Racing a 400ex

[firefighterjosh]

Anyone else still race a 400ex? Feels like when I am at the track I am 1 of 3 400s out there in a field of 30 450s.

[MO-EX-RIDER]

i know how you feel, but thats what pushes me harder!! besides it being paid for and almost completely built, i'm gonna wait to see how the kawi 450 performs this year before i jump on a 450:devil:

btw you know the saying "you can only use so much power in the woods"

Originally posted by firefighterjosh
Anyone else still race a 400ex? Feels like when I am at the track I am 1 of 3 400s out there in a field of 30 450s.

Are you competetive with the 450's?

I'll bet ya Doug Gust could beat anyone you race against even riding a 400EX.

Proving its the rider, not the ride.

I think you can beat them with your EX thru training and dedication.

[skull2002]

raced it stock last year, and had a blast.got it set up just a bit better now........now its really fun to ride! now maybe those A riders wont lap me!!!:macho but hey, im 45 and im learnin a few tricks from you young pups!! putting the 450r carb on tomorrow, excited to see what that does for performance.

[BlackTrx440ex]

ya i race a 440 and i win races on it vs the 450r's i won 2 this year and 1 2nd and i only raced 4 races :)

[400exrider707]

Our local goon balls who I race sx and mx with all seem to be millionaires. It got to the point where my 400ex with a simple cam and piston upgrade and elkas was good for maybe mid pack in the novice class:huh . amateur level is full of 450's with serious work. We had a kid here and his father who both run bikes that could pass as a pros bike. One is a hybrid, and the other production...both TC race engines.

[monstergt88]

i still run my 400ex. I just put a 440 in it so im excited to see what it does. But my 400ex (that i thought was a 400ex but it was a 426 with a stock exhaust on it)... It was not keeping up with the 450's. So i just went to the 440 with a sparks exhaust on it. Im waiting to see what it does. I dont like the new 450's. I dont like the yfz for the trx 450. I dont like the way they feel. They feel weird. I like my own 440.

[drsnugfit]

I recently came 9 nth overall at a meeting here in the UK, there were roughly 35 riders all on tricked 450s, we did 4 20 min races throughout the day on one of the roughest tracks I have ever rode, I was the oldest competiter there at 40, the next oldest was 32, I think its not the power you have but how you utilise it, thats why practice is so essential, you learn what you quad is capable of and also its limits, you learn how to make the most of your quad, I think racing a 400 is good as it teaches you how to really use the power it has and you cant rely on outright HP so you learn different techniuqes, outbraking, finding the fastest lines etc.

racing is not all about speed

[hondaracer57]

lol ya i flat track my 400 acouple times in the summer and me and my buddys are the only ones there on 400s..ppl laugh at us at first but after they always ask whats done to them cause we spank all the 450s there with the exception of acouple really really built 450s...

[400exridin121]

no i dont race my 400..:( but im going to when it warms up

[Hondabeefast]

yup i still have a 400ex rockin-n-rollin with the 450's......:blah:

[limetimeracerII]

It's mostly the rider for sure. About eight years ago I saw a missouri state race where Bryan Baker entered the pro class on a 300EX with only tires and a silencer. He placed 2nd overall racing against full blown aftermarket chassis 250rs.:macho

[BlackTrx440ex]

heres a pic of winning a race with a decked out yfz behind me :)

[MO-EX-RIDER]

Originally posted by limetimeracerII
It's mostly the rider for sure. About eight years ago I saw a missouri state race where Bryan Baker entered the pro class on a 300EX with only tires and a silencer. He placed 2nd overall racing against full blown aftermarket chassis 250rs.:macho

i still hear this story til' this day..i believe there was another by the name becker???(i think) that rode b class on a stock 300ex and would finish in the top 5 overall:eek2:

[CSR400EX]

i still race my EX. i raced in the local monster truck show against 450s, banshees, a few 700 raptors, two z400s, and one other EX. me and the other EX went 1-2 in our heat, and in the main a yfz piled into the arena wall in front of me when i was in 3rd and comin:mad: i ended up takin 5th

[firefighterjosh]

Last year was my first year running a 4-stroke quad so it was way diffrent. Banshee to a 416ex kinda weird to me but I am getting better.

Last race I got a pretty good start but by the time we got through all the strait almost all the 450s were ahead of me:(

I will be racing a KQ 700 this year, prally won't do any better but my first race is march 10th so its ether going to be snowy or muddy so hopefully i have a advantage. I am the only 4x4 in the HS I race and there is no utitlity class I have to race with sport quads:o

[jokester]

I wish I could race mine, but there is no xc anywhere that I can find in oregon....just mx or some arena cross. And I only ride xc conditions, plus my quad is set up for that anyway...:mad:

[firefighterjosh]

Originally posted by jokester
I wish I could race mine, but there is no xc anywhere that I can find in oregon....just mx or some arena cross. And I only ride xc conditions, plus my quad is set up for that anyway...:mad:

Just throwing out some thigns

http://www.etra.net/events_oregon.htm

http://www.amadirectlink.com/amrace/events/searchresults.asp?sid=D63ADDF9-1315-4FBC-A699-A778D4E52F72&state=OR&type=8&ref=events

Other then that I couldn't find anything. I would just ask some local shops.

[xben719]

I think 400ex is the best choice for xc still. I have no problems runnin with the 450's on the trails. I just have a 416 and a cam. Plus you can't beat the reliability.

[Nac's22]

i have been flat trackin my 440 for a year now and i get laughed at all the time by the rest of them till we get on the track. i just have a problem winnin i get second all the time. infact the only times i havent finished in second is when i get wrecked and another time i finished third with a bent tie rod and no right front brakes. im gonna start racing mx this year with it or maybe a 250r cuz they are also still winnin around here.

[BEN7]

I still race mine.. I have a 400ex with a 440 kit,camed, big valve kit ported and polished in my uncle's basement. Mine still hangs with the 450's. Which proves that you don't need a $12-18,000 quad to run with the better classes.

[1fst400]

if this counts then ya.

Biggest diffrence was that it was lighter. Way easier to throw around. My old 400ex motor had more power by the seat of the pants dyno. But running race gas got old.
04 450r motor had less power for shure, took a while to get used to the power curve.


Imo, if your going to start racing then you need a 450. with the money spent on motor work your still behind the game because you have an air cooled motor.

[monstergt88]

wait.. what? How does a air cooled motor matter? Yeah liquid cooled cools off the engine better i will give u that. But few things do think about though. Stock 450r vs a 440 worked cam head port and polished everything... what will win? 440. Yeah its still air cooled but i just dont see how that makes sense... More stuff to go wrong with a liquid cooled motor then a air cooled.

[GOTFEAR]

I race a 350r and fast as hell but some times i race my brothern laws 440 and some tracks faster lap times. but far as heat gos the only people having over heating was fast A riders in the gas all the time

[400exrider707]

Originally posted by monstergt88
wait.. what? How does a air cooled motor matter? Yeah liquid cooled cools off the engine better i will give u that. But few things do think about though. Stock 450r vs a 440 worked cam head port and polished everything... what will win? 440. Yeah its still air cooled but i just dont see how that makes sense... More stuff to go wrong with a liquid cooled motor then a air cooled.

Ok your comparing a worked 440 to a stock 450R.... so how much money would one have to dump into a 400ex motor to even run with a stock 450? You've lost all the reliability of the 400 motor now... and all the 450 owner has to do is throw on a pipe and filter, and remove the lid and its now faster than a built 440.

[1fst400]

as far as im concerned the power realy doesent make that big of a diffrence. Its more the weight savings and how you can control the bike.

450r
kick - 357lbs
electric -363.

400ex- 386lbs

my full mx bike aprox 380lbs dry. That is with full beadlocks, aftermarket a-arms, shocks, swing arm. its all heavy parts and im lighter than a stock 400ex.

anyways. 30 extra lbs of weight is alot to be throwing around.

[creed]

im racing for the first time at a local track with my 400ex. in the 25+ unlimited vet class.

[79400ex]

Originally posted by limetimeracerII
It's mostly the rider for sure. About eight years ago I saw a missouri state race where Bryan Baker entered the pro class on a 300EX with only tires and a silencer. He placed 2nd overall racing against full blown aftermarket chassis 250rs.:macho

He actualaly won that race.

[SRH]

yeah doug gust could kick some *** on a 400ex, but this is how it is, maybe 10-20% of riders ever stick with it long enough to make t he pro am level and only 5% of those guys ever have a shot at pro alot of guys never run out of b class, and tho gust could beat c or b maybe even some a class riders on a ex hes not gonna beat guys on the same level as him on a 400ex, therefore, when your running against guys at the same riding level your going to need equipment on par with them, personally 3 or 4 years ago, i was either putting a crf engine in my ex or buying a yfz, i couldnt spend 5 grand to make a competitive grenade out of a outdated motor and im glad i went with the yfz

the 400ex is a fun quad, ill be buying a worked one within the next year to replace my trike as my practice and all around riding quad there cheap and so reliable and fun, but in the end if you wanna be competitive and go somewhere or try to go somewhere with racing you need to run a 450