400ex's in races

[wiley400ex]

with all the new machines out, are 400ex's still competetive in racing? or are the new machines such as the Z and KFX taking over?

[400exmom]

got me 5th in womens sat.:D

Originally posted by wiley400ex
with all the new machines out, are 400ex's still competetive in racing? or are the new machines such as the Z and KFX taking over?

The number 6th ranked pro this year ran a 400ex last year. Yes they are competitive still, but not the fastest on the market. Probably the most reliable quads of all if ya ask me...:o

[mxrider666]

Yeah, 400ex's are still competetive only you have to spend alot of money before they can preform like the 450's.:(

[86atc250r]

If something's going to obsolete the 400EX, it's certainly not going to be a Z or KFX. It will be the new 450 breed.

The 400EX is still very competitive though, especially in woods racing. In TT and MX the 450's and 250Rs are the way to go - although in MX a good rider on a properly setup EX will do fine at all but the top levels.

[Berry]

i ride on a 400ex with stock shocks, a arms, motor, and axle. i have front and rear spacers and small stuff like that and i smoked the 450r last weekend and ended up winning. i beat yfz's all the time so its really if you can ride or not. like a local ride from here, rides a stock yfz with holeshot tires and lsr axle he runs c quad and wins every time and when i say every race i mean EVERY RACE! so if you tune your 400ex and ride good you can be very competitive!

[markk]

80% is the rider 20% is the bike in the woods!

[86atc250r]

I've said it before, I don't believe you can assign an arbitrary percentage to the contribution of the machine and the person - neither will go very fast without the other.

In racing, you are classed by your ability. This means you should generally be competing against riders of similar talent. When this is the case, differences in setup, conditioning, or equipment can make small differences between riders become large differences when the checkers drop.

In the woods, peak power will not make much difference when you reach a certain power level. Differences in suspension action will make a significant difference. The 400EX can easily be brought up to a power level to be competitive. It's suspension can also be made to be competitive fairly easily. This is why it remains a competitive machine in the woods.