XR400 - advice please

[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!!