped out one good quad since their 250R which is the 450R, though they still haven't made a big bore quad. I think they're relying on their "We're the most reliable" crap to keep buyers Red instead of moving to blue, then again people in my town were all Red Riders also until Honda pretty much stopped making anything to compete with Yammy.

..I just kind of laughed when I saw the "new" 400ex.. I hope no one is dumb enough to buy it, even with reverse, it isn't worth the new price tag.

 

I hate the new look of the raptor 350 also i think is getting annoying that they start making plastics "look alike" instead of an original idea every line of yamaha has a something of a raptor. Banshee with full bore plastics , rap 350, rap 50, rap 80 and the YFZ the only one that looks original is the blaster and the banshee with factory plastics. Im counting on Suzuki to make their 450 looks as sick and original as possible.

 

I'm waiting on suzuki to be a little creative as well. Hopefully somebody will spark a designing revolution, from the looks of things, we need one. I also noticed that on honda's site, they practically doubled their lineup of sport quads. They now have both a sportrax 90, AND a TRX90, as well as 250 and 300. The only difference I see is the price.

I think honda has a bit of explaining to do about this one too:

"The Honda TRX450R. It's the king of the dunes, trail, track and just about anywhere you decide to ride it."

According to who? I'm not saying its a bad bike, but its not the king of the trail, its proven pretty good on the track (but not a king), and what are they talking about king of the dunes? I believe that title belongs to the 'shee, with all due credit to the 250r.

 

IMO...for what it's worth...there are new buyers all the time...Anyone buying an 05 wants to be noticed by the guy on the 04 or 03...It's a marketing thing and status thing... they are responsible to stock holders to keep building more sellable merchandise..Yamaha obviously took a different route...To their credit, they built the 2 stroke Banshee when all the other guys wouldn't touch a two stroke...No slam...but to me the Banshee is the ugliest sport quad out there and Yamaha still sells the **** out of them. I like Shees..I just think they're ugly...Yamaha didn't change a thing on them for decades though and they are a popular quad to this day. As for the Raptor thing...who knows...It looks sporty now but 06 might bring some surprises......and yes I too hope Suzuki builds one sick b!tch of a 450. It'll keep the competition on thier toes and thats good for everyone.Just my 2 cents

 

I no longer want a 450r thanks to the 400ex[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

 

the 400ex is stupid its he same price as the new z400 and its 15 pounds heavier then the old ex just with reverse. So if the z400 could beat it easily now that its 15 pounds heavier with nothing else new then hte look and reverse people are just gonna buy the z400 which is a better quad.

 

i TOTALLY agree... also where's the pic of the new 400ex... i feel some bashin comin on..

 

Theres a pic of the '05 ex here.

 

The plastic on the Raptor 350 was a bad idea. The plastic on the 400EX is a worse idea.