Another Newb needing advise ;)

[flyboy1294]

Hey guys,
I know that the forums are clogged to the roof with guys asking 'Should I do X to X atv or sell X atv to buy Xx atv...' And I apologize for being another one of those guys. Mods if you want to delete this, I understand completely.

With all of that said, let me explain my situation.

Around a month or two ago I bought a 400ex, for a very, very low price. It had a brand new engine with literally 2 rides on it, not even fully broken in, and a few good mods (See signature). I also went ahead and attached a pic of what it looked like when I bought it.

Well I have the parts on order to do a 450r Carb, and 450r shocks, and am considering a Stage 2 hotcam too while I'm at it. But this morning I thought it'd be a good idea to ask you guys if this is a good idea for me before I start pouring morning into it.

Now my situation specifically; I am a very, very experienced trail rider (Riding since I was 3) and a pretty good mechanic. I feel comfortable doing all the atv work at home, aside from boring and honing cylinders. I am also in my teens, I can't even (legally :D) drive my truck yet. I apologize if I seem immature, I will do my best to keep that to a minimum. I am pretty mechanically minded, and my Dad knows almost everything there is to know about cars, my uncle is an experienced machinist, and I have 2 or 3 friends that are mechanics at atv dealers. So I think that between us we can tackle anything.
What I want to do to this atv is lots of riding in strip mines (we have several local. Closest thing to dunes within driving distance haha) and some amateur level racing, just local stuff.
I'll do a few mods to whatever atv I keep, but I still would like to be able to load up on the weekends and go riding in the pits sometimes.

With all of that said, here is the actual question; will the 400 be alright for my needs, or should I sell it and get a 450 of some type? I paid very little for the atv, and I could actually make money if I sold it.

Thank you for the input, and I apologize for being so long winded. Better too much info than too little, right? :rolleyes:

[timmy400exfast]

i think your ex will fit your needs i am also fifteen abd my ex flys on the trails......................ps why do you have trouble honing the cyinder all you have to do is put the hone on a drill press or a drill and move it in and out for a while..your on the same boat as me i do most the work on my ex its a pretty simple set up once you tear into a couple times..and the ex is very very reliable

[flyboy1294]

Originally posted by timmy400exfast
i think your ex will fit your needs i am also fifteen abd my ex flys on the trails......................ps why do you have trouble honing the cyinder all you have to do is put the hone on a drill press or a drill and move it in and out for a while..your on the same boat as me i do most the work on my ex its a pretty simple set up once you tear into a couple times..and the ex is very very reliable

Alright that's what I was hoping :D I was only concerned about the racing ability, but since its amateur level they aren't many modified quads that I have seen yet.

And I don't have trouble, I'm just reluctant to start drilling inside my engine. If I made a mistake I'd be out the price of a new cylinder. You know?

[timmy400exfast]

yea you just wanna be safe i get it but the cost of shop rate is way ****ing high

[flyboy1294]

Originally posted by timmy400exfast
yea you just wanna be safe i get it but the cost of shop rate is way ****ing high

It helps to have an uncle that owns a CNC mill ; )

[timmy400exfast]

ya id say lol

[flyboy1294]

Originally posted by timmy400exfast
ya id say lol

So how has your ex treated you so far? I have heard nothing but good things about them from most people...

[timmy400exfast]

very reliable awsome trail rider and if you wanna have some fun at the track

[flyboy1294]

Alright good. I feel pretty confident in it. The 440 is WAY stronger than any atv I have owned. It makes my 300ex seem like a toy lol

[J.J.]

i just recently purchased my first quad (brand new 07 400) but am not new to riding.. 450's are some bad machines but i LOVE my 400.. i'm sure i'll get a 450 eventually but i'm always going to keep a 400 around.. i just love the feel of the 400's on trails and the reverse makes me happy in the pants

i vote keep the 400

[red_rider_069]

kid, if you are the competitive type i'd get a 450, your gonna aventually want more speed and unless you want to tmahcine ur case and put bigger gears in it i would much rather buy a 450, i thought thast the 400 would be enough for me, and as far as reliablility the hard u ride the faster you kill it, but with proper mainanece skills your bike will be fine, id get the 450, once your at the dunes and you 440 gets blown away, atleast for your needs i'd get something liquuid cooled and more powerful, :) good luck

[BamBam730]

No matter what choice you make, rememebr that the atv you have is 10 years old and things will not last forever nor will resale be that great.

[flyboy1294]

JJ:
You just have to remember, Mine's a '99, I don't have reverse :(

red_rider_069: I am pretty competitive. But I won't be racing anymore than local tracks. And will 450's really smoke a modified 440? I mean, I am pretty content with what I have, but if I'm going to go try to play around and have guys passing me left and right, well that just won't do
;)

BamBam730: I understand. Even though the atv was fully rebuilt the year before last, it still is losing resale value by the minute haha

[red_rider_069]

i'd say so, not many riders use stock pistons you know, they bump up compression to 13.5-14 :1 those things are wicked fast, sure your 440 will be fast, but the way i see it i think your aventually gonna come across great riders and great 450s.. but its up to you, even though your saying its local, its supose to be the competitive edge right? sure you'll have fun racing, "dont worry about the race sjut have fun" who really goes by that? its about winning and having fun, not jsut have fun, idk the way i see it my 440 isnt enough for me.. by the looks of ur mods ur bikes great but idk i think u'll aventually want a 450 :S

red_rider_069: I am pretty competitive. But I won't be racing anymore than local tracks. And will 450's really smoke a modified 440? I mean, I am pretty content with what I have, but if I'm going to go try to play around and have guys passing me left and right, well that just won't do
;)

[flyboy1294]

Originally posted by red_rider_069
i'd say so, not many riders use stock pistons you know, they bump up compression to 13.5-14 :1 those things are wicked fast, sure your 440 will be fast, but the way i see it i think your aventually gonna come across great riders and great 450s.. but its up to you, even though your saying its local, its supose to be the competitive edge right? sure you'll have fun racing, "dont worry about the race sjut have fun" who really goes by that? its about winning and having fun, not jsut have fun, idk the way i see it my 440 isnt enough for me.. by the looks of ur mods ur bikes great but idk i think u'll aventually want a 450 :S

red_rider_069: I am pretty competitive. But I won't be racing anymore than local tracks. And will 450's really smoke a modified 440? I mean, I am pretty content with what I have, but if I'm going to go try to play around and have guys passing me left and right, well that just won't do
;)

Well they are pretty competitive. But almost noone around here modifies a quad past adding a slip on, so mine is still pretty impressive at the moment ;) I do understand your point.

So you advise is to sell now, and make a few hundred bucks, and then get back into the market for a something a little more stout?

[Snipe]

keep what you have for racing your bike will be very competative with the 450's your riding will determine a win or not.

[timmy400exfast]

if the power between quads is any close at all its all rider skill

[honda400ex2003]

I say keep the 400, with a 440 and that comp ytou will be fine to run with 450s and probablyu beat them in the woods at least. you will stomp any machine in a 400 class at the locals if you can ride good. My vote is to keep it, lol, steve

[flyboy1294]

Thanks guys,
I'm still reluctant to get rid of it for a 450. I'm not that serious of a racer right now. I think, unless there is a really good reason not to, that I'll just hang onto the 440 for now. But a 450r carb and a stage 2 Hotcam are definitely on my immediate shopping list. haha.

Which reminds me, does anyone really put the 450r carb on 400s anymore? I read all the posts, but they're mostly from 07 I noticed.

[MyKe2g3]

It all depends on money. If you can sell your bike for a good price and put down on a 450 then do it. But just keep in mind that you can mod that 400 to get close to the performance of the 450. I love my 400 like most others do but if you can go to a 450 then do it. To me its fun to be an underdog and i can ride the crap of the bike and get every bit out of it. I coulda bought a 450 but its something about the 400 that i like more than a 450.

[flyboy1294]

Originally posted by MyKe2g3
It all depends on money. If you can sell your bike for a good price and put down on a 450 then do it. But just keep in mind that you can mod that 400 to get close to the performance of the 450. I love my 400 like most others do but if you can go to a 450 then do it. To me its fun to be an underdog and i can ride the crap of the bike and get every bit out of it. I coulda bought a 450 but its something about the 400 that i like more than a 450.

That's another thing, if I did sell it I could afford a 450, but I wouldn't be able to do many upgrades at all. It'd have to be stock for awhile. :ermm:

[honda400ex2003]

if you have a stock cam now then you will be amazed at the difference in the stage 2 and the carb. it is really bottled up right now so imagine letting it breathe a bit more. wow. good decision too by the way. steve

[flyboy1294]

Originally posted by honda400ex2003
if you have a stock cam now then you will be amazed at the difference in the stage 2 and the carb. it is really bottled up right now so imagine letting it breathe a bit more. wow. good decision too by the way. steve

Yeah I imagine with the increase fuel/air it'll run more violently haha.

And a quick recap, stage 1 cams are for stock engines, stage 2 are for high comp. and stage 3 is for highly modified engines, right?

[timmy400exfast]

yea thats right

[flyboy1294]

Then should I be shopping for a stage 2, or 3? I don't know what highly modified is defined as exactly..

[timmy400exfast]

what comp is your piston and if you dont know the aftermarket in your engine i would just get a stage 2 its still gonna open up some power

[timmy400exfast]

oh nvm i just read your sig id go with a stage to your bike isnt modded that much

[honda400ex2003]

Stage 3 is mainly for strokers and stuff like that. you should look into a different exhaust too if you want. There are a ton of them around and most make considerably more hp than the dg that you have. The stage 2 i my opinion is the best for yours. the stage 1 is for the mild tune and low end, 2 is for mid and top plus a more modified motor, stage 3 is for top and is designed for strokers and highly modded such as 460s and stuff like that. Just my .02 though. steve

[flyboy1294]

Alright it sounds like a stage 2 is what I need.

As for the exhaust, I doubt I'll get a new one right away, but what would you recommend later on down road? (This winter-ish)

[honda400ex2003]

ah man there are a lot of choices, if you dont mind being a bit loud the hmf is a nice one, sparks, ct, pro circuit is a bit quieter along with fmf. there is Dubac, Dub, dmc, the newer dg's, looney tuned duals, man there is a ton of them. Check out some of the exhaust threads to see what they all look like and see how people like them. there is a shoot out from a few years ago that can still be found searching on the web. i think atv action has the link on the site or at least they have the info. it has something about 400ex exhaust shootout goes long gets ugly, lol. ill see if i can find the link real quick after i post this. steve

[honda400ex2003]

http://www.atvmagonline.com/output.cfm?id=30961

here it is. this is quite old now but some of the exhausts are still around. there are a lot of new ones now too. i wish someone would do a new shootout with everything offered now. steve

[flyboy1294]

Thanks, I'll read that thing all the way through later today. I had forgot about Curtis Sparks. They always have been a personal favorite for me...

I've got about $400 I'm going to pour into it, then finish the summer and do a total rebuild this winter and put whatever upgrades I need on it.

I think I'm going to do the 450r carb, and the 450r shocks for now.

[honda400ex2003]

just get the 450r shocks revavled and you will love them. make sure you plug the holes good on the 450 carb and you will be set with that too. if you have not read the sticky at the top i guess it is a decent read, i have not read all of the pages for it yet, lol. steve

[flyboy1294]

I'll send them in to get them revavled, along with rear shock. It needs some tlc too.

The carb makes me nervous just because of some of the modification needed. And the jetting is going to be whack since I have a 13:1 piston and run it on 110 octane...

[honda400ex2003]

yeah it might be a bit tough, there is a good tuning thread too that may have someone close to yours. the mods are not to bad from what i have read. the zrpilot adaptor he made is supposed to help out a ton. how much is that 110 now. I see we get to run ethanol crap in the premium now too. YAY to that. I was hoping not to have to run it in my 400 since almost everthing else we have had ethanol in for the last 2 years has taken a crap on us this summer. the carbs got all messed up in our jetskis, ice auger and snowmobiles. the snowmobile blew up from it too. that is always nice. lol, steve

[flyboy1294]

I think it might be hard but I'll get it. I have seen 3 or 4 people with 12.5:1 comp. and and exhaust running the carb, my setup should be similar to theirs I think.
I read the entire threads, it took my over 3 hours lol. Do you know if he still makes the adapters?

Over here stock car racing is BIG. We draw people from Ohio and Tennessee to race. And there is a very very small airport 30 seconds down the road from my house. So for that reason I can get 110 octane at my local BP for $6.99 a gallon. If I'm willing to go 45 minutes more up the road I can also get Outlaw 114 octane for $5.45 a gallon. But its not worth the drive in most cases...
As for the ethanol, its possible to still get premium here without it, but you have to look HARD.

[honda400ex2003]

yeah they are switching our tanks all over as we speak. that has to be nice to get that kind of octane easily. those threads are long. lol, i get bored and go onto other stuff. lol, steve

[flyboy1294]

They have switched the ones in the the larger cities over, but I live in a pretty small town so I imagine it'll be another summer or two before they get us all converted over.

And yes the race fuel is a major luxury. If it wasn't so convenient I doubt I'd run this setup. Driving 45 minutes for a tank of gas is ridiculous :rolleyes:

[honda400-4-ever]

Originally posted by flyboy1294
They have switched the ones in the the larger cities over, but I live in a pretty small town so I imagine it'll be another summer or two before they get us all converted over.

And yes the race fuel is a major luxury. If it wasn't so convenient I doubt I'd run this setup. Driving 45 minutes for a tank of gas is ridiculous :rolleyes:

then go and buy a big race gas jug (10 gallons if they make them) so u can get 3 tanks worth of gas!!!! http://vpracingfuels.com/productsByCategory.asp?strSubCatalogID=20&curCatalogID=10004&strSubCatalog_NAME=CONTAINERS

[flyboy1294]

Originally posted by honda400-4-ever
then go and buy a big race gas jug (10 gallons if they make them) so u can get 3 tanks worth of gas!!!!

I already have a 5 gallon race jug. And In reality I have to go like 3 minutes to get race gas at my local BP. So its not a big deal... I was just saying if it wasn't so close it would be a major pain.

[red_rider_069]

Originally posted by flyboy1294
Well they are pretty competitive. But almost noone around here modifies a quad past adding a slip on, so mine is still pretty impressive at the moment ;) I do understand your point.

So you advise is to sell now, and make a few hundred bucks, and then get back into the market for a something a little more stout? sure do, i think i'd try to get something a bit more new.. but then again your bike is a bit old, if possible keep it :) make a great project bike, but adding a 450 to the collection wouldn't hurt, but ull aventually feel the need for more :) good luck

[flyboy1294]

Alrighty I'll definitely keep that in mind.

I doubt I can keep them both, next year I have a Chevy Silverado to start on :D

[red_rider_069]

Originally posted by flyboy1294
Alrighty I'll definitely keep that in mind.

I doubt I can keep them both, next year I have a Chevy Silverado to start on :D i seriosly dont know how people argue to keep a 400, i would rather put money into a 450 :) i like the looks power and everything over my 440 anyday.. but then again its hard for me to get one now.. but yea have fun with ur truck

[flyboy1294]

Well I am an amateur racer and like to fool around in the woods and strip pits on the weekends. So I guess thats why.

The main draw back for me is that I would be so broke when I got the 450 that it would have to sit for atleast 2 weeks if I broke anything for me to work enough to get more money to repair it. And if anything major happened I could see the atv sitting for months and months.

With the 400 I have now I have $500 'emergency'/hopup money laying around.