xben719
02-04-2007, 12:02 AM
O.K. heres the deal, this is my reasons that I love the 400ex and the reason I think that it's the perfect quad for 95% of qaud riders. It's gonna be a little long but if your considering buying one, if you don't know which kind of quad you want or if you are feeling a little down because you don't have the newest quad on the market, read on. All of you current 400ex owners will probably enjoy this to.
So let me start out with power. It's the single most talked about topic in magazines and these forums. Everybody wants more power and that is understandable. But heres the deal, 95% of us riders will never need all the power a 450 can deliver. People put all this money into there motors when truth be told they weren't even using the stock motor to it's full potential. I'll be the first to admit that a stock 400ex is a little underpowered but it is perfect for first time riders. It is a very forgiving motor. There isn't to many hills out there that it won't lug you up. Allright so maybe your not a beginner and your looking for a little more power, well I've got a few words for you EXHAUST, NO AIRBOX LID, and PROPER JETTING. Now guess what, you now have enough power for most people out there. What I mean by that is your typical weekend trail rider. Allright you say I'll go along with that but then you ask, xben719 I race XC and I can keep up with the 450's in the tight trails but they pull away from me in the open? So what is my answer to that? It's called a 416 kit, a cam, and an aftermarket or 450r carb. Beleive me friends that will solve that problem. O.K. you say that's nice but I race MX. Well freinds in order to make any quad into a competative MXer you are going to drop some serious cash with the exception of the LT-450r. I will tell you though that you can save some serious cash by buying a used 400ex and turning it into a MXer compared to a used 450. Now what about you drag racers. For friendly drag races you should be able to hold your own, if you have those mild engine upgrages, to just about anything out there but not everything. O.K. so you want to have the fastest drag quad out there. Well in that case I must say that the 400ex isn't for you. It can be built to hang with everything else out there but it is going to take a lot of money compared to some of the other quads out there. So how about you desert racers? I will be dead honest, you can't beat the 400ex. The engine is so reliable that you can get race after race without having to rebuild. You can go 50 miles into the desert and not worry about breaking down.
This takes me to my second reason I love the 400ex. Unbeliveable reliabilty. I mean literally a bulletproof motor. If you take care of your motor, and I mean change oil and clean the air filter often nothing to hard, you will get almost unlimited life out of the motor. Yes I know that everybody is racing the 450's in baja, but I guarentee you that those motors are getting rebuilt after each race. And they are also not going to tell you about the ones that are not making it to the finish line. I mean the 400ex has a very simple motor compared to these 450's. First of all its not liquid cooled, secondedly it has only one cam and 4 valves. So what!, the 450r is made the same way you say. Allright you got me there, or do you? You see the 400ex holds a ton more oil and has an oil cooler, which means the oil stays cooler longer henceforth lasting longer and protecting the motor way better than the 450r. Don't get me wrong the 450r has proven to be the most reliable of the 450s but it doesn't hold a stick to the 400ex. And the YZF450 has an oil cooler but it also has 5 valves with titanium springs which people are finding out to be a joke in the reliabilty category. O.K. now what about us guys with big bore kits, haven't we just sacrificed our reliabilty. Truth be told...Yes, but it is very minimal. My buddy has the 440 kit in his and he hasn't even adjusted the valves in 3 years. His quad starts right up and he hasn't had any problems like overheating or anything like that. Friends if the big bore and/or stroker is installed correctly it will last a very long time. By the way the 440 is great if your looking to beat 450s in the open spots I was talking about earlier. So now you say to yourself, xben719 I have to put all this money into my 400ex to make it run with 450s. Wouldn't be cheaper to just buy a 450. My answer is NO! which takes me to my third reason for loving the 400ex.
The 400ex is the most economical quad out there. You must understand that the 400ex is the single highest selling quad of all time. So what does that mean? It means lots of parts which means cheap parts. So when I'm talking about upgrading your motor beleive me it's not costing that much. Plus there are so many used ones out there for good prices and guess what they almost all have aftermarket exhaust allready. So you save money there and like I said earlier it probably is going to have enough power that way. If you are one of those people that are going to do the big bore thing, your not going to be spending that much more. You can get a 416 hi-comp piston and a hotcam for just a hair over $200. And like I said the engine is so simple to work on that most any backyard mechanic can install it. You will have to get someone to bore the cylinder, but I wouldn't pay more than $50 for that though. And by the way this is the kit I recommend especially if money is an issue. Contrary to what you might read I beleive that you don't need HD studs, HD cam chain, and HD vavle springs with this kit. I have this kit on my 400ex and i have countless hours without so much as a hickup out of my motor. If you want to be safe though go ahead and put all that HD stuff in there. Back to the parts thing , if you need any part for your quad, and I mean any part I have one word for you EBAY. Another reason it is such a good chose economically is because it is so reliable and durable that it doesn't need fixed as often.
O.K. this is my final reason I love the 400ex...Handiling. For the average weekend trail rider the stock set-up is perfectly fine. But I'll be the first to admit that if you what to do anything except putt around the suspension is terrible. So what do we do now? The motor will let me keep up with 450s but my suspension won't. Of course you could invest in about a $3000 dollar chasis set-up but most of us don't need that. So here is what you do. You get on ebay and get yourself a set of 450r shocks send them and your rear shock away to get revalved and probably some different springs. Get them back and install them. So just that easily and for about $500-$600 you have got suspension that will handle the needs of just about anyone except your hardcore racer.
In conclusion I must say this. If you are looking for an all around quad and want to spend more time riding than working on it than the 400ex is for you. Go out and find yourself a good used one usually around $2000. Then you put another thousand into engine and suspension. And just like that you have a quad that you can race a XC race one weekend hit the dunes the next and than go for a long forest ride the next. Don't forget that that whole time it only takes a push of a button to get her started. I know this I love my 400ex and there are many others that feel the same. I understand that I will never be a professional racer and I hate to tell you this but chances are your not going to be one either. So instead of going out and buying the newest thing just sit back and think for a moment of what you really want out of quad. Yes you guys that are true hardcore racers the 400ex is old news to you. But to average Joe rider and average Joe income the 400ex is the perfect choose. And I beleive that us average guys make up 95% of this sport. Thank you for reading my thoughts, you may not agree with me on all points but I think you can agree with me as a whole. Remember quading isn't about who has the niciest quad or the fastest quad. It's about loading up your bike and heading out with your family and friends. It's about hitting up your favorite dune area or maybe a favorite trail or maybe a MX track. And once your out there with that quad underneath you all the problems of the world just melt away. Let me tell you friend there is no drug or drink that will do that for you.
May God bless you with a good day
xben719
So let me start out with power. It's the single most talked about topic in magazines and these forums. Everybody wants more power and that is understandable. But heres the deal, 95% of us riders will never need all the power a 450 can deliver. People put all this money into there motors when truth be told they weren't even using the stock motor to it's full potential. I'll be the first to admit that a stock 400ex is a little underpowered but it is perfect for first time riders. It is a very forgiving motor. There isn't to many hills out there that it won't lug you up. Allright so maybe your not a beginner and your looking for a little more power, well I've got a few words for you EXHAUST, NO AIRBOX LID, and PROPER JETTING. Now guess what, you now have enough power for most people out there. What I mean by that is your typical weekend trail rider. Allright you say I'll go along with that but then you ask, xben719 I race XC and I can keep up with the 450's in the tight trails but they pull away from me in the open? So what is my answer to that? It's called a 416 kit, a cam, and an aftermarket or 450r carb. Beleive me friends that will solve that problem. O.K. you say that's nice but I race MX. Well freinds in order to make any quad into a competative MXer you are going to drop some serious cash with the exception of the LT-450r. I will tell you though that you can save some serious cash by buying a used 400ex and turning it into a MXer compared to a used 450. Now what about you drag racers. For friendly drag races you should be able to hold your own, if you have those mild engine upgrages, to just about anything out there but not everything. O.K. so you want to have the fastest drag quad out there. Well in that case I must say that the 400ex isn't for you. It can be built to hang with everything else out there but it is going to take a lot of money compared to some of the other quads out there. So how about you desert racers? I will be dead honest, you can't beat the 400ex. The engine is so reliable that you can get race after race without having to rebuild. You can go 50 miles into the desert and not worry about breaking down.
This takes me to my second reason I love the 400ex. Unbeliveable reliabilty. I mean literally a bulletproof motor. If you take care of your motor, and I mean change oil and clean the air filter often nothing to hard, you will get almost unlimited life out of the motor. Yes I know that everybody is racing the 450's in baja, but I guarentee you that those motors are getting rebuilt after each race. And they are also not going to tell you about the ones that are not making it to the finish line. I mean the 400ex has a very simple motor compared to these 450's. First of all its not liquid cooled, secondedly it has only one cam and 4 valves. So what!, the 450r is made the same way you say. Allright you got me there, or do you? You see the 400ex holds a ton more oil and has an oil cooler, which means the oil stays cooler longer henceforth lasting longer and protecting the motor way better than the 450r. Don't get me wrong the 450r has proven to be the most reliable of the 450s but it doesn't hold a stick to the 400ex. And the YZF450 has an oil cooler but it also has 5 valves with titanium springs which people are finding out to be a joke in the reliabilty category. O.K. now what about us guys with big bore kits, haven't we just sacrificed our reliabilty. Truth be told...Yes, but it is very minimal. My buddy has the 440 kit in his and he hasn't even adjusted the valves in 3 years. His quad starts right up and he hasn't had any problems like overheating or anything like that. Friends if the big bore and/or stroker is installed correctly it will last a very long time. By the way the 440 is great if your looking to beat 450s in the open spots I was talking about earlier. So now you say to yourself, xben719 I have to put all this money into my 400ex to make it run with 450s. Wouldn't be cheaper to just buy a 450. My answer is NO! which takes me to my third reason for loving the 400ex.
The 400ex is the most economical quad out there. You must understand that the 400ex is the single highest selling quad of all time. So what does that mean? It means lots of parts which means cheap parts. So when I'm talking about upgrading your motor beleive me it's not costing that much. Plus there are so many used ones out there for good prices and guess what they almost all have aftermarket exhaust allready. So you save money there and like I said earlier it probably is going to have enough power that way. If you are one of those people that are going to do the big bore thing, your not going to be spending that much more. You can get a 416 hi-comp piston and a hotcam for just a hair over $200. And like I said the engine is so simple to work on that most any backyard mechanic can install it. You will have to get someone to bore the cylinder, but I wouldn't pay more than $50 for that though. And by the way this is the kit I recommend especially if money is an issue. Contrary to what you might read I beleive that you don't need HD studs, HD cam chain, and HD vavle springs with this kit. I have this kit on my 400ex and i have countless hours without so much as a hickup out of my motor. If you want to be safe though go ahead and put all that HD stuff in there. Back to the parts thing , if you need any part for your quad, and I mean any part I have one word for you EBAY. Another reason it is such a good chose economically is because it is so reliable and durable that it doesn't need fixed as often.
O.K. this is my final reason I love the 400ex...Handiling. For the average weekend trail rider the stock set-up is perfectly fine. But I'll be the first to admit that if you what to do anything except putt around the suspension is terrible. So what do we do now? The motor will let me keep up with 450s but my suspension won't. Of course you could invest in about a $3000 dollar chasis set-up but most of us don't need that. So here is what you do. You get on ebay and get yourself a set of 450r shocks send them and your rear shock away to get revalved and probably some different springs. Get them back and install them. So just that easily and for about $500-$600 you have got suspension that will handle the needs of just about anyone except your hardcore racer.
In conclusion I must say this. If you are looking for an all around quad and want to spend more time riding than working on it than the 400ex is for you. Go out and find yourself a good used one usually around $2000. Then you put another thousand into engine and suspension. And just like that you have a quad that you can race a XC race one weekend hit the dunes the next and than go for a long forest ride the next. Don't forget that that whole time it only takes a push of a button to get her started. I know this I love my 400ex and there are many others that feel the same. I understand that I will never be a professional racer and I hate to tell you this but chances are your not going to be one either. So instead of going out and buying the newest thing just sit back and think for a moment of what you really want out of quad. Yes you guys that are true hardcore racers the 400ex is old news to you. But to average Joe rider and average Joe income the 400ex is the perfect choose. And I beleive that us average guys make up 95% of this sport. Thank you for reading my thoughts, you may not agree with me on all points but I think you can agree with me as a whole. Remember quading isn't about who has the niciest quad or the fastest quad. It's about loading up your bike and heading out with your family and friends. It's about hitting up your favorite dune area or maybe a favorite trail or maybe a MX track. And once your out there with that quad underneath you all the problems of the world just melt away. Let me tell you friend there is no drug or drink that will do that for you.
May God bless you with a good day
xben719