400ex parts list NEED ADIVSE!

[ignormity]

I need advise on what kind of parts to buy. My 400ex is Bone stock. Before winter hits, i would like to buy some parts that would torque it up a little bit. The kind of riding that i do will be a lil MX and mostly trails around North eastern pennsylvania. The parts that i need advise on is pipes, air intake, jetting and some work. I am also thinking about, for spring, 40 big bore with web cams and fcr 39 mm. Frame work will also be included like a arms and axle. after all that my spending limit will probably maxxed. im 17 and i only have $2300 left. What would be good ideas for the winter, and maybe include better mods for the spring. All replys will be highly appreciated.

-Joe (17)

[red2004 TRX450R]

there is a shop up your way called Hetrick racing, they do wonders with the 400ex give them a call.
http://www.hetrickracing.com/
or sparks but they may have a hard time getting u in.

[ghak99]

Since you money is somewhat limited, you want to do the mods you will see the most improvement from. Nerf Bars, Shocks, A arms, and Axle first! These suspension mods will make you much faster on the track than the basic motor mods. Depending on if you buy new or used and what brand you buy, you should have enough money to pick up a pipe and cam.

Here is a good list to get you started.
Nerf Bars
LSR axle
Burgard a arms
Elka shocks
Sparks Pipe
Web Cam and spring kit, CRF 450 Timing chain,
Big Bore Kit
FCR

[Bill Fuller]

As far as mods go I would leave the a arms and axle alone.The 400EX is a great trail machine in it's stock form.My first thing I would buy is suspension.Now if you are dead set on the motor than I would go with a 416 bore (JE or Ross piston)A low end cam for more grunt(I feel the TC XC cam is the best)Beef up the clutch with a Hinson basket.As for a pipe go with the Sparks pipe.All told you are looking at about $1100 or so.Now with the rest of your money(approx $1200)I would buy at the very least front shocks.If you can find a good deal on shocks I would look for a 1 1/4 longer swing arm.Buy some air scoops to get more cold air to the motor.A steering dampener would come before the nerfs for me,I recommend the rebuildable Denton.While you got hte machine apart check sprockets and chain,brake pads and bearings.Don't forget to lube the swing arm pivot bolt!!!

[ignormity]

Thanks guys. I think im goona go with a lil more power. I'm thinking sparks pipe ( x6?), web cam, air intake 425 or 440 bore (whish one would be better) and fcr for now. that should spend all my money, i'll install nmost of everything on my own. thanks for all the help.

-Joe

[Giz400ex]

Originally posted by ignormity
Thanks guys. I think im goona go with a lil more power. I'm thinking sparks pipe ( x6?), web cam, air intake 425 or 440 bore (whish one would be better) and fcr for now. that should spend all my money, i'll install nmost of everything on my own. thanks for all the help.

-Joe I would suggest the 425 over the 440, and the Sparks is a good exhaust but the x-6 is more mid to top end exhaust. If your looking for more low end, I would suggest the LRD, HMF and maybe even the Hetrick. From experience, I have a 425 with the LRD and I'll tell ya, she pulls like a MOFO! Good luck with your selections:D

[ignormity]

Alright, this is what i got outa all your advise. 425 kit with web cams and JE pistons. LRD or HMF pipe. Jets and air filter. For these parts, where could i find them and how much do they cost?
Thanks


-Joe

[Giz400ex]

Originally posted by ignormity
Alright, this is what i got outa all your advise. 425 kit with web cams and JE pistons. LRD or HMF pipe. Jets and air filter. For these parts, where could i find them and how much do they cost?
Thanks


-Joe I would say around $1000! Thats if you do all the work yourself except the boring of the cylinder:D But I also included the harden rockers. If your gonna use WebCams then you will need the rockers. There is a alternative, I don't have any experience but Hotcams is suppose to be pretty good and you don't need harden rockers? Its up to you? Your local machine shop can do the boring. You can buy an exhaust just about anywhere but from experience, I would rather get right from them. Eliminate the middle man, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't:eek2: Really it doesn't matter where I say to go, you gotta shop around! You might get better results than maybe I would. I would start off with CD Racing, but still shopping around won't hurt! If you know what you want, it will alot easier for you also:D

[MarkyNark]

Originally posted by ignormity
I need advise on what kind of parts to buy. My 400ex is Bone stock. Before winter hits, i would like to buy some parts that would torque it up a little bit. The kind of riding that i do will be a lil MX and mostly trails around North eastern pennsylvania. The parts that i need advise on is pipes, air intake, jetting and some work. I am also thinking about, for spring, 40 big bore with web cams and fcr 39 mm. Frame work will also be included like a arms and axle. after all that my spending limit will probably maxxed. im 17 and i only have $2300 left. What would be good ideas for the winter, and maybe include better mods for the spring. All replys will be highly appreciated.

-Joe (17)

Joe,

I am a 440 big bore advocate. There are smaller bore kits like the 416 and there are 440 stroker kits too. But after running all of them, the 440 big bore offers much more torque and versitility later. Also, I have had the fcr 39 mm, and have settled on the Edelbrock 38MM "Doug Eichner" Carburetor. Its really much better in every way. Web makes great a great cam, valve springs and shortened valve guides. LTE now has a dual pipe that offers a 6 hp gain too. We have put this quad up against piped raptors, and even a YFZ and come out on top during a dune drag at Florence Oregon. There are less expensive kits out there, but the parts listed above will get you at nearly 40hp with 32 foot lbs of torque. The best part of this kit, when you get tired of the 440, you can stroke it and turn it into a 465 for just a few hundred dollars more.

Thats my advice -

[cals400ex]

the yfz's aren't as hard to catch as many thing. i have raced a few with my 426 and i was actually surprised. the worst i got beat was by 3 bike lengths. and, when we drag from a dead stop to the middle of 5th. the piped ones were actually much quicker than the stock ones. the piped ones i had until right when i shifted into 4th gear every time. then they seemed to pull hard for 1 gear. they pulled enough to get a few bikes in front of me. when we hit fifth, he quite pulling away. on the stock ones i raced, i pulled the 1st 3 gears again. 4th was fairly even. when i hit 5th, i pulled. those bikes just seem to have a hard hitting 4th gear. the piped ones moved past me in 4th without too much problem.


here are my motor mods:

11:1 426 with thermal coating, TC mx grind cam, crf 450 timing chain, FCR 40mm carb, x-6 with thermal coating, GT Thunder rev box. my air box lid is on and not modded and my head and valves are all stock.

also, my bike will weigh more than a stock one. my aftermarket shocks weighed definately more than stock along with my +1.25" swingarm was a decent amount more than stock. also, my chain is 8 links longer than stock which only hurts for rotating mass purposes.

one thing that i can tell you that really really hurt 4th and 5th gear performance was raising my gearing. many may say that is possible. after a years worth of messing around and trying new setups, i figured out my 15/36 gearing really slowed me down. i was wondering how?? on a stock bike, i noticed this gearing actually helped. on a tight track it wasn't best but for drag racing it was nice. ever since i put my new tires on (shredder 20 inch rears) and my x-6, my 4th and 5th gear performance was crap until dead top end a 1/2 mile later. i was really really close to throwing my x-6 in the trash. my buddies x-4 pulled so so much harder than my x-6 and it was irritating me. i tried swapping tires to see if that helped and it didn't. so, i was clearly thinking my x-6 was the only mod i made to the bike and since then it was not running like it should. i guess my x-6 just likes the highest possible rpm the 400ex can throw at it. well with the higher gearing, my rpm would not be quite as high. i am currently running 15/38 and it is so so much better. i was running a 10.8:1 406 with a hotcam. i then swapped in what i have now and this gearing change made more of a difference than my set up now did over the previous setup.


i guess i can quite jabbering now. :devil:

[ignormity]

I also have one more thing to ask. What is the highest compression possible to tun pump gas and not racing fuel. I dont want to spend 5 dollar a gallon on 110 octane so i would want to buy pistons and rings that would make my compression to the point where i can use 93/94 octane without hurting my 400ex.

-Joe

P.S. thanks for all the advise! I think i know what im goona put into it. If you still have suggestions and time, please, your input will always be thanked.

[ghak99]

Originally posted by ignormity
I also have one more thing to ask. What is the highest compression possible to tun pump gas and not racing fuel. I dont want to spend 5 dollar a gallon on 110 octane so i would want to buy pistons and rings that would make my compression to the point where i can use 93/94 octane without hurting my 400ex.

-Joe

P.S. thanks for all the advise! I think i know what im goona put into it. If you still have suggestions and time, please, your input will always be thanked.

Go with 11:1 and you should be fine with pump gas!

[Giz400ex]

Originally posted by ghak99
Go with 11:1 and you should be fine with pump gas! Now, I was told by Tom at TC was that if I'm running a 425 w/11:1, he strongly suggest running straight race fuel in the summer days. Other times in the year he suggest 50/50! But even when I started off with the 406 w/11:1, CT even told me to use race fuel? Obviously you can do whatever ya want but if someone tells me to run something in which its something that there not making additional money on, I'll do it! But running race fuel is an issue? I would re-think everything:cool:

[MarkyNark]

Originally posted by Giz400ex
Now, I was told by Tom at TC was that if I'm running a 425 w/11:1, he strongly suggest running straight race fuel in the summer days. Other times in the year he suggest 50/50! But even when I started off with the 406 w/11:1, CT even told me to use race fuel? Obviously you can do whatever ya want but if someone tells me to run something in which its something that there not making additional money on, I'll do it! But running race fuel is an issue? I would re-think everything:cool:

With 11:1, you can probably get away with pump premium gas, but its borderline. When I ran my 11.5:1 I ran 50% pump premium and 50% race gas. Certainly with 13:1 and 14:1, you'll need to run 100% race gas.

This whole debate is silly anyways. A lot of you guys think that running 50% - 50% will break the bank. I can ride all day long on 4 gallons of gas with my 440. Thats about $4.60 for pump gas, and $7 for race gas for a total of $11.60! - $2.40 more for than 100% pump premium. Thats not a lot of coin for a full day's ride. In fact, I have been running VP U4 which is about $65 for 5 gallons, the most expensive race gas for 4 strokes - and worth every penny. - The average HP gain is 3-5hp over standard race gas!

Race gas is so much better than pump gas on the internal motor parts of your quad as well - Its leaded and offers excellent internal lubrication - because its leaded, never run it in your truck or car - you'll ruin your catalytic converter.

[400ex28]

I would do susp. mods first ;)

[MarkyNark]

Originally posted by 400ex28
I would do susp. mods first ;)

It depends on the type of riding you do. Suspension can greatly aid hook up if you ride in an environment that is heavy in whoops, when you need power. However, if there are no whoops, or your suspension is set up so that your rear wheels never leave the ground, then new shocks and suspension may be the second choice.