Oh by the way...I just read my post and it really sounded like I was dissing the Warrior. Please trust that I'm not. I'm just passing on the opinion of my friend, who is a Warrior owner.

Like I said, I have not had enough seat time on the Warrior not to like it. I think it's a solid, well built quad, that can really take a beating on the trails.

Just my thoughts.

-Josh

 

http://www.geocities.com/kiwi_craig/warrior_link.htm This guy has some pictures and parts list for a homemade oil cooler using a stock Big Bear filter housing and a motorcycle oil cooler from a junkyard,take a look,seems like a nice setup. his name on the forum is kiwicraig.

 

Upgrade to a Raptor.

 

Piranha,

I didn't think your post was bashing too much. It kind of is what I'm feeling lately. My brother and brother in law like to go to the dunes a lot. I don't have much fun but on trails. I think most of it is that I can't really do it. Mine gets to redline and runs out of steam, and just isn't much fun to drive. Hill climbs it does ok on, but I do get stuck a lot.

I've thought of putting a pipe, shocks, and motor mods on it, but it is a big question if it will be as good as taking that money and putting it towards a z400, or other sport quad. Another thing that I was thinking of is maybe to try to find a less expensive, maybe $2000 that is more sporty and keeping my warrior for trails. It does the trails pretty well.

 

Preston,

Well I think many people will disagree with me, but personally I think the Warrior is a better trail machine. It's long wheelbase and rugged chassis really help it. It's got enough torque down low to navigate all the hills and obstacles that you will come across.

Of course, if you are talking about fast trails with not many obstacles (hard to find around here) the 400ex is the better choice. However, on the tough trails that are really slow going with lots of hills, rocks, etc. the EX is a little bit tricky to handle. It's got a rather short wheelbase, and a lot of power, so you'll find the front end up quite a bit. In fact, I went on a few trail rides with mine this weekend and I ended up going all the way over backwards with it, on a rather minor obstacle. I was just climbing up a moderatly steep hill with a water bar mid way up. I got to that water bar, which had a few loose rocks and other traction hampering things on it, so I gave it a little bit more gas. Well, the holeshots spun, but then they hooked up and the front end came up on me. When it wheelied down that back slope of the water bar it just swept the rear tires out and she went straight over. Went over nice and easy though...didn't hurt anything.

Give me the Banshee for trail riding around here any day. I think that I'd prefer the Warrior as well.

Now, onto what you were saying. The mods. It depends on what you want out of your Warrior. If you just want it to be fast...modding the things you listed will help. Don't forget that you will still have the original suspension still underneath it.

Like I said, the power the EX has over the Warrior isn't what impresses me. It's the handling and suspension.

The EX isn't a b@lls out fast machine like a Raptor, Banshee, DS, Etc. It's quick, but it's deffinatly not it's best quality.

Good luck with your decision.

-Josh

 

Given, I have never ridden a Warrior, but here's what I've heard about them. Put a good pipe on it, jet it, K&N or Uni filter, and 1 tooth up on the front sprocket. This will give you more power throughout the powerband and a higher top speed. The guys I have spoken to who have done just those things said it really woke it up. You can prob. do all this for less than $400. This maybe all your looking for w/o going into too much debt at this time. Next step maybe looking into sportier tires, like Holeshots or Razrs. They say the #1 handling improvement you can do, is tires.

I know what you mean by wanting more to keep up with the bigger boys, but I'll tell you what, on the trails, I can keep with the Raptor and the 400EX just fine. Maybe rider ability, I don't know, but my buddies own each of the above mentioned and I always surprise them. If we get into drags....well it's all over for me, but the usual riding we do there is no place to drag or open them up all the way.

Do you like your Warrior? Is it comfortable to you? Can you handle it well? Usually the quad is faster than the rider anyway. For most of us, anyhow. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] There will always be something better and faster. If I were going to get a new quad, though, it would be a z400. Too soon in the game to buy a new quad now I think. The Predator will be out soon, Honda maybe releasing and highly aniticapted sport quad, Yamaha maybe coming out with a 400 class machine. I think best bet would be to wait a year or so to see what happens and how all the new machines hold up. Until then, beef yours up a little to hold you over.

Like said before, your smoking my just be your valve seals. You could prob. replace the seals cheap and see if that corrects the prob. May also be your valves out of adjustment, too. Your smoking issue maybe resolved relatively cheaply and you may be able to get a lot more performace for not as much as you may be thinking. Make sure the smoke is a bluish-white to indicate an oil issue. If black, you may just be rich.

Just my .02