My Front End Pushes!!!!

[Rat400ex]

I just bought a new 400ex and I want to get into motocross.
One thing I noticed with the 400 is tht the front end "pushes" in corners. Would +2,+1 a-arms fix this?:(

[Acid_Rain]

+2 +1 arms are not usually available for 400ex and no it iwll not fix the push, is it a stock 400ex frame and componets, what do you have on it and what is the set ride hieght in percentage? the ride hieght doesn't really matter if you can't figure it out.

[250rider]

+2+1 arms are available almost everywhere for a 400ex! i dunno where u got that from, the +1 will help the quad not push hard in the corners.

[Acid_Rain]

cant say that i remeber making a single 400ex plus +1 just 250Rs banshees are the most common

[Mikey]

I have +2+1 Burgards. The adjustable camber will help too. More camber = quicker steering. Replace the stock front tires with Holeshots or Razors and run 8 psi.

[quad_racer_19]

what does it mean if your front end"pushes" in the corners ????

[Acid_Rain]

It means that when you enter a corner and hit the gas it pushes to the outside of the turn rather than hooking and turning. I would say put a +1.25" swing arm on it. Changing the camber hardly affects the steering, it does however reflect on how the suspension reacts to the bump in the course, more camber less sterring wobble at speed but heavyer steering, and less camber causes speed wobble at speed over the bumps, but easier to steer.

[Hammer trx450r]

What offset does your front rims have?

Originally posted by Hammer trx450r
What offset does your front rims have?

stock honda rims are 1.5 + 3.5 offset

[infantry317]

The 400ex has a very light front end, if you ride faster into the corners and brake harder, the front end will dive better. Try it, it works! :D

[Mikey]

Originally posted by Acid_Rain
Changing the camber hardly affects the steering, it does however reflect on how the suspension reacts to the bump in the course, more camber less sterring wobble at speed but heavyer steering, and less camber causes speed wobble at speed over the bumps, but easier to steer.

I think you have confused Castor with Camber. More Castor makes the bike more stable at hi speed, less makes it "twitchy".
More camber causes the bike to pivot on the inner tire more.

[mustang93]

agree :rolleyes: yup he's got it all mixed up.

[Acid_Rain]

Yeah, you guys are right i did get the terms all screwed up, and I do this stuff for a living. better luck next time.

[KY Woods Rider]

If the quad is still bone stock, there are a couple things you can do to make the front end stick a bit better in the turns and it won't cost an arm and a leg. The first thing is to put on some decent tires. I have never liked the stock 400EX front tires because they always seem to slide when you first turn the bars, then when they finally decide to hook, the sidewalls are so soft that they roll under and the wheel digs into the dirt. The stock rears have excellent straight line traction and are so soft that they sometimes don't want to break loose and slide around a tight corner. When you combine a front tire that doesn't hook very well with a rear tire that almost hooks too well, it's a wonder that the 400EX will turn as well as it does.

Secondly, drop the preload on the front shocks a bit. This will cause a bit more weight to be placed on the front end. Just don't get carried away and turn the front preload down a lot while leaving the rear shock on the stock settings. If you soften the front end too much and have too much weight on it, it will dive and feel like you're going to endo when you go into a corner hard. Just play around with the front preload (and maybe the rear preload too) until you find settings that suit you.

And finally, you can make any quad push if you go into a corner and use the wrong cornering technique. The worst thing you can do is stay sitting in the middle of the seat and just coast into a corner. You should stay on the gas until you truly have to let off, lean forward and to the inside, and get on the brakes hard (especially the fronts). This will cause the weight to be placed on the front end so it will stick and turn, and the weight will be taken off the rear end so you can easily pitch the rear end around if needed.

[SnellCRP]

Originally posted by Acid_Rain
cant say that i remeber making a single 400ex plus +1 just 250Rs banshees are the most common

I agree, I wouldn't think you would want +1 forwards on a 4 stroke unless its a wheel spinning monster. The +1 moves your weight bias over the rear tires more to give the quad better traction. Thats why its so common on banshees and R's because of their wheel spin. Usually you would want +1.25 swingarm and no forward on an EX, which will move your weight bias more toward the front which will help keep the front end down and have more traction with the front tires.