My 400 Performance Update!

[MAKO19]

I had the 400 out last night with a couple buddies tearing around the bean fields and local woods. We raced a few times in the fields and on an abandoned asphalt road. All I got to say is I think my buddies are done talking garbage on the 400. You can see my mods in my sig for what is done to the bike. My one buddies with a CR 250R obviously smoked us but I was actually able to run right with a 2007 Banshee. No joke, he beat me by 1 quad length the first race (bad shifting on my part) and trying to keep the front end on the pavement was a task since she wanted to wheelie all through first and second gear. The second couple races in the bean fields we too close to call. All he has done to the Banshee is FMF pipes, jetted, K&N filter and Holeshot rear tires. I started shifting a little earlier to try and stay in the torque curve and this helped as the Banshee really started to want to pull on me in the top end.

I am very happy with the 400 at this point. Next I'm going to go up one more jet size since I still think she may be running a little lean and then I'm going to install a rev box. I will post the results of these performance mods after I do them. :cool:

[RIDEREDson]

Glad your spankin' the banshee. Them things are ugly as sin.

[MAKO19]

I wouldn't say spanking him but running right with him. Now I just need to run my buddy with a Z400 again and shut his sh*t talking mouth. hahaha!

[BigLuke]

If you can keep up with a 'shee you cant obliterate a Z400.

[Snipe]

HAHAHA Z400 need I say more.

We had a banshee I smoked it all day long on my ex. It had lots of mods as well. Just like you said shift right and you will walk all over them. take off's keep your body weight up over your handle bars that will prevent your wheelie starts.

[ae13291]

hav you raced a 450r?

Wow.. some must be a lot of crappy running banshee's out there. I own both, one with the same mods as the guy who started this thread, and a banshee with just pipes and there IS no comparison. My 400ex doesn't hold a candle to my banshee.

But whatever, im not getting into one of these threads again. I don't feel like arguing for a couple pages.

[MAKO19]

Nahh I haven't raced a 450R yet. Probably would get smoked by one. I'm not saying I will smoke a Z400 either but as long as I can run right along with these guys then they can shut their mouths.

I'm not here to talk crap, argue, or put down anyone's bikes either. I just posted this because I'm proud of what my quad can do now with the little mods I have and the money I have into it compared to what my buddies paid for brand new bikes and all the crap they talked on me when I first bought the 400.

I see the same thing with racing cars. How many times have we seen 2 of the same cars with very similar mods and very comparable drivers and one will out perform the other one and no one knows why. Maybe it's the way the engine was built that particular day. :confused:

[scuzz]

Originally posted by MAKO19


I see the same thing with racing cars. How many times have we seen 2 of the same cars with very similar mods and very comparable drivers and one will out perform the other one and no one knows why. Maybe it's the way the engine was built that particular day. :confused:


Yep, every dog has his day and a win is a win.

Originally posted by MAKO19
Nahh I haven't raced a 450R yet. Probably would get smoked by one. I'm not saying I will smoke a Z400 either but as long as I can run right along with these guys then they can shut their mouths.

I'm not here to talk crap, argue, or put down anyone's bikes either. I just posted this because I'm proud of what my quad can do now with the little mods I have and the money I have into it compared to what my buddies paid for brand new bikes and all the crap they talked on me when I first bought the 400.

I see the same thing with racing cars. How many times have we seen 2 of the same cars with very similar mods and very comparable drivers and one will out perform the other one and no one knows why. Maybe it's the way the engine was built that particular day. :confused:

If you kept up with banshee's you will have no problem keeping up with 450r's. 450's and banshee's are damn close. They make for really good racing:D Mod for mod the shee will take it, but not by an insane amount or anything. More about rider skill.

So I say line er up with the 450!


On a side note, im a believer on the different days of the week. I can't believe how many different grand cherokee's we drove for test drives (99-04) that all had different power. Same exact engine, even same year jeeps, were way different then one another. By a drastic amount.

[450rJam]

slip-on, k&n and degree stock cam ?

running with piped/jetted/k&n banshee ?

was he running on both cylinders?

I would say your one hell of a rider but you stated you where shifting to second (you should have been starting in 2nd)

guess im calling b.s. on all of it

[ae13291]

every engine is built differant.

i have raced 2 450r's both 07's few mods. i raced them b4 i got my slip on. i raced 1 b4 my cam and he was barely pulling away from me in 3rd gear to 4th and i raced another 450r after my cam, and this time i was pretty much even with him going full throttle 5th gear. he was inching away from me. of course i know the 450r is much more torquey then a 400. some people swear like omg the 450 is soo fastt!!! well not that fast

[450rJam]

stock 400ex = 60mph
stock 450r = 80mph

both could change a little for wind/weight/etc.

your 400ex is not going 80 without gear changes or tire size increases
(at which time your low end performance will be like a moped)

I have had "freak" motors before that for some reason
performed better than others but your claim is a tall tale

[MAKO19]

Originally posted by 450rJam
slip-on, k&n and degree stock cam ?

running with piped/jetted/k&n banshee ?

was he running on both cylinders?

I would say your one hell of a rider but you stated you where shifting to second (you should have been starting in 2nd)

guess im calling b.s. on all of it


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn8SzI51EuM

I swear I can't post anything on this website without someone trying to start some crap. Watch this video. It was kinda like this except I didn't have much of a lead off the start. This Banshee has a lot more work to it as well (look at the cc's). This dude has all of the same mods as me on his 400 except I believe he has a rev box. I have no reason to bullsh*t here. It's not like I'm ranting about how I smoked a Banshee. All I'm saying is I can run with my buddies lightly modded bike. The way people talk about those Banshees they make it seem like they should walk all over the 400's. Whether I am running right along side of one though 4-5 gears and they slowly pull away or whether they beat me by 1 quad length at the end of the strip that's fine with me. I'm the one riding the bike that should be getting spanked right?

Originally posted by MAKO19
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn8SzI51EuM

I swear I can't post anything on this website without someone trying to start some crap. Watch this video. It was kinda like this except I didn't have much of a lead off the start. This Banshee has a lot more work to it as well (look at the cc's). This dude has all of the same mods as me on his 400 except I believe he has a rev box. I have no reason to bullsh*t here. It's not like I'm ranting about how I smoked a Banshee. All I'm saying is I can run with my buddies lightly modded bike. The way people talk about those Banshees they make it seem like they should walk all over the 400's. Whether I am running right along side of one though 4-5 gears and they slowly pull away or whether they beat me by 1 quad length at the end of the strip that's fine with me. I'm the one riding the bike that should be getting spanked right?

For god sakes I wish people would stop posting that vid.

1) 2-strokes don't make power with displacement like 4-strokes too. 403cc basically means he bored the hell out of those cylinders and the thing is probably overheating.
2) There are a lot of horrible running banshee's out there, almost 1 out of 3.
3) That soil is loose as hell. The 400ex has a superb advantage in traction there. If you look when the banshee did get off the line good, by the time they got to the camera the shee was passing the 400ex and further down the strip it continued on to gain a lot of distance on the 400ex, but of course they make that video at the beginning of the strip.

So, all in all, im sticking to my story. Im not doubting you keeping up with the banshee, because it's most likely the banshee was spinning like crazy, whereas the 400ex was hooking up. Banshee's need damp soil to hook up any decent.

[honda400-4-ever]

FYI as shocking as this may be ....400ex's are NOT race bikes thats why honda has the 450r and 250r. the only time the 400's were was in 1998-2003 ONLY because there was nothing else out there (4 stroke wise) to race. thats why the newer ones are geared down for woods/trails not racing. yes u can race them with 440 kits and stuff but out of the factory they arnt but 250r and 450r are.

Originally posted by honda400-4-ever
FYI as shocking as this may be ....400ex's are NOT race bikes thats why honda has the 450r and 250r. the only time the 400's were was in 1998-2003 ONLY because there was nothing else out there (4 stroke wise) to race. thats why the newer ones are geared down for woods/trails not racing. yes u can race them with 440 kits and stuff but out of the factory they arnt but 250r and 450r are.

FYI if the 250r is a race bike then so is the 400ex. The 400ex is amost idential geometry to the 250r, and basically replaced it. Even the shocks are the same, at least up front. The 250r isn't much faster then the 400ex either.

Actually many people still prefer the handling of the 400ex out of the box then the 450r.

And I love how you say the gearing is lowered for woods trails.. wow, 2mph, that's awesome. The gearing is almost identical.

[honda400-4-ever]

Originally posted by DMC-4OOEX
Wow.. some must be a lot of crappy running banshee's out there. I own both, one with the same mods as the guy who started this thread, and a banshee with just pipes and there IS no comparison. My 400ex doesn't hold a candle to my banshee.

But whatever, im not getting into one of these threads again. I don't feel like arguing for a couple pages.

hey DMC-400 how bout u do what u said and leave no one wants a prick on here thread cause they arnt helping that much. how old r u??

[tx07400ex]

I agree about the banshees, i was riding with a built 04 450r, stock 05 or 06 banshee, and stock kfx 450r, i never raced the other honda, no point in wasting his race gas, but i could consistently beat the kfx, not due to his bike but my driving we swapped bikes for 2 or 3 passes and i could beat my 400 on his 450 every time, the banshee on the other hand i couldnt even come close it was hard packed soil with gravel on top, the banshee would spin like crazy off the line and i would jump a length or so but by mid 2nd to shifting into 3rd he pulled level and left me, once he caught traction and found the power curve he was gone. And btw i dont remember who put up the mph numbers for the 400ex, i dont know if it is just mine or what but i put a gps on it when it was stock and ran it down an airstrip near here and dead stock it was running 69.5 mph, now after a little over 2 yrs of hard riding and a few mods guess what its slightly slower at 69 flat even with the power adding mods the 2 yrs on the motor has slowed it down some, i ran both those speed runs on the same airstrip right down the road, and i still weigh the same 135lbs i did 2 yrs ago, so the only variables in the 2 yrs would be the engine, the wind, and the temp.

Originally posted by honda400-4-ever
hey DMC-400 how bout u do what u said and leave no one wants a prick on here thread cause they arnt helping that much. how old r u??

Your the prick. I am just sick of this crap from you. Your like a damn parrot, just repeating everything everyone else says. You know absolutely nothing about banshee's, 250r's, OR modded 400ex's, yet you go around preaching this advice to people because one or two other people said it. Something a week ago you had absolutely no clue about:o

You aren not helping much. You just spew out crap you heard somebody else say. At least ive had experience with a bunch of different ATV's.

I'm 15 for your information, but obviously older then you.

[Pipeless416]

my 400 can beat a 250ex and the space shuttle :muscle:

[450rJam]

guy on shee needs more practice, by sitting on the tank he didnt get any traction at all (tell the boy to slide back quicker)
and even though he was pulling as they pass the camera man he was still sitting in the middle of the seat (his butt should have been hanging off the back of the seat)

even with his limited skills he still pulled you??

you may have a good running 400ex, congradulations

but dont think that the smarter people around here are going to believe you are on the same level as a modded banshee/450r/700r

water is wet, poop stinks, and your 400ex with listed mods would get raped aginst the above quads with average rider

just the facts ma'm, just the facts

[honda400-4-ever]

Originally posted by 450rJam
guy on shee needs more practice, by sitting on the tank he didnt get any traction at all (tell the boy to slide back quicker)
and even though he was pulling as they pass the camera man he was still sitting in the middle of the seat (his butt should have been hanging off the back of the seat)

even with his limited skills he still pulled you??

you may have a good running 400ex, congradulations

but dont think that the smarter people around here are going to believe you are on the same level as a modded banshee/450r/700r

water is wet, poop stinks, and your 400ex with listed mods would get raped aginst the above quads with average rider

just the facts ma'm, just the facts

HA HA way to sum it up :devil: