Best exhaust for 2004 400ex?

[rocket_22]

I was wondering what exhaust do you guys think is the best for my 2004 400ex? I have heard from most people hmf is the way to go. But i was also looking at big gun and fmf. Also i am debating on whether im going to get a slip on or spend the money and get a full exhaust. I dont know if its worth the extra money. What do you guys think?

Id really appreciate your help. Thanks

[heideman33ex]

i have a Pro Circuit T-4 exhaust on my 2004 and it sounds mighty nice.

[rocket_22]

I looked at them and i dont like their sound that much. I like the way big gun sounds the most but I have heard bad things about big gun so idk.

[racerdan24]

I bought a pro circuit t-4 slip on and its been fantastic...

[BEAVER.989]

If you have the coin, buy a Sparks system. If you have a little less coin, buy the HMF system. If you want the best bang for the buck, get an HMF slip-on.

[rocket_22]

Originally posted by BEAVER.989
If you have the coin, buy a Sparks system. If you have a little less coin, buy the HMF system. If you want the best bang for the buck, get an HMF slip-on.

you got any advice to were to buy?

[05trx300ex]

The LRD PRO-4 is a great pipe.

[honda400-4-ever]

Originally posted by racerdan24
I bought a pro circuit t-4 slip on and its been fantastic... x2

[bigd's ex]

Here ya go, these might help you out.http://www.exriders.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=346007&highlight=exhaust


http://www.exriders.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=313010&highlight=exhaust

[honda400ex2003]

i like my t-4 also but i think it should have a bit more low end for me. it hits great but mid is where it is at with it. steve

[honda400ex2003]

I would like to try the fmf q to see how it performs too. steve

[rocket_22]

i really like the sound of the big gun exhaust.

[honda400ex2003]

Two brothers look to be pretty nice also. steve

[rocket_22]

do you guys know a good place to buy a big gun exhaust?

[aDviSol2y]

Your local bike shop........................If you buy it from Big Gun, they will probably charge you an arm and a leg to ship it. I tried ordering a $20 spark arrester, they wanted $50 to ship it. LOL! Big Gun is a very nice exhaust, but be carefull about DB limits. You can get quiet cores for them though. I read a artical at one time that compared test on all the major pipes and Big Gun was near the top, but curtis sparks was the best Dyno wise. Big Gun are also on the spendy side. But they sound sick! You will always know a big gun when you hear it!

[rocket_22]

ok thinks for the advice i have checked on local bike shop and they didnt carry the big gun full system, im going to call another today. They had a full system on ebay for 500 with free shipping. What did you give for yours?

[UnderFire]

yoshimura rs3 full systems run the quietest and produce good horsepower.

[BEAVER.989]

What are you looking for in an exhaust, first and foremost?

Are you trying to get the most power? Stay within a certain noise level? Stay under a certain price point?

The fact of the matter is that there is a plethora of exhaust systems available for the EX, but not one of them that has all of these qualities. You have to decide which qualities are most important to you and then base your decision off of that.

[aDviSol2y]

Originally posted by rocket_22
ok thinks for the advice i have checked on local bike shop and they didnt carry the big gun full system, im going to call another today. They had a full system on ebay for 500 with free shipping. What did you give for yours?

I think I paid close to $500. It was years ago. If you go to the Big gun website, what they charge is what a shop will charge. A reputable shop should be able to order from Big Gun. Big Gun is pretty popular.

[F-16Guy]

Probably not the popular answer, but I really like my LEXX slip-on so far. It sounds nice, it's not too loud, and the fit and finish are both excellent for the price.

It's debatable, but a lot of people say that the stock 400ex head pipe flows pretty well, so you might not see the benefits of a full exhaust until you do some extensive engine work. I ground down the welds inside the mounting flanges on mine to reduce as much restriction as possible.

[aDviSol2y]

To add to that, one thing to think about with a full system, Big Gun does not have any mounting for a heat sheild. I had to make my own out of aluminum diamond plate. When I get home from work I will try to post a pic of it.

[sprayedgt]

The best out there is a full Yoshimura RS3 hands down. If you don't plan on going into the engine with a cam, bigger bore or whatever, save yourself some money a get a slip on.

[IcutMetl]

I'm going to give my OPINION- back when I had my 400ex, I got a chance to ride with guys who had all kinds of exhausts.

I started out with a Yoshimura RS-3 slip-on w/ spark arrestor screen; k&n, jetted with lid on. Ran flawless, and had great overall power. Sounded good, and not too obnoxious. Very well made; fit and finish was awesome. For whatever reason, I was lured into trying an HMF as they were just hitting the market strong at the time. I'm sure they've improved, but the fit and finish sucked; had to modify slip-on inlet to fit over the headpipe, and the overall build quality did NOT match the Yoshimura. It sounded great, and was ALL low to midrange, whereas the Yoshi was great midrange/all around.

My riding bud had a Supertrapp IDS-2 slip on- I actually liked this exhaust a lot. It was light, easily tuneable, and sounded really good; wasn't loud either. I also liked the looks. Hard to say if it was more guts than my Yoshimura. He destroyed the muffler somehow, and bought my used Yoshi; he liked it better, and I kinda wanted it back after buying the HMF.

Other guy we rode with had the early Pro Circuit T-4. He liked it a lot, and it seemed really well made. It had a pretty loud bark to begin with, but he decided to make a shorty out of it and then you could hear him 4 states away.

The last guy with a 400 had a White Bros E-Series slip-on. We all liked this one. It sounded good, was tunable, and made great overall linear power. I never really cared for the exposed discs after having an old-school supertrapp on a dirt bike. I always wanted the White Bros R-4, which they've discontinued.

I strongly considered a Big Gun, but at the time, they were notoriously loud and known for being torque pipes. I wanted a Curtis Sparks full system, but those were also rediculously loud...and expensive.

So that's my 2 cents. Keep in mind that this was back in 2001/2002, so I'm sure things have changed since then.

[rocket_22]

I am looking at torque is what i want in an exhaust and the sound. I love the deepness in the big gun so i will probably go with that. I am thinking i will just save some money and just buy the full exhaust because im not going to get into the engin right now but im pretty sure i will get into adventually. So i think it will just be better to get a full exhaust for it. Can you buy the head pipe later down the road if i just got the slip on? Idk

[iownatoyota]

duals always sound and perform good :)

[rocket_22]

Can you buy the head pipe later down the road if i just got the slip on? Idk

[liex21]

you cant go wrong with a nice yosh carbon fiber rs-3:D or the sparks imo those are the nicest

[aDviSol2y]

Originally posted by rocket_22
Can you buy the head pipe later down the road if i just got the slip on? Idk


I do not believe so. They do not sell just the header on their web site. You might be able to find one used. You will be better off buying the whole set. You will kick yourself down the road if you don't. And yes BigGun is prettg Torque' but torque is good!

[rocket_22]

ok thanks for the info

[rocket_22]

Originally posted by aDviSol2y
I do not believe so. They do not sell just the header on their web site. You might be able to find one used. You will be better off buying the whole set. You will kick yourself down the road if you don't.

do you like your big gun full exhaust or would you of rather went with hmf full exhaust. Im still debating between the two.

[aDviSol2y]

I love it! I would not by an hmf. Don't know why, the only other pipes I would consider are curtis sparks or the yoshi. But really I love my BigGun.

[rocket_22]

ok thanks thats what i wanted to hear :)

[aDviSol2y]

Originally posted by rocket_22
ok thanks thats what i wanted to hear :)

No problem. I hope that you are happy with whatever you choose. If you end up buying a BigGun, they do have jetting specs on their website. If you need any additional help, just pm me.

[rocket_22]

ok thanks. Will do

[killer400ex]

yeah whatever, i love my hmf and would never trade it for that jap crap made by yoshi, big gun is allright but they can be cheap with their product, my hmf is throaty and it delivers nasty low end as well as mid to top end rpm power, i would always get a full system because if you buy a slip on you cant get bigger heads cause the slip on is made to fit smaller pipes, or els they would just sell the head pipe separate, and if you plan on increasing bore size or compression or a bigger cam or whatever you are going to need that bigger head to let the exhaust flow better, and it will sound alot better too, go big or go home and i support hmf all the way, they re-painted mine for free and they re- packed it for almost nothing, all i had to do was pay for shipping, they back their stuff up and it looks nice too, cant beat a hmf in my opinion especially with all of the different options they offer including color choice, carbon fiber, 2 diff end caps that come in a bunch of diff colors ect. and you wont pay through your nose for one like you will with a fmf or a yoshi, trust me you wont be dissapointed

[sprayedgt]

About 5 or 6 of my friends that had HMF pipes had the weld at the mounting bracket come apart. You get what you pay for, and an exhaust is not where you want to pinch pennies. Yoshimura is the best for a reason with a VERY long history. I NEVER had to have any of my 9 Yoshi systems I have owned over the years repainted, fixed, or anything. It's funny that someone would call Yoshimura Jap crap when it's going on a Japanese ATV:rolleyes:

[IcutMetl]

"That Jap crap made by Yoshi"...I guess we should trade in our "Jap crap" 4 wheelers made by Honda too.

[killer400ex]

too bad honda is made in america now too, gee thats too bad, and i have never herd of having to weld the mounting brackets, i have had some hard hits from racing and alot included the exhaust getting hit cause its in the open and i have never ever had a weld break, and i never said anything about it needing to be painted, i changed some colors and i thought it would look better with a diff colored exhaust, yeah yoshi is a good quality product but in my opinion i think that if it is cheaper and gives you the same amount of performance then buy it, and dont give me that crap about it having such a big difference in power betwene the two, because my buddie has the same mods as me, exactly the same accept he has a yoshi exhaust and the performance is the same, they just sound and look different, i am a certified technician so i work on these 24/7 i think i know about where not to pinch pennies, and if i can get the same results for paying less i think it is a no-brainer

[killer400ex]

not trying to be a jerk or anything, just stating facts based off of my own experience, not trying to bust balls just arguing my case, and ultimately he will be making the decision so all of our opinions dont mean squat, its up to him to decide, not for us to decide for him, i am just throwing my info out there if you dont like it then dont read it, yes its that easy

[rocket_22]

Originally posted by killer400ex
yeah whatever, i love my hmf and would never trade it for that jap crap made by yoshi, big gun is allright but they can be cheap with their product, my hmf is throaty and it delivers nasty low end as well as mid to top end rpm power, i would always get a full system because if you buy a slip on you cant get bigger heads cause the slip on is made to fit smaller pipes, or els they would just sell the head pipe separate, and if you plan on increasing bore size or compression or a bigger cam or whatever you are going to need that bigger head to let the exhaust flow better, and it will sound alot better too, go big or go home and i support hmf all the way, they re-painted mine for free and they re- packed it for almost nothing, all i had to do was pay for shipping, they back their stuff up and it looks nice too, cant beat a hmf in my opinion especially with all of the different options they offer including color choice, carbon fiber, 2 diff end caps that come in a bunch of diff colors ect. and you wont pay through your nose for one like you will with a fmf or a yoshi, trust me you wont be dissapointed

I was wondering do you have a good video of your hmf exhaust so i can here them it seems like the videos on you tube dont have very good sound.

[BassHunter0123]

yoshi is actually made in the usa. also you can get a header down the road but it is REALLY expensive!!!!

[rocket_22]

yea ill probably just get a full exhaust. Still debating between hmf and big gun i have heard good things on both. I have heard more bad on big gun but i like the way big gun sounds the most.

[aDviSol2y]

If you get a full system and you don't want to fry your pants or burn your leg, you might want ot fab something like this.............. Make sure you use aluminum, it disapates heat better and faster than steel.

[rocket_22]

ok thanks for the advice

[sprayedgt]

My full Yoshi system allowed me to reuse the original heat shield. I was also stating facts from MY personal experience. Do a search and you'll find other members on this site that had the same bracket come apart on an HMF exhaust.

[rocket_22]

alright ill check into it. I plaining on geting me a big gun exhaust i have a friend who has the full system on his 400 and its sound sweet

[quadmanw]

the motoworks pipe on the 400ex is excellent. only around 100 decibles and great power on the slip-on

[novak8]

i got the FMF powercore 4 it adds a surprising amount of HP if you have it jetted correctly. the only thing i did was cut out the screen spark arrestor. it really does nothing but hold you back. made it louder and better airflow. idk if you're familliar with bombardiers but my buddy has a 650 with hmf slip on and its way louder than his. hope this helps

[Pipeless416]

Originally posted by novak8
i got the FMF powercore 4 it adds a surprising amount of HP if you have it jetted correctly. the only thing i did was cut out the screen spark arrestor. it really does nothing but hold you back.

it holds sparks back, not you.. :chinese:

[bergoff]

i run a spark arrestor in my r4 pipe and i didn't notice a difference. and when i need to quiet her down i just throw in a few pieces of steel wool and reinstall the spark arrestor and its all good.

[novak8]

Originally posted by Pipeless416
it holds sparks back, not you.. :chinese:


i have yet to see a single spark or flame come from mine or anyone elses exhausts. so i think im fine there..and it increases airflow and cuts backpressure down which in turn gives you more power~~but it has to be jetted right~~

[Pipeless416]

Originally posted by novak8
i have yet to see a single spark or flame come from mine or anyone elses exhausts. so i think im fine there..and it increases airflow and cuts backpressure down which in turn gives you more power~~but it has to be jetted right~~

im not going to start a debate on this.. but theres a reason they're required on most trails. of course you've never seen flames or sparks. if you can see them then you've got bigger issues. the gains are completely negligible.

[novak8]

well i obviously don't agree on them, but you do. so lets just leave it at that...

[Pipeless416]

Originally posted by novak8
well i obviously don't agree on them, but you do. so lets just leave it at that...

roger that