Very shocking drag race outcome

[S.A.J]

I draged race a artic cat 400 just alittle while ago(hours ago)...
mods done to his what he said atleast was his pipe was emptied out(looked crappy),K&N,and he said he had a aftermarket cam.My 450r has a 479 big bore kit,dasa exhaust,hotcam stage 2,K&N,and hotrods crank(just stock stroke) and im still waiting on my pilot jet,its still got a 48 in it with a 195 or 200 main i think so jetting still is not perfected but it seems to run good except for the poping on decel.Oh and i got 18inch tires so i cut out at about 70mph.

We lined up and raced about 3 times and the closest run(were we started the same time)i got him bottom end till about 3rd i would be mayb 1 MAYB 3 lengths ahead and it would stay very close to that till i cut out....I personally was very very shocked and im pretty sure i was the better driver also.Are the artic cats really that freaking fast or is my quad really that untuned or what i expect the most either the guy dont know whats been done to it or he wasnt telling me everythng...

Whats yalls imput?

[RATPACK Z400]

Yeah man ! Thats a z400 with right mods can stay with 450s but not overpower them .some with right mods can easlily beat 450s but not modded 450s like your ,that costs big money to get Z400/AC 400 to do.With more carb tunning youll be little faster but yeah Z400/AC400 samething are that fast.

[S.A.J]

Wow....i still cant believe it,he had the stock pipe like he cut the end of it off and made it empty so in other words it was a stock header with a 3inch tip,looked rly crappy...that and k&n and a cam keep up with a 450r...i still dont believe that was all or my quad REALLY gona wake up with the new jet or somthing and i can hardly see that hapening either...

[RATPACK Z400]

Im sure jetting will gain alot more ,but me and friend both have Zs and went to Buttercup and raced yfz450s all day and they would beat us by 2-3 quads every time the 50cc is a factor but are Z400s are lot faster than people give credit for!

[crixal]

maybe he's just a good rider. a good rider on a z400 can upset some 450s w/ riders lacking in the skill department.

[S.A.J]

lol the better riding part aint the case i can assure you,i am very good with my starts and my shifting and overall riding ability,trust me.....I aint braging im just saying

I raced a z400 that had port and polish,yoshi pipe,filter i think,and a cam i believe,i had a 416ex at the time with port n polish,cam,K&N and exhaust and i could beat him by the slightest sliver it was EXTREMELY close and i raced a piped and filtered yfz with somthng done to the cam and he got me mayb 5-7lengths,1-3 on the bottom so according to that the suzuki z400's cant be that fast,not as fast as this artic cat was atleast.All that with the 416,and what im trying to say with that is i know i could beat that yfz with the 450 i have now but i know that z400 wouldnt have come close....

[d3ktrix]

Why are you running such a large main?

And if he's running 20" rear tires that will give him a big advantage.

Also consider gearing.

But considering both bikes mods, and his ghetto pipe I'd think u would be able to blow him away.

[S.A.J]

cause i was runing somthng close to that before i put the bigbore on it and it ran pretty good then...is 195/200 to big you think?right now its that and stock pilot and needle on 4th clip and air screw out about 4turns and it still pops like crazy but it does pull decent though....what yall think about the jetting,what should it be?

Also about the gearing i think he was all stock and im like equal to 1tooth down in the front with my 18inch tires.i raced a banshee with 6inch over swingarm,boost bottle,cool heads,cpi drag pipes dif gearing to i think,bored .20 over i think,reeds not sure on but anyway with stock gearing i blow him away till i cut out and he passes after lil while but i have about 7-10lengths on him till i cut out.Then when i put my 15tooth sprocket on he's behind 3-6lengths usually so i like my stock tooth better cause i haul butt till i cut out which take only couple sec. till 70mph.

[d3ktrix]

Are you sure your actually hitting the limiter in 5th and not just a rich stutter?
You guys must do some long drag races if you "cut out" so much in 5th.

For your mods, and being in TX with the warm weather there, yeah that main sounds rich.
If it needed anything larger then a 190 I'd be surprised.

And like you said bump the pilot up 1 size to stop the popping on decel.

[S.A.J]

yeah im pretty sure its the limiter cause it aint sputtering at all anywhere when i go all out on it till it cuts out...and the races are on a strait road so we just go till one cuts out or lets off...I'll prolly change it over alil when i get the jet in...how does 190 main and and 52 pilot,3rd clip on the needle,and about 2 or 2 1/2 turns out on the air fuel mixture screw?

[d3ktrix]

If its a stock needle then leave it on the 4th clip like you have it.

If your using the stock 48 pilot now, try a 50 before you jump to a 52.
It might need a 52 but no point to go from lean to overly rich in 1 jet change and drive you self crazy.

Tune the A/F by how it idles/starts.
If it still pops at 3 turns out then go 1 size up on the pilot.
If you can turn the A/F screw all the way in while the bike is running and it doesn't stall then go down 1 size on the pilot.

I recommend and aftermarket thumb knob A/F screw. You will live longer from the reduced stress of adjusting the A/F screw =)

I'd buy multiple main jets and see what you like the best, then go up 1 size from that.

[S.A.J]

Thanks for the advice man,its much apreciated!!! Ima bring it to the atv shop i ordered the jets from and then i'll get him to help me set it up and then im gona just leave it at his shop to sell it cause im wanting to get rid of it...

[d3ktrix]

No problem. Are your getting out of quading or switching to another brand?

[S.A.J]

Outa quads,i dont ride enough to spend all my money into the 450r...Gota save for the future and more important things...

[chad502ex]

man, to be beaten by an artic cat....

how demoralizing.....

LOL!! just kidding man...

seriously though, is your head ported? cam?

[S.A.J]

No no no no LOL ALMOST beat ;) okay well he woulda had me top speed but thats not we were racing for lol.

And nope not ported or polished,i just cleaned up the head when we put it back together but no grinding or anything to it just cleaning the vavles and the ports abit...Yeah i got a stage 2 hotcam,stock compresion with the big bore kit,and dasa exhaust and k&n....Wish i had money to send you my head but eh thats not gona happen anytime soon,im alil tight in that department for now...Im sure it'd wake it up nicely specially if i got some higher compresion and a bigger carb too,see here i go i already named over $1,000 worth of parts :p