Honda 400ex build

[AtvFan2010]

Hi guys,
I'm a new ex owner and I've always wanted one. I just picked a 2000 up for 1500 bucks and I figured its time to build lol. I just took out a small loan and will be ordering everything this week.

Motoworks exhaust - $484.99
All around maier racing plastic (orange) - $340
QuadCommand Intake - $149.99
Trail Tech Bar lights - 149.99
New Light switch - 52.99
Dyno jet kit - 57.99
rebel Flag seat cover - 49.99
New Chain - $50ish
Sparks Cam - $60 "my buddie is cutting me a deal its used but 100% perfect"
Total = around $1330

If anyone has any suggestons let me know but I only have about 2 grand to blow. I'll be posting build pics when i get started hopefully by next week assuming all the parts get here when they are supposed to. Its also gonna be general lee theamed haha

[Thumpin440ex]

If the headights and all work fine, I would scratch that for now, get a big bore kit 416-426 or 440.. That would work great with a cam.. Being a 2000 I am sure it is a lil tired

John

[hocman123]

i say bore it to a 416 with a 11:1 piston and a 450r carb and u got a good set up

[PaRedneckRiders]

If i were you i would look for some used parts.

Ya its nice to have new stuff but you could save yourself alot of money buy buying a used exhaust and not buying a full jet kit since it is pretty much a waste of money when you can buy individual jets for like 5$ a piece at a local dealers and sometimes less.

I would just bore it to a 416(87mm) With 11:1 comp
GTT hd studs
CRF450 timing chain
Your sparks cam
Good exhaust like motoworks or mayb a Sparks
If you want the plastic get it
Then find a good set of used arms and shocks if you think you can deal with being 4in wider or so

Also a g-force axle would run about 190$ and its lifetime warrantied.

[CJM]

Echo the rest of them, make it have some go before its got some show.

Do this (and follow everyone elses advice pretty much:
-Hotcams stage 1 or 2

-slip on exhaust

-take stock header off, grind off alot of the weld inside the tube where it connects to the engine

^ those 2 are for keeping the costs down. A full exhaust is nice but 500 bucks is alot of cash.

-uni brand air filter

-DID x ring chain

-Dont bother with dynojets, buy some stock ones from jetsrus

That will make a machine that will keep up or beat a stock to mild 450r.

[PaRedneckRiders]

Originally posted by CJM
Echo the rest of them, make it have some go before its got some show.

Do this (and follow everyone elses advice pretty much:
-Hotcams stage 1 or 2

-slip on exhaust

-take stock header off, grind off alot of the weld inside the tube where it connects to the engine

-uni brand air filter

That will make a machine that will keep up or beat a stock to mild 450r.
He said he was getting a sparks cam.

But i have got a question for you AtvFan2010

If your getting a spraks cam, which is it?? Is it the x1 cam or the x4 cam because if its the X4 you need hard faced rockers and im pretty sure u need different valve springs.

The x1 cam is Sparks version of a drop in and go cam just like the hotcams are.

And ya id go with a slip on and ground header welds, the Full exhaust really isnt worth it unless your doing major motor work, also Sparks only sells a full system if that was another thought that i mentioned b4.

[AtvFan2010]

Ok as for the bore I would like to keep it stock I really wanted a dependable woods quad unlike my outlaw which ticks me off every month. Its a xc1 sparks cam he tells me its equivlant to the hot cam stage 2 the lights dont work looks like someone tried to put them back in with a hammer haha. The plastics are on closeout right now and are $ 100 off. I would really like a full exhaust because I'm more about looks than speed on this build. And yes its a 2000 but it was rebuilt completely this year new piston, valves, seals, all that junk. Thanks for the dyno jet advice that saves a bunch. Oh also it sounds like I have some valve ticking but when i took the headpipe off the gastkets were missing. Now im not sure if the ex is supposed to have tho my outlaw does.

[AtvFan2010]

What year 450r carb? and is there a thread on how to convert it? Or does it go right on?

[hocman123]

yea it should have 2 copper crush gaskets on the head pipe but sometimes its there but just really hard to see woth all the black carp that tends to build up on it. but i could order them online of pick some up at a dealler

[PaRedneckRiders]

Originally posted by AtvFan2010
Ok as for the bore I would like to keep it stock I really wanted a dependable woods quad unlike my outlaw which ticks me off every month. Its a xc1 sparks cam he tells me its equivlant to the hot cam stage 2 the lights dont work looks like someone tried to put them back in with a hammer haha. The plastics are on closeout right now and are $ 100 off. I would really like a full exhaust because I'm more about looks than speed on this build. And yes its a 2000 but it was rebuilt completely this year new piston, valves, seals, all that junk. Thanks for the dyno jet advice that saves a bunch. Oh also it sounds like I have some valve ticking but when i took the headpipe off the gastkets were missing. Now im not sure if the ex is supposed to have tho my outlaw does.
Valve tick, well first off most of the EX's have it even if the valves are adjust correctly. 3 of mine have ticked and 1 didn't. You just need to adjust them if they are out. IIRC its .004 intake and .005 exhaust.

Also yes the X1 cam is in between a stage one and stage two cam, So it would be equivalent to about a stage 1.5 hotcam if they made one lol.

I would check comp. If it seems sort of low i would rebuild it just to be safe, Do you have prof that it was rebuilt or were you just told it was rebuild and are not sure.

And even if you went with say a 10:1 416 or something, as long as it is build right it wont be any less reliable. I had an 11:1 416 and never had a single problem with it.

[AtvFan2010]

well i bought the quad off a friend and I know the guy who did the build I'll check out the 416 bore then. I'll run a compresson test also. Thanks for the advice I'm gonna start this as soon as my money clears should be friday

[CJM]

They all tick, ever single damn one of them I ever seen, heard or rode ticks. Some tick more than others, not sure why.

I will also suggest your wasting your cash on that fancy intake, like I said uni brand air filter is what ALOT of people run and love it. 50 vs 200 bucks too.

The full exhaust really wont gain you much vs a good slip on and grinding those welds down. The EX header flows rather nicely and they make some very good slip ons for the EX as well.

As for being reliable: I beat mine up everytime I ride and its usually 90F outside in the summer here (so the engines getting rather hot) and it never gives me an issue at all. Unlike the outlaw or other bikes the hondas are super reliable.

[PaRedneckRiders]

Ok, just looking to help but if its on stock bore and its good i would just have it honed to clean it up and throw some new rings in it. Unless you want some more power. I also had an 11:1 stock bore and it ran pretty good if you ask me i really liked it for riding in the woods because with the stage one cam it had good bottom end power and was just plain fun.

[PaRedneckRiders]

I do agree with CJM on the intake.
As long as your not in a ton of water or dust.
I would run no lid and some kind of air filter thats up to u.
I run a K@N with an outerwares cover no air box lid and a removed snorkel that i stuck a black paint can lid in.

[CJM]

For some other setup info:

Im running a Uni air filter with my airbox lid cut to fit the outwears filter on it. I much prefer this setup as even tho I ride in sand alot I never get any inside the box. The outwears is super tough and wont let anything thru but air and the unifilter loves the extra flow its getting.

[AtvFan2010]

That's exactlly what I want a basically stock ex I'm not looking for a crazy 460 stroker like my one friends ex haha. Thanks ill probably not buy the intake then.. I was only going to get it because my stock one on my outlaw was completely terrible it was like breathing through a straw. When I put the new intake on it honestly shocked me. I'm more of a k&n fan myself so ill just save the money from the jet kit and intake and just buy a power up kit for about a hundred that already has all that stuff.

[CJM]

In stock form the EX is so so, its got power but def not that great. When I upgraded from a stock to a 416 built motor it was like night and day.

[AtvFan2010]

Well then I'll definitely look into it thanks

[CJM]

Originally posted by AtvFan2010
Well then I'll definitely look into it thanks

No problem.

To put it lightly: If you were to race me on a stock or even mildly modded EX mine would eat it alive. My friend ran all out and despite this I came from behind and dusted him. Another friend has an EX with a stage 1 hotcam, its better but not that much. Friend of mine swapped his stock for mine and rode it and as soon as his warrantys up hes doing exactly what I got done.

I also have raced 450s and at that point it comes down to the rider and if its a modded or stock one. my buddy has a 450r with full exhaust, cam and larger valves and I even shock him. 416 revs quick and keeps up the power.

I really like the way she turned out, plenty of power and the cost wasnt to bad (see my signature for specs). The guys here helped suggest on how to build it and since then I grin ear to ear everytime I ride. not bragging or nothing just trying to explain the difference a few mods can really make.

[AtvFan2010]

Yeah I have 3 friends that have all out drag 400ex's and the fastest one is the one with the 416 piston and a 426 stroker kit so its a 442 ex but it will run 6.8 seconds at 75mph in 500ft it completely destroys. It has more stuff done besides that but still. But I figure when I'm done with mine it will be alright for me. I'm hearing alot about the sparks key? It'll work alright with the sparks xc1 cam right? I personally don't believe in rev boxes.

[CJM]

sparks key will work fine with the cam, its when you do an 11:1 piston and the key you gotta run at least 100 octane.

[AtvFan2010]

Ok sounds good to me looks easy to do. My outlaw needs race gas which sucks to buy all the time. But it hauls too can't quite beat some of the ex's around tho some of them are just crazy fast.

[Thumpin]

Read my build below to get an idea what I got. I removed my HotCam2 and tried the X1 cam and was not too impressed with the powerband!

It was all low to low-mid power, that was with both a slip on and an awesome full CT racing exhaust. I pulled the X1 cam and dropped the HC2 back in, its got it all. Good lowend, massive midrange and good topend.

The X1 cam was much quieter with good lowend but thats it, I'd say its a queit version of the HC1. In my eyes the HC2 works great with most higher compression pistons and bores, than use the exhaust system to change your powerband up or down. Use slip on for low to mid and full exhaust for mid to top gains.

If you dont agree with me call Colby at C&D Racing and ask him, he's the guy that did all my motor work and talked me into the HC2 and told me the exhaust makes most the powerband!

Thats my take on the x1 cam compared to the HC2. Take it for what its worth.

[AtvFan2010]

Hmm well how well would a stage 2 HC work with the stock bore and a full motoworks exhaust? Found an awesome deal on eBay for the HC ill jump on it if it'll work alright

[CJM]

Stage 2 is really for a bored engine, a more mild just bumped up compression engine works better with the stage 1.

Like I tell everyone, there is no point to not boring it. By the time you get the quad used (as most do) the bore is slightly on its way out unless the previous owner hardly rode it as overtime the bore will wear and infrequent service like most people who care for thier quads give can be a cause. I know some who will not change the oil FOREVER it seems, Im a bit of a fanatic over my changes and usually do them at 20-25 hours or-but some wait for 100's of hours.

it is best when you take it apart to either straight up bore it or at least have it checked imho for being out of spec. Mine was so bad I could clearly see past the piston and could put a feeler gauge all the way down.

[PaRedneckRiders]

Originally posted by CJM
Stage 2 is really for a bored engine, a more mild just bumped up compression engine works better with the stage 1.

Like I tell everyone, there is no point to not boring it. By the time you get the quad used (as most do) the bore is slightly on its way out unless the previous owner hardly rode it as overtime the bore will wear and infrequent service like most people who care for thier quads give can be a cause. I know some who will not change the oil FOREVER it seems, Im a bit of a fanatic over my changes and usually do them at 20-25 hours or-but some wait for 100's of hours.

it is best when you take it apart to either straight up bore it or at least have it checked imho for being out of spec. Mine was so bad I could clearly see past the piston and could put a feeler gauge all the way down.
Agreed for sure.
When i bought mine it was a new bore the guy just never finished so i knew it was still good.
And again it just depends on what kind of power you want to see what cam you want and whether or not to bore it and go to a higher comp.

[AtvFan2010]

Ok how about a 426 wiesco bore? Found one on eBay used for 50 bucks looks in good shape but who knows I figure for 50 bucks why not atleast ill have an extra jug lol It's 11-1 compresson also

[weeman69xx303]

i woudlnt buy the trail tech...i had 3 sets of them and all of them blew out after a few min. that company jerked me around for almost 4 months just to get my money back

[AtvFan2010]

Yeah I read ur post somewhere else and decided not to get them I found a deal for stock maier 1 piece plastic I'm getting those now. My friend is giving me me his left over headlights and switch since both of mine dont work properly.