XR400 - advice please

[XF650]

I'm posting this on behalf of a mate who has been looking for a trail bike to replace a DR250 - he wants more power, but on a limited budget.
He has an option to buy a 1999 XR400 for $3,500 that looks good & goes great.
We would appreciate comments on that price & any vices to watch out for with the XR400's of that era e.g. 2nd gear issue?
Thanks

[cheese]

All I remember is that they were pretty good bikes?

[merv]

Never ever heard of any issues with them, but as always with trail bikes it depends how hard it has been ridden as some people can break anything.

[scott411]

thier was a few issues with gear boxs for the guys that raced them very hard, but normal riding thier is not issues, as much as i hate honda's these are not bad bikes for trail riding

[XF650]

Thanks for those comments.
He's not familair with 2 strokes so have suggested he tries a KDX200 or similair, just to be sure.

[dammad1]

KDXers are excellent trail bikes with the fun of a two stroke.

[F5 Dave]

Jumping off my old KDX onto a newish condition XR400 I was astounded that it was so tall but still landed like a block of flats. Then it stalled & I couldn't start the silly thing. When 4 strokes get big or too high compression they are a pig. Heck even my TT500 wasn't as hard to start. Another friend is selling his XR as it is so damn heavy.

If he is bigger than he might be fine with it

[Wired1]

I too am looking at an XR400 and don't know much about them. I had an XR500 a few years back and it was a bit too heavy on the trail, especially when you dropped it the wrong way on a fire-break, so I have been looking at an XR250 or 400. The XR250 I figure will be underpowered so the 400 is looking pretty good. I'm hoping it will be more like the 250 weight but closer to the 500 performance. Are there any years to avoid? I want something less than ten years old I figure, maybe after 2000 if I can squeeze the budget.
(I was going to write the same post but fortunately this time I checked first - that'll piss off the train spotters!)

[barty5]

mate has one had to replace the frame as it rusted out from the foot pegs up past the exhaust (bike had never been to the beach) he was told it was a common problem so pay to carefully check those areas other wise bike still gose great.

[F5 Dave]

. . . I'm hoping it will be more like the 250 weight but closer to the 500 performance.

Well it will have the old 500 performance covered but after that you're on you're own. My friend sold his as a fairly fit average height guy he found it too heavy, esp when he rode his bro's modern 250. If you are tall (leverage) & burly then it won't be a problem. If I had one as average height & average build & average dirt riding ability I think my enthusiasm for riding would drop about 1/2 way.

The technicality of the trails you ride would alter opinion, open easy stuff would be no sweat.

[xwhatsit]

Go and ask on www.thumpertalk.com . They are fanatical about XRs of all shapes and sizes. Probably the best dedicated forum to talk about that kind of stuff.

That old XR500, how old was it? Not the original pre-RFVC jobbie? If so, then that is a serious lump; modern 400 has to be waaaaay lighter :lol:

[F5 Dave]

The 400 isn't modern. Really. All the XRs were heavy & the weight high up so if they drop over you have to lift the heaviest part.

[xwhatsit]

Might be right there, the XR500 is around 130kgs; XR400 is supposedly 116kgs. 116kgs is still a bit hefty for a filthy-dirty, no?

[Wired1]

Go and ask on www.thumpertalk.com . They are fanatical about XRs of all shapes and sizes. Probably the best dedicated forum to talk about that kind of stuff.

That old XR500, how old was it? Not the original pre-RFVC jobbie? If so, then that is a serious lump; modern 400 has to be waaaaay lighter :lol:

My last XR500 was the old twin shocker, this was about 20+ years ago when I weighed 70kgs and was 5 foot eight. I haven't gotten any taller but I've put on another 20kgs so I can't see me picking up my bike on the side of a hill.

[spookytooth]

had alot of the old thumpers over the years tts xrs ect. Swore by them :) Till i had a blat on a ktm 250 sold the xr i had at the time and went out and got a ktm 350 exc If it was me i would be looking 2 stroke liter more power all round more fun. But then some ppl like sports bikes haha go figure

[monchopper]

These bikes are old technology therefore don't have the rev range or power of more modern bikes. On the plus side they're bullet proof motors and when ya drop em there's no radiators to bust!!

The XR400 stock is a pig.

For free mods google 'Gordons Mods'. These basically make the bike breathe better. Rejet for this setup with a 160 main 60 pilot (most important).

The best mods (I have on mine) are more expensive.
1.. Mikuni TM36-50 pumper carb ($750) (Bolt on 5 HP instant gain)
2.. Race CDI unit ($200)

But these mods transform the bike. The power is night and day compared to stock. This also makes the bike a 1 or 2 kick starter!!

The suspension is average at best. Again google xr400 suspension mods and go from there. Look for the mods about removing 6 shims from shim stack. If you're a fatty get the forks resprung with heavier spring.

If you want a super reliable bike that you know will get you home everytime. Has plenty of usable power after a few mods then this is a great bike.
If you want to race, do enduro or get some air then keep looking

[F5 Dave]

Welcome to the forum Monchopper. Probably the ideal sort of bike for London curb riding.

[monchopper]

You wouldn't believe amount of pretty good off road riding there is not to far from smelly old London.
They call it greenlaning over here. Basically these greenlanes are the same as 'paper roads' in NZ. They're historic roads that never got sealed. If you have a good GPS or someone who knows where these are then it's surprising good. Terrain varies from river beds, tight woods, steepish hills and mud, mud and more mud this time of the year. The big difference from going out to the riverbed in NZ is that you need to be road legal so no screaming 2 stroke crossers.

[Wired1]

Welcome Monchopper, thanks for the lengthy monologue on the old XR400. I'm 5'8" so I'm looking for something with the power of an XR500 but hopefully low enough that I can touch the ground. It was a while since I had my old XR500 but that was a bitch when you dropped it on a fire break. I still have two TT250's and an XT250 to sort out first so I might just go for a later model TT350 instead.

[monchopper]

Thanks

Yes they're fairly tall bike I'm 6 ft and it's perfect for me. People complain about the weight but set the suspension right for your weight and it appears much lighter (bad suspension make any bike feel heavy). These bikes stock seem to be pretty unbalanced, it's like the front folks are setup for a 70kg rider and the back for an 80kg (I've read this not my experience cos my shock were altered when I got them)
Read this article http://justxr.com/info/xr4report.html
Some great info in here on them (lots of yankie bu115hit too!)

You can lower these bikes with a replacement link it lowers them 3/4 - 1 1/2 inches which is heaps for your height. again google XR400 lowering Link.
(www.xrstuff.co.uk) has lotsa aftermark gear not sure if they deliver to NZ? Ring them they're a friendly bunch.

It's a shame Honda didn't make the XR with CR suspension and the mikuni carb!
(Lotsa people put CR250 front folks on these)

[CRM]

I recently put lowering links on my DRZ400 - went for my first serious trail ride since the conversion at Hikurangi on sunday and the links made a great difference - I'm 5'9" 82kg. It made the DRZ so much more manageable on the steep and slippery bits - a huge improvement. You can get DRZ's for under $4G if you shop around and they are much newer technology than the XR's (plus electric start on most which is great). Links are available for most bikes see http://koubalink.com/ I used the DRZ2's whcih lower about 30mm - also fitted bar risers on the front so I could move the forks up. Cost about $130NZ incl freight for the links and $50 for the risers.

[humai]

Welcome Monchopper, thanks for the lengthy monologue on the old XR400. I'm 5'8" so I'm looking for something with the power of an XR500 but hopefully low enough that I can touch the ground.

Hi all - this is my first post on this excellent looking site. Congratz to the admins/founders.

Wired1, I bought a brand new XR400 in 1996 and owned it for 3 years, selling it to a riding buddy.

Short version: I would not recommend one for your endeavours, to be honest.

Long version (go to end of post now if you don't like long posts)...

The stock suspension suffers from a diabolical missmatch with its intended function: the forks were undersprung (I'm 87 - 90KG depending on the social calendar) and the shock was massively overdamped, particularly in the rebound. The bike was just awful on stutterbumps at full throttle and harsh on small stuff in general.

Revalving the shock, on the 1996 model at least, is mandatory.

Later iterations of the XR400 may have been better sorted than my 1996 model - YMMV.

Regarding power output, my bike was uncorked/dremelled, had the rear baffle/spout removed (but retained the S/A) and the airbox relieved. I experimented with the main jet size. Power improved slightly but at its best, it was marginally more powerful than a KLX300, seriously. Same deal power-wise for a buddy's XR400 (his was set up by his local shop).

The clutch started slipping on mine, requiring an upgrade of the clutch springs to sort out, and even then it just handled the power. My buddy blew 2nd gear on his XR400 and fried his clutch.

The XR400 is tall and has a high-feeling centre of mass and can be a bitch to start if it flames out in the heat of battle.

Even in that last bastion of legendary XR domination - endless wheelstands along the beach - my XR400 would start gagging right at the balance point, due to the poor stock carburettor flooding when at that angle (I tried many float level options too).

Consider an DRZ400 (if not too tall feeling for you) or a KLX300 (nice low feeling, much lighter). They are both much more modern dirtbikes that are better in almost every way than the venerable XR.

[monchopper]

Spot on.

The early XR4s had problems with 2nd gear and were undersprung.
The springs went from .38 to .41 around 2000. (Still average though!)

Although you can make the XR a 2 kick max bike hot or cold, the DRZ has an electric leg!!