Why did Honda change gearing?

[SHIFTx450]

Why did they go from 15/38 to 14/39 ? What will it feel like if I run 14/39 on my 01 400ex?

[mjc400ex]

The 15/38 will have a higher top speed than the 14/39 setup.
This is with all else being equal (tire size & such).

The 14/39 setup will have more torque at the wheels (read: low end grunt to climb hills & stuff).

Depending on how experienced and observant you are you may barely feel a difference or you may think its like a whole new quad.

[SHIFTx450]

Why did Honda make the change? Did they do tranny work or something? Change internal gearing?

[Hondamaster5505]

They DID change the internal transmission gearing. Unfortunately I don't know exactly how much it was changed.

[CJM]

Riding my 00 vs an 05 is like wow. They just dont seem to have nearly as much power imho.

Granted I have no idea if I have any hotcams, keys or anything. Only difference is 18's and a slip on. Even so they just felt slower period.

[honda400ex2003]

Why did they change the gearing you ask, well imo they changed it to make it compete with some of the newer machines that have a bit better acceleration than the 400 stock. like the z and the dvx. The market wants a quicker machine like a 450 style of machine. so they changed it to help compensate for the loss instead of actually doing something to improve hp numbers. it revs quicker but in turn is not as fast. the gearing also lowered the gears which raised the ratios. the 05s should be noticably slower than the others but will get to the top alot faster. just my opinion though. steve

[MidnightBlade]

i raced my cousin's 01 400ex with the 15/38 with my 05 400ex when i still had the 14/39. he was half way through 5th and i was bouncing off the rev limiter. got him off the line by 3-4 bike lengths, but he got me in top speed by 2-3 bike lengths. im going to get adventurous and experiment with gearing and tire sizes later on. let yins know how it turns out. oh and mine will keep up with a 09 ltr450 off the line, but when i hit 3rd he gets me everytime. just not enough torque on the stock bore lol. we both arent pro riders either but we manage

[honda400ex2003]

http://home.earthlink.net/~gellett/400ex.htm you can mess with this. it is for the old ones but if you use 14/39 it will get you close to what you are running stock. steve

[aDviSol2y]

I'm pretty sure the gearing change had alot to do with adding reverse. I know the '05's and up are even heavier than the '04's and below. The gearing change might have had something to do with compensating for this. Also I know the splines on the shaft for the front sprocket are diferent from '05 and up. Not sure why.

[honda400ex2003]

another good option for the switch. steve

[quad2xtreme]

I run 13/36 gearing on mine. I do it for the added ground clearance in the rear.

I use the Lonestar sprocket guard designed for 36/38 tooth sprockets.

[MidnightBlade]

idk why honda had to change the gearing but it deffinately had to do with reverse. i dont think they could fit the reverse and 5 other gears in the same transmission. lol