2008 changes?

[JBacon]

Can someone fill me in on all the changes made for 2008 for the 400ex? OR give me a link to look at?

there was like 86 changes or something like that the guy was telling me at the dealer. Plastics, seat, lights, heat sheild color, battery location, seat removes not the plastics with it, the gas tank design might be different, softer shocks. Those are those that i really know of

[Yippie-Ki-Yay]

Biggest thing, the "race inspired plastics". heres a picture of one if thats what you meant by "show me the link to one".

[jrohner]

I haven't seen them in person yet but Honda may have finally caught up with Yamaha on looks (or passed them). I hope their fit-and-finish is close to Yamaha now too. I've liked honda 4-wheelers ever since the first time I rode my dad's 250R, but they have always been ugly and the plastic just seemed like it was tacked on. I hope they have decent fender mounts now, instead of that thin crap thats on my 300ex which is broken in a few places just from riding (no crashes).

They finally got rid of the stupid idea of the fenders coming off with the seat too, that's a big improvement. They can actually have the rear fenders mounted decent instead of just sitting there. I have to zip tie my 300ex fenders to my grab bar or they fly off when I'm riding.

Will the new style plastic fit on the older frames with some mount modifications?

[Yippie-Ki-Yay]

I doubt that the plastics will fit. If you were to try to do that, you would probably be looking at a little modifying.

[jrohner]

I see there's an oil cooler, 400's didn't always have them did they?

Originally posted by jrohner
I see there's an oil cooler, 400's didn't always have them did they?

yes they did...

how do you break your fenders? i ride hard and had a 300ex for 9 years...never broake a tab on it...had a 400ex for 6 years...again i never broke a tab on it...

[jrohner]

The fenders arent broke. The stupid thin steel mounts are thinner than a pencil, where Yamaha's are probably 3/8 inch.

[Ruby Soho]

yeah same here, my fenders never fell off or anything.. i think the seat coming off with the plastic was convenient and made things a lot easier...

[jrohner]

I think that the only thing convenient about the fenders coming off is because of Hondas crappy placement of the battery, next to the LR tire.

I havent needed to take the rear fenders off my Blaster, except I might have when I removed the piston-destroying oil injection.

[gcart2]

i loved how the fenders came off. it was so convenient when you were working on them. only bad part was the floppiness.

[krt400ex]

Originally posted by jrohner
I haven't seen them in person yet but Honda may have finally caught up with Yamaha on looks (or passed them). I hope their fit-and-finish is close to Yamaha now too. I've liked honda 4-wheelers ever since the first time I rode my dad's 250R, but they have always been ugly and the plastic just seemed like it was tacked on. I hope they have decent fender mounts now, instead of that thin crap thats on my 300ex which is broken in a few places just from riding (no crashes).

They finally got rid of the stupid idea of the fenders coming off with the seat too, that's a big improvement. They can actually have the rear fenders mounted decent instead of just sitting there. I have to zip tie my 300ex fenders to my grab bar or they fly off when I'm riding.

Will the new style plastic fit on the older frames with some mount modifications?


its interesting that you have had these problems. i have a 400 and a 300ex and i have never had this problem with my rear fenders or cobby plastic mounts. mine have held up fine and i have had numerous crashes as well.

i feel that honda's fit and finish is much better than yamaha's. most yamahas i have ever seen fall the hell apart...and i dont think handa should be styling after yamaha. i hate it when brands catch on to an idea and then they all look the same. i like the way the other hondas look. i cannot stand the '08 400ex.

quite frankly, i think it will be a hassle only being able to pull the seat off without the plastics. it makes it harder the clean around the airbox and wiring and battery. it makes it harder to clean around the intake and carb as well. anyone i have ever come into contact with that has a different machine than honda always wishes that their machine had removable rear fenders that came off as easily as the hondas do

[SPDSNYPR]

I really like the new seat on the '08 compared to the '07 I have. Much better design for my big butt.

I like the fact that the rear fenders come off with the seat. Only had my quad for 9 months, but it hes held up well to the abuse I've put it through (including some crashes where I didn't come out so well).

[DementeD]

i <3 99-04 i love there looks...

[HB-Roost]

We recently picked one up and the changes on it look to be very basic things changed slightly in design. The fenders are obvious along with the heelguards, seat, and gas tank. I dunno if the models before these came with them, but they now have a 450r style handlebar and key/light location. It looks like they are using the 06+ 450r style headlight also. All of the engine componets are bare finish, and not painted (Yay for polishing). The shocks have supposedly had some internal changes I believe, and the rear link is obviously different since it is now "hollowed" steel. They have a larger LED style taillight that resembles the Z400's. The bumper has been slightly changed to a different design. Most of the changes are prolly internal and basically can't be noticed.