Fallston, CA - Suzuki released
the Quad Sport LTZ400 in early 2002, and its release
raised the bar for sport class ATVs with its proven
liquid cooled DOHC engine adopted from the popular
DRZ400 motorcycle. It was immediately embraced
by sport ATV enthusiast along with racing community,
and by 2004, Suzuki’s Doug Gust dominated
the ATVA Pro Class with a record setting win streak
to claim the championship.
The Z400 remained the top Suzuki sport quad
till 2006 when the LTR450 Quad Racer was released
with its state of the art fuel injection and
ready to race platform, but it was specifically
geared toward the racing market, and the Z400
remained virtually unchanged over the past six
years besides some minor updates and improvements
until now.
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The
Suzuki LT-Z400 hasn't changed much since
its first release besides upgraded suspension
in 2005 along with some other minor updates,
but for 2009, the Z400 has undergone some
dramatic updates, which makes this already
fun machine even better
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For 2009, the QuadSport Z400 has received not
only a dramatic facelift with an entirely new
look inspired by the R450 QuadRacer, but it
also receives a new fuel injection system along
with numerous chassis, suspension, and engine
updates as well, which once again raises the
bar for sport ATV engine performance and handling
in its class.
With a September of 2008 early release of the
2009 Z400 QuadSport, Suzuki invited the media
out to sunny California to test ride the Z400
at the Vessels Ranch, which is a world renown
horse breeding ranch with over 400 horses on
the 2,500 acre property. The location proved
to be the perfect location for testing the Quad
Sport with its miles of trails over various
terrains to push the Z400 to its limits.
For me personally, this was an extremely exciting
test ride because of my extensive riding and
racing experience on the original Z400 because
I purchased two of these units when they first
hit the dealership in March of 2002, and I immediately
began racing them in the GNCC series in the
4 Stroke A Mod Class with great success. By
2005, I finished out the GNCC season 2nd in
the Stock Class championship on the Z400 up
against the Yamaha YZ450 & Honda TRX 450R
machines, and I continued to Podium on the Z400
in 2006 at several GNCC events and most notably
the first ever GNCC race at Unadilla when I
battled with TRX 450R racer, Jarrod McClure
the entire race to earn the 2nd spot on the
Podium over a class filled with 450cc class
machines.
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A
few photos from back in my racing days
on the Z400 in the GNCC Series |
Unfortunately, I was forced to give up racing
the Z400 full-time after the 2006 race season,
so I could focus my attention on taking ATVriders.com
to the next level, but I still have several
QuadSports in the garage because it remains
one of my favorite sport ATV's.
