400ex battery relocation

[400EXdude]

hey my 400's piston is getting replaced and since its all apart i wanna see if there is any way if i can move the battery to the front of the quad. i have seen it done and it looks sweet as hell because the battery is ugly where it is is..any help would be really appreciated..thanks

[jjohnst03]

I myself would go with the airbox mount. I think mounting the batt in the front would mess up the weight distribution of the bike. The airbox mount wouldnt change the weight distribution that much.

[duke416ex]

If you get the airbox, be sure it is thick aluminum. My airbox ripped to pieces b/c the weight of the battery was to much when jumping a lot.

[meangreen400ex]

Honda put the battery there for a reason imo.

[400EXdude]

thanks for your guy'es opinions and yea i get what your saying about the whole weight thing...but also i dont have 150-200 bucks to get a new aftermarket airbox..so idk any one else?

[yamablaster24]

i made a battery box out of sheet metal and put battery where it is. Cost 0$ and honda designed it to be there....thats why they have exhaust and everything on other side IMO

[44oEX]

Originally posted by jjohnst03
I myself would go with the airbox mount. I think mounting the batt in the front would mess up the weight distribution of the bike. The airbox mount wouldnt change the weight distribution that much.

it won't change the weight distribution cause it's only a couple pounds, You won't even feel a diffrence. And with the battery out back it can twist the subframe a little, up front is won't bend anything.

I did it on mine, and would do it again if I would get another EX.
It takes it out of harms way, nothing can hit it up front. It make the back end look alot cleaner cause you can shave off the stock mounts, and it make getting the seat on and off alot easier.

here are a couple pics. If you have any question about this setup I will do my best to anwser them

old pic
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid89/p641260f463929ffc8b7ef7c2e1b703a0/fa7a7389.jpg
my new setup ( same thing just redid the wirering and diffrent colour )
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid155/p7bd9b26b7e73d73e6aeaa1958545fc93/f568377c.jpg
a side pic, don't mine the black box it's just a alarm system.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid154/p814fa8f035dff5f102ebd371ee7f70d3/f5813217.jpg

[SnowFlake]

In that first pic is that where the battery sits on??
I want to know cause i really want to do this, and is the wiring hard to change?

-pat

[44oEX]

yeah that is what my battery is siting on, But as you can see in the other pics I have a stainless steel box to support it, and I put a thin peice of foam in the bottom of the box for vibration.

The big braket bolts to hole that are already in the side of the frame so there is need for drilling. But the hole in the front of the frame has to be drilled. The battery strap bolts on the front and on the to of the big bracket.

The only thing you what to watch out for it to make sure you don't hit the stem.

As for the wirering you DON'T HAVE to do anything except make the wires for your tail light longer if you have a tail light. BUT to make it look cleaner like a factory job I stripped the complete wirering and redid everything. basicly all the wires will be to long but you can just bend it and it will fit. I just made all the wires shorther to look better.

You will have to relocate the cylinoide (sp) and the regulator ( the thing with cooling fins ) those can by relocate on the frame up front or you can bolt the up to the battery box or anywhere that fits

I don't have a pic of my relocated stuff but if you can't find a good place to put it let me know and i'll go get some pics.

[vinson581]

i belive you can just extend the posivite and negitive leads.

did you move your relays up fround also?

v581

[44oEX]

yeah everything was moved up front. Ok I when and took a couple pic to try to clear up everything. you can see the cylinoide location and that the live wire that runs from the battery to the cylinoide is easy to reatch, so if I have a dead battery it's easy to jump it I just hook the live to that live and a ground to the a-arm bolt for a good ground, I did it alot cause the 500 is hard on batteries, and it works really good. No problem so far.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid168/p567fa5a97e7406ac8744bd204db0bd84/f427b457.jpg

a pic from the back, it's hard to see but you can sort of see where I put the regulator and cylinoide.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid168/p52393876a752386bb2854c176e1d55e3/f427b44b.jpg

the mount for the big bracket and the ground for the battery, the cable is from a car amp.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid168/p7d03a81fd2f6cb8da198d5414041e8d7/f427b443.jpg
as you can see everything was shaved off the back for a really clean look
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid168/pdf602bf4cb5c65f17c4e4fc54e236ded/f427b45d.jpg

and if you put the battery up front no one will mess around with it.