440 vs hybrid swap

[BakerRacing40]

hey just looking for an opinion or two or nine... i just got word that a complete 440 engine is for sale locally and i've been planning on doing some more work to my 400ex soon anyway.. but i'd been thinking about building a hybrid too. either a 450 engine or 250r engine... not sure what i want yet so i thought i'd see who has personally tried these set ups. i don't know price or true mod list on the 440 yet but i'm calling tomorrow to find out.
thank you for your time!!

[honda400ex2003]

i guess i would get a 440 before a hybrid since i would not want to go through the hassle of mounting stuff and fabbing everything. steve

[matt14c]

Easy route 440. Long term build and have the time and how you want your ex now then I would do a hybrid. I have never ran a 440 but from what I have heard on this forum that there pretty darn close in power. Hybrid would be liquid cooled so thats a huge plus. Hybrid depending what your getting would most likely be close to if not stock internally except maybe cams or something so I would have to give reliabilty to the hybrid also. Once your to a 440 unless you get like a stroker your pretty much done on potential. Hybrid 450 well as previuosly stated not sure what your getting but there you would just be getting started! 440 would be alot easier and cheaper. Depending what you have done to your ex now unless it is fully setup the way you want it already would be whether or not I would do a hybrid. You can get used 450's for $3k if not cheaper or depending what your looking for. As far as the 250 I would just get a 250 not put that motor in an ex frame.

[MtnEX]

Well, I thought about it all long and hard...

I thought about doing a 250R conversion

I thought about doing a 450R conversion

I thought about doing a 650 L/R conversion



On the 250R conversion, I decided it would probably make more sense to just pick up an old 250R and to a resto-mod. They handle better.

On the 450R conversion, I figured it would make more sense to just buy a 450R.

On the 650L/650R conversion... that one made the most sense... but in the end I decided it would make more sense to just get a 700R and do some suspension work to get the ride height down.


In the end though, none of the above is what a 450R is... so I decided to just accept the 400EX for what it is, and not try to make it something it is not.... and said screw it and bought a new 450.

[honda400ex2003]

WOW i wish i could just decide i am going to buy one and go get one. lol. steve

[MtnEX]

Originally posted by honda400ex2003
WOW i wish i could just decide i am going to buy one and go get one. lol. steve

What kind of riding do you do?

[katch26]

if youre going to do a hybrid Id do the 2 stroke or use a bike motor unavailable in atvs. if youre just doing a common motor like the 450r motor it really starts to become cost prohibitive to do it.

[chrisrzz1012]

I thought about doing the same to my 02 400ex I'll be building this fall. Did some checking out and found out its will be more expensive going the hybrid route. So my ex will be getting the 440 big bore ( 11.1) with alot of extras done to it. I heard they about the same as for power.

Hybrid XR650 :) do it!

[MtnEX]

Originally posted by chrisrzz1012
I thought about doing the same to my 02 400ex I'll be building this fall. Did some checking out and found out its will be more expensive going the hybrid route. So my ex will be getting the 440 big bore ( 11.1) with alot of extras done to it. I heard they about the same as for power.

Sounds like you are making a good decision.... if the 440 kit is going to make you happy power-wise.

[bergoff]

if i could find a xr650l motor for cheap i would do it. they run great and have a ton of torque. remove the smog pump and mod the carb and they come to life. i've seen 1 done and it looked really good and he said that it rode awesome.

[MtnEX]

With a 650L hybrid, you have to look real hard to even notice it's not a 400.