2007 400EX -Review

[Amo la terra]

Pic Attached:

FINALLY! after waiting very, very, impatiently, I got my 07 400 last night. This bike is bad *****!!!. There are only on couple of minor issues that I didn't like such as:

Parking Brake: very hard to set, if the bike is running and you are sitting on a hill you have to find netural, press the back brake, press in the little bar on the clutch and use your right hand to engage the stop while pulling back on the clutch/parking brake Very painful at best, luckly I don't plan on stoping on too many hills :-)

Neutral is hard to find: maybe its just this particular bike, but getting the bike into neutral was fairly painful, it seemed that I missed the upswing from 1st and had to work the shift lever up and down a couple of times before it would engage. It could have been the operator too :-)

"Toolbox"- If you want to call it that. I'm removing it anyways, but the cap on the toolbox is very loose and should I choose to keep it on the bike I'm sure it would come off the minute I hit the trails.
Hope Honda stocks up on these.

Front Spring Preload: It'd be nice to have completely adjustable shocks in the front instead of just 5 settings of preload for the $6000 price tag. But the back is completely adjustable and all three will soon find perminant homes on my garage shelf anyway.

The power on the bike is AWESOME, I felt even at break-in that the tires would come off the ground had I wanted them to even in 4th gear!

2007 TRX400EX -Red

MSRP - $5999
Invoice - $5346

Also there is a 5% "Dealer holdback" on these however I was unsuccessful it getting the "manager" to remove that from the price on the bike. Best I could do was $500 "profit" which brought the bike to 5846. Still felt I got a pretty good deal considering they are the only ones around my town who had one.

Great Buy!
Great Bike!!!!!!!

Cheers

[Amo la terra]

Posting the pic

[ckasper18]

After you get a few hours on the quad it should shift a little easier into nuetral if not you may need to adjust your clutch cable a little bit everything is very tight and will work better after some use....Chris

Originally posted by Amo la terra


Parking Brake: very hard to set, if the bike is running and you are sitting on a hill you have to find netural, press the back brake, press in the little bar on the clutch and use your right hand to engage the stop while pulling back on the clutch/parking brake ***. Very painful at beat, luckly I don't plan on stop on too many hills :-)



First oder of business should be to rip the parking brake off, and block it.

[lawndartpro]

Originally posted by garandman
First oder of business should be to rip the parking brake off, and block it.

Probably a stupid question, but being that I'm a newbie to ATVing, I'll hide behind that: Why would you eliminate the parking brake? What benefit does it serve?

[Amo la terra]

The only benifit I could think of would be the loss of weight. (maybe a couple of oz's at best) but seeing how on the 07 its intergrated into the clutch handle, it'd be more hastle than its worth.

Originally posted by lawndartpro
Probably a stupid question, but being that I'm a newbie to ATVing, I'll hide behind that: Why would you eliminate the parking brake? What benefit does it serve?

Six months from now, that parking brake will be completely non-functional. The rust up, and don't work well.

Its kinda like a kickstand on a quad anyhow.

Iv'e ridden about every type of terrain imaginable, and have never needed one.

[NacsMXer]

Originally posted by Amo la terra
The only benifit I could think of would be the loss of weight. (maybe a couple of oz's at best) but seeing how on the 07 its intergrated into the clutch handle, it'd be more hastle than its worth.

The main reason people take the P-brake off is because it goes out of adjustment too easily and prematurely wears down your rear brake pads.

You will take your brand new quad out for a couple times riding and the next time you take it out you find that you can't move the quad because the rear disc is locked up. I once took a trip to an MX track when my quad was new and when I went to pull it off the trailer, it wouldn't budge. I would have been screwed if I didn't have a wrench to back off the P-brake bolt.

You don't want to be in that situation or have to worry about it....that's why people take off the P-brake. It is more hassle to deal with it than it is to take it off.....removing it is very simple ;)

Things qualified to be junked on the 400EX:
- parking brake assembly
- stock axle lock nut
- front shocks
- tool box

[frickle400ex]

you said you had trouble finding neutral i had a hard time geting in between 1st and 2nd gear with out hiting it but that was at first now i fly right threw it once in a while i het it and i rev it up and it makes me made but maybe its the 07s bc i got a 06 idk.

[Woodrowbt]

i just bought mine brand new and it was a pain to get into nuetral at 1st........give it some time.....it is easy now.


Oh, my parking brake worked when i was taking my bike from the honda retailer.......then I went out riding on it a couple days later and it didn't work.....the parking brake is a piece of crap. It still doesn't work.

[04TRX400EX]

Originally posted by Woodrowbt
i just bought mine brand new and it was a pain to get into nuetral at 1st........give it some time.....it is easy now.

False statement. More often than not, if they are difficult to shift into neutral in the beginning, they will be difficult always. My dad's 400EX is a pain in the @ss to find neutral. It's been adjusted/checked by two dealers three times and still sucks, whereas mine has never had a problem. Whatever though, just kill it while holding the clutch in.

As for the parking brake, mine used to work when it was new and has gotten progressively worse over time to the point where it does absolutely nothing. I've always thought they were pretty unnecessary anyways. I plan on buying a block-off and a new ASV clutch lever and perch next time I order some parts. I want to save any weight I can and I don't want to wear down the rear brake pads unknowingly.

Good purchase though. Ride Red :macho

[Woodrowbt]

Originally posted by 04TRX400EX
False statement. More often than not, if they are difficult to shift into neutral in the beginning, they will be difficult always. My dad's 400EX is a pain in the @ss to find neutral. It's been adjusted/checked by two dealers three times and still sucks, whereas mine has never had a problem. Whatever though, just kill it while holding the clutch in.

As for the parking brake, mine used to work when it was new and has gotten progressively worse over time to the point where it does absolutely nothing. I've always thought they were pretty unnecessary anyways. I plan on buying a block-off and a new ASV clutch lever and perch next time I order some parts. I want to save any weight I can and I don't want to wear down the rear brake pads unknowingly.

Good purchase though. Ride Red :macho


How is that false? When i got my bike(brand new) it was a pain in the *** to put my bike in nuetral.....i could barely get it in nuetral.....now it is easy. Maybe false for some bikes but not mine....

[troutman561]

Its more of you just get used to doing it, it probably doesnt get easier... I can put my bike into neutral no problem, when I first got it it was tough but now like nothing, but other ppl cant find neutral for anything on it so youll eventually get used to it..

[underpowered]

parking brake; take it off and throw it over the hill. it is useless. it is simple to remove and will save you some hassle in the end.

nuetral: it should get easier, it is just new and has not been broken in yet. even after i put a new clutch and basket in mine it was hard to find nuetral for a while and now it is very easy. just have to give it a little time.

toolbox: either take it off or if you want to keep it wrap electrical tape aound the end and then put the lid on, it will keep the lid on tighter so it won't fall off.

Front shocks: another item that need to go over the hill. you will be amazed at what a little aftermarket suspension will do for it. for the rear however, a revalve will be pretty good instead of buying a new shock. contact GT thunder about his link and a revalve.

Have fun with it!

lose the parking brake...they don't work. they just wear on your rear pads. both my quads had the parking brake removed as soon as i got them home from the dealer.

you will get used to where neutral is. when i first got a bike witha clutch, it took me a little while to find neutral, but most of the time, i leave the bike parked in first gear since i don't have the p. brake any longer.

i have never had a problem with losing my tool box cap. they have always stayed tight. i have had 2 bikes now with the same tool box and never had a problem.

i have elka rec series front shocks...great improvement over stockers...and i had gt thunder revalve my rear shock for his linkage. that is a must on the 400ex...you will eventually notice that the rear end wants to buck up on you coming off of a jump or going through woops or a rough section.

my wife loves the 400ex...it is a very capable quad and performed well for me until i bought a 450r...you'll be happy with it

[bcg717]

not to sound like an idiot, but what exactly do i need to do to get rid of the parking brake???

[Eviltanker]

Buy a block off plate . If you want you can also buy a new clutch perch to get rid of that mess by the left grip. It cleans it up and you'll never have to worry about it again.I'll throw up some pics.

[Eviltanker]

Rear

[Eviltanker]

Perch

[ramoncito paez]

weel on the 2nd pic i cant see the parking brake pin but wen ever i stop,,,,i justleave it in gear,,,

[400eXr1d3rZ]

Originally posted by Eviltanker
Perch

Is that the stock lever? Howd you get the big peice of crap off?

[jeremy_283]

its real easy to get it into neutral if you just rev it up a lil bit while your finding neutral........ thats wat does it for me at least

[Eviltanker]

It's an MSR clutch lever from a CR125. You gotta unbolt the little micro switch first, then unbolt the perch and pop the clutch cable free then remove the other crap. Put on the MSR hook up the clutch cable, adjust and go beat it silly.

[Live to ride]

try putting it in neutral when the quad is off should be much easier

[krt400ex]

Originally posted by NacsMXer


Things qualified to be junked on the 400EX:
- parking brake assembly
- stock axle lock nut
- front shocks
- tool box


agreed, but i have never had a prob with the lid on the tool box coming off. i removed all the tools and put a tow strap in it so if i or someone gets stuck we have a means to pull them out