Paddles (again)

[smithmonsters]

I know its probably getting old but i live in a town and all the shops are run by special people who dont know $hit. So i turn here for your opinions on paddle size. I have a 400ex with exhaust, jets, filter, the usual poor man setup. It came with 21-10-9 kenda sand gekos (get your laughing done). I took it out to little sahara (sand mt), it was sad. So i need to know what size and how many paddles to replace them with, also glider, hauler, v shape paddles whatever will make it move faster than a 80cc. 400 ex's are extremly slow and dont have very much power so whats the best setup so i can have a little fun at the dunes till i get a real bike? Im not looking to drag or race up the hills, just wanna put around and have fun.
Thanks.

[1BADYFZ]

Go with some 20 inch sand stars

[fireburns99]

I really like the 7-paddle haulers, thats what i run on my 250R. They spin up fast, which should help make up for less than stellar power. I think mine are 20x10x9.

[Eddiesanders250]

why are you only using 7 haulers on your 250R. you will get better traction with the 8 haulers, especially since the R has no problem pulling the 8's. I suggest the 8 haulers for your 400ex, I think with it being piped and jetted can pull 8 haulers.

[fireburns99]

I run the 7 paddles because the i think the 250Rs lack the torque to really get them going. I was really debating between the 7 and 8 paddles. But i haven't had any problems with it hooking up, granted i don't do alot of dragging. I plan on stepping up to either a 310 or 330 and then i might move up to 8-paddles.

[Eddiesanders250]

or 9

[smithmonsters]

What do you think about the skat track edge 7 paddle in like a 20 10 8?

[400EX QUADER]

I had about the same mods as you and I ran and still run 20-11-8 7 paddle extreme haulers. thicker than the haulers which wear better. or do 22-11-8 6 paddle extremes...

[out4sand]

Originally posted by smithmonsters
What do you think about the skat track edge 7 paddle in like a 20 10 8?
If I were you I'd stay away from the edge haulers or try and borrow a set to try out before you buy them. Everyone that I know that has purchased them has ended up buying/replacing them with a normal style (straight) hauler within a year.

[smithmonsters]

All i want is for somone to say "hey i have a 400ex with about the same stuff done and i run a this tire, in this size, blabla blah and it actually moves in the sand" Anyone whos ever ran a gecko feels my pain. :) Im gonna have to run holeshots tomorrow till i get this figured out.

[aviator4]

SandStars... thats what I run, I have (mechanically) roughly the same bike you have. I've ridden on pretty much every type of tire there is. everything from Gheckos (blech!) to Haulers... the best sand tire, all around, is the ITP Stand Star... 20" - they're not great for drag racing (poor off the line) but they are amazing for climbing and for the trails.

[smithmonsters]

Thats what i wanna hear. Ive heard (after searching the whole net) that they are very good all around. They kinda scare me with a smimmilar over paddled look though like geto geckos. But i felt one today and they felt light. so i think i may have to give them a try. 400 ex's (mine atleast) arent made to go fast anyway, up or down a hill with paddles, slicks or rally spike tires. I just wanna have fun on it till i get a real dune bike and hand this down to my wife. Thanks

[250r4life]

i like the sandstars as well... i dont have the same bike, but they work great for me. i have front and back and they turn on a dime and handle great. they also hook up great- i can ride wheelies sitting up on the gas tank by just punching it in my powerband... ive considered buying some haulers IN ADDITION to my sandstars just for racing purposes, but other than that i would go sandstars all the way. they will last forever...

[out4sand]

For what it's worth I have a 425 w/FCR carb and the XR400R cam so it's modded a bit more then yours.
I use to run 20x10x10 8 paddle normal haulers (I ran these when the bike was nothing but piped) I liked them and they worked well.
I now am running 22x11x8 6 paddle extreme haulers and love the way the work. I think even without motor work done to the 400 they would work well but not everyone likes the taller paddle tires.

[400EX QUADER]

yeah, 22-11-8 7p extremes or 22-11-8 6p extremes... I had sandstars and tried em... let's just say that I sold em right away and went back to my extremes... mine runs well in the dunes and beats stock 450's and sum 250r's...;)

[smithmonsters]

sounds like i need some motor work to make it a way fun bike. If i did go haulers i think id go with a 7 regular hauler. Arent the 22 and 21 size alot to spin. Anyone have pics of a 400 with 20,21,or22 tall tires? Oh yeah i think i have 13-36 gears(they told me 1 down in the front and 1 up in the back)

Thanks for all your time

[400EX QUADER]

stock gears are 15/38 I believe... If ya want ground clearance then get 22-11-8 6p extremes and it can spin em fine.

[250r4life]

again i say i like the sandstars, especially if youre not there to race. the haulers are nice but wear out quicker and ive never ridden where you guys are at, but it sounds kinda rough and you can easily puncture haulers... all they are is a old tire that was stripped down and had paddles glued on it... like i said, ive thought about buying haulers to throw on at night when i just go and race the hill all night, but for duning i would still use my sandstars... oh, and ps, i had haulers on my banshee... and one more comment, my bike with the sandstars runs phenominal in the sand and beats MOST 450s and ALL 400s... ;)

[out4sand]

Originally posted by smithmonsters
Anyone have pics of a 400 with 20,21,or22 tall tires?
Thanks for all your time

They probably aren't the best pictures to show the tires but they are all I can find right now of my 400ex. As I mentioned earlier in the post they are 22x11x8 6 paddle extremes.

What you can't see in the picture is that I had backed down off the "loop" that the banshee is on into the trees, then shot up over the loop, sort of jumping to where the first picture was taken then the second picture is making my way up the rest of the hill.
http://www.out4sand.com/images/Dunes/05-Mem_G_400.jpg
http://www.out4sand.com/images/Dunes/05-Mem_G_400_2.jpg

[400EX QUADER]

was that over at lostgoat at sandlake?? Hey i'm goin to florence 18-20 so if ya wanna go then we can ride for a couple days...

[out4sand]

It was actually at Coos Bay not far from Box Car.
Thanks for the offer but I won't be able to make it, I've got some family stuff going on that weekend.

[z400roosteR]

Damnit! I see those pictures and it makes me want to hit the dunes again really bad!:blah:

[400EX QUADER]

do you wanna meet up at florence that weekend Z?

[z400roosteR]

Sorry man i am working 5-6days a week paying for my new bike so when i do go it's like once a month.....If i do go this month it will be somewhere between the 18th-23rd. Dunno yet:(

[z400roosteR]

Just checked out your site out4sand---Kick *** site! love the pics i really need to buy myself a digicam.

[Big - D Racing]

Originally posted by smithmonsters
sounds like i need some motor work to make it a way fun bike. If i did go haulers i think id go with a 7 regular hauler. Arent the 22 and 21 size alot to spin. Anyone have pics of a 400 with 20,21,or22 tall tires? Oh yeah i think i have 13-36 gears(they told me 1 down in the front and 1 up in the back)

Thanks for all your time

What the hell are you doing with a 13 front on a 400ex, I have never heard of anyone running a 13 stock is 15. They say that ruffly one tooth change in the front is equivelant of 3 teeth in the rear so you are running the same as changing the rear 6 teeth over stock which is 38. So with a 36 rear you are still 4 teeth up in the rear you should change to atleast a 14 front and stick with the 36 in the rear, or maybe since your bike is stock pretty much go to a 37 rear and a 14 front it will feel so much smoother and easier to ride. You got to be putting a good strain on your tranny with what you have right now. Me personally I have a built 440 that is mostly for the dunes and I currently run 15-37 gearing. And I have been duning since I was a little kid as long as I can remember and even longer, on your bike I think the only tire option is the 7 paddle regular hauler 20x10-10or9 size and not the really wide ones (20x11x10) they are too wide for the stock 400ex. ITP Sandstar truely is too much paddle still those tires are designed for the 450's and built 400's. Trust me I have ran them on a stock 400ex and it lagged hooked up 7 paddle haulers total different story. And right now on my 450r I do run the sandstars. On my built 440 I run 8 paddle haulers currently. Before them I ran the Maxxis Roosters 8 paddle straight and those were really nice too, they are right up there in my opinion to the haulers just a little heavier. Everyone who is running Sandstars on your basically stock 400ex, change to 7 paddle haulers and then you'll realize how bad they really are on the 400. They however are a great tire on the right bike. Make the paddle match the bike and it will perform to it's optimal power and performance.

[smithmonsters]

They told me 1 down on the front and 1 up on the rear. So if it is a 15 then it should be a 14 in the front. Sorry about the 13 talk didnt mean to sound crazy.Ive always heard that you should never change the front sprockets lower but listend to this guy anyway. Anyway it sounds like you know what your talking about on the paddles. 7 sounds like a good tire. IM liking the 21'' tall and agree that 11 is to wide. If they make a 21-10-9or10 i think it would be perfect.

[35charlie]

I've run 20x10x10 - 8 paddle haulers on my (pretty much) stock ex for years. This is after trying 21x12x8-8 haulers and 20x10x10-8 edge's. I also dropped 1 tooth down in front and one up in back (13-39). This combo worked great for 2nd gear hillshots. With a bit more power, 14-38 would probably be perfect.


Here's a bottom view of 20's on the ex.
.
http://whiz.to/~35chuck/jump.jpg

[aviator4]

I know Big D says the Standars are too much for a stock 400, but I beg to differ.

I have 3 stock 400's and my nutrous injected 416 and pretty much all I (we) do is ride the sand...

the sandstars on a stock 400 (with stock gearing) are perfect on it IMHO, the allow enough wheel spin to get you "on top" of the sand, but bite well enough to get great air on short runs...

Now my wife's 250EX - yeah, thats too much tire on that bike... so she runs Sidewinders....

On another note, I also have a set of haulers I use to drag race and they are great for that... but running them in the trails... HA! forget it... that thing won't turn worth a darn with those straigh paddles on there. The Sandstars allow me to treat the bike more like an MX bike on the sand trails.

[smithmonsters]

Luckily rocky mt is out of most of the skat paddles so i havent bought anything yet. What to do what to do. It sounds like either way i cant loose. Ive alyas run haulers on banshees and think the idea of a better handleing tire is cool.

[mikez91169]

I have sandstars on both my 400ex's and they work great. They are a lot more dune friendly than the straight cut paddles. If you just want to race up the hill than straights would be the way to go! But if you want to ride the dunes and be able to slide and play around, than I would go with the sandstars. Just my opinion.

[pamelor]

I have an 87 250r and want to get sand tires, like earlier the people over here don't know what they're doing at all. I'm thinking about sand stars or haulers, I'm leaning more towards sand stars. Anything would be great

[smithmonsters]

I was leaning to 20-10-10 7 haulers but after going to a shop that actually carries them i saw that the sandstone in the sand at the dunes close to here tears them off reall quick. About 6 atvs had missing or gonna be missing haulers. Im still debating. I wish there was a lightweight alternitive straight paddle. Haulers are the kings from my past banshee history but only in all sand, if you have to cross roads or big slick rock patches i dont think they are what im wanting. Good thing i have more winter to think about it.

[400EX QUADER]

thats why you get the extreme's. I rode about 4 miles on pavement goin about 55-60mph on em and none tore off or ripped or anything. The damn cops made me follow em back and were *** holes and made me follow em on the pavement. lol

[sandchild]

Well the size is ok just get ride of those ****ing geckos i had a pair and they sucked i got some kingsturbo's and there the **** it made a hell of a diffrence well i was wondering if you have msn if you do what is it and mine is Metallicahonda@hotmail.com thats my msn well cya dude!!!

[z400roosteR]

Originally posted by 400EX QUADER
thats why you get the extreme's. I rode about 4 miles on pavement goin about 55-60mph on em and none tore off or ripped or anything.
Who pays for your paddles?:eek2: Those things are expensive and in no way near hell would i be riding that fast on pavement with my paddles, i dont leave first gear and rarely touch the BOTTOM of second when on pavement.... I saw a guy on his banshee (the no helmet think their **** dont stink kind) at coos doin burnout's with paddles on i just wanted to slap the dip****..:macho

[PismoLocal]

i have a 400ex and i run 20" sand stars, i have a curtis sparks pipe and 14/39 gearing and the sand stars hook up just fine and they are great for riding bowls and not to mention they look tight too

[400EX QUADER]

Hey did I have a choice??? damn pigs made me. Never do stupid **** or have anything wrong with ur bike at dunesfest. the cops will be on you like a fly! I had a burnt out taillight on my 400ex and I didnt even notice it. pretty gay. imo I buy my own paddles btw and get the skat-trak at about dealer cost.