barracuda

Hello All, Well the 81' 250R Trike I've owned forever is getting retired finally. SO, I am looking for a 350-400cc 4-Stroke sport ATV, I prefer 2 wheel drive. I have looked at: Honda, Yahama, Suzuki, Kawasaki and they all look pretty darn comparable...all 4-strokes, reverse and eletric start which is what i want but I have no idea which is the better of the bikes. As for price, the yahama 350cc Raptor seems to be the best priced and they all seem to be air-cooled w/ the exception of the Suzuki 400 ( not sure if this is good or bad) . I will say out of the 4-5 bikes i've owned over many years, I had the most problems w/ the Suzuki's albeit it was a 500cc Quad racer that I was not kind too, those days are long gone and I do not want the oppurtanity to ever go that fast again on a 4 wheeler!!! Any feed-back would be much appreciated, my local buddies keep telling me to get a Honda 400EX?!? I have no idea but I trust u guys for good advice. Thanks

mcoleman

I bought 2 new Suzuki's in 2002. An LTZ400 and an Ozark. Both are excellent machines. I sold the Z400 due to spending more time on a horse than on the atv but it was trouble free and a blast to ride. The Ozark is used as the farm rig and hunting machine. It has also been trouble free although I use it for work that I should be using something along the lines of a new 700 King Quad for.

barracuda

Good to know, I figured the new Suzuki's were OK, my old bikes were all their 2-stroke racers and were really on the edge so they obviously needed more attention as most 2-strokes do. I wonder why they are the only one using water cooled versus air-cooled though, who knows.

05CTD600

I went from an R to a 4 stroke . man is it is a different world of riding . I personally would go with the Suzuki LTZ 400 or a Raptor 600 . Even though i own a 400EX , if i had to do it all over again i'd go with the LTZ or the Raptor . The water cooled motor runs so much smoother in the tight slow stuff . It all depends on what kind of riding you are going to do i guess . Or you could always keep your R and pimp it

mcoleman

I had a 1985 250R trike that was setup for 100yd drags. It had a 310 kit with a hotrod, cylinder spacer, ported topend, and the other usual stuff like the pipe etc.. It would scream. Thank goodness it had an extended swingarm. The liquid cooling will result in more consistent performance as well as longer engine life. And when tooling around in the slow stuff it's much easier on the legs due to less radiant heat than an air cooled machine. I put a lot of hours on mine riding in the Chadwick ORV area which has some serious slow riding as well as awesome hills and terrain. Dairy queen hill is a mother.

blackdiesel

ya need to go pick ya up a honda rubicon or a rancher. For years and years hondas been about the most bang for the buck and we have (2) '87 250 3 wheelers, (4) 300 fourtrax's and a 400 foreman. all either 1999 or older. we ride them HARD and we right them EVERY DAY. the most weve ever done to one is tie rod ends. someday im gunna go pick up a 650 rincon

weve ran them all and there aint nothing that can hold up to what we do to em like a honda can. Dad said that back in the day he had a yamaha and he couldnt get it started in the winter months so hed have to pull start it with his old 3 wheeler.

barracuda

TO: 05CTD600...I live in PA, hows about u sell me that fine looking quad and go buy yourself that Raptor u always wanted !!!

suzukiZrider

theres me on my baby 03 Suzuki Z400 i couldnt be more happy with it is the best and most reliable quad ive ever owned if i were you i would get the z/kfx/dvx400 or the raptor 660 i would wait till next year if you want the rappy 700 they just came out and i would wait to see if all the bugs are worked out first

mainer

Know who was that made the diesel 4wheeler? They were 500cc or 450cc dont rember. They were 4x4 so I guess you dont want one but I figured someone might know who made it.

Coop

Mudcat

My vote is for the Z/KFX400 I bought one of these when the first came out. It was a great quad that was a blast to ride. I had zero problems with it. My son had a 400EX while it is a good solid quad with a great aftermarket following. It lacks in the performance and aircooled is a thing of the past. We always had problems with it overheating in the tight trails, mud and even snow.
I now ride a 700 Prairie with 2400 trouble free miles on it in the first year. I've won several mudbogs, ATV pulls, drag races and cross country races all with the same quad. The best of both worlds runs and rides like a sport quad works like a utility.

Ramtough

Dont forget checking out the polaris machines. I love my sportsman 700 a lot. ( its identical to the one that the kids got their dad on that orange county choppers show. when he rode it he got a good impression of power...) My friends predator is really sweet too. The new ones have great suspensions and reverse standard and the motor is a fast 500cc. Then again it is alot of bike if your gonna let kids ride this... oh and the yamahas require premium gas.

mx261

The ltz400 is water cooled because of a new engine design and the fact that it is the only platform that suzy has for its newly found factory racing program. Seems to be a good machine, after all Doug Gust won the mx championship with it their 1st year out (and he is from good ole wisconsin!!!). I raced a 400 ex for 2 years in the wisconsin quad series and did all right. (8th place in vet) But the 400s dont stand much of a chance against the 450s. If your over 200lbs the raptor 350 prolly aint a good pick, low on power. But the new 400 ex as well as the ltz 400/kfx400/dvx400 is a good pick.

heres a pick of my 400ex
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mx261/...55.jpg&.src=ph

doing what i do best!!!

05CTD600

Read the sig brother . The 310R is long gone sniff sniff I now ride a 416EX with a Raptor660 in the near future or a R motor stuffed into a 400EX frame . Time and money will tell LoL

barracuda

Oh well, was worth a shot, that was a sweeeeeet looking ride

05CTD600

Barracuda : i can find you an R no problem if you want one . Only thing is they are between $5000-$8000