So definetly going to shorten my gearing, slap some new tires on, and do some more xr400 riding! Hopefully soon ill have some moto content coming on the ktm 150sx as well. Thanks for watching
I run 14/48 on mine. I'm riding thick forest single track. The 15 up front is great for fire roads but a bit high in the rocky, technical stuff. Nice video!
@gc3937 dang 14/48 must make the bike gearing extremely short. I rode with the stock 15/45 and idk if I would want to go any shorter than that lol. But I'm also not doing hard enduro and climbing rocks and stuff. I could see the benefit if I was doing gnarly stuff like that.
@@AUSTIN_457 I would have bought one 6 months ago, I bought the CRF300L and it is a huge disappointment, no where near the bike that the xr400r or even the XR250R was.
@user-se7vt5ow4e that's a bummer! I looked Into the crf300l just for something to ride on the roads and do light trail riding. However I might end up getting a DR650 in the future. Or a XR650L. I had a XR600 but l sold it. It needed alot of love (money lol) the XR400 is good for roads but id rather keep this as a dedicated trail machine
@@AUSTIN_457 being clear and knowing the type of riding we do comes back to simple gearing ratio selection, that is really the key, cheapest and most practical mod we can do
@johnmignano7872 I agree I have switched to a 15/40 and it's alot better for the environments I'm riding. I have a few trail riding videos since I changed the gearing but I still need to put my better tires on to fully be setup. Thanks for watching
I love the 400 but I miss my XR600. It was heavy but too much fun.even in tight trail.Rode at M-72 trailhead outside of Greyling years ago. Foxes,coyotes,bears,and even porcupines.There is a long jeep trail a person can probably hit 70 plus mph.Mostly sand.Really impressive with cool crisp weather. Paradise ORV riding in Michigan.
@scottcrowley2061 i had a XR600 for awhile but I used it primarily as a road bike. I did take it off road a couple times and you're right it's a great bike. I do find myself missing that instant torque at the crack of the throttle. Only thing I don't miss is the weight haha. Not to self promote but I got a playlist of my xr600 on my channel. Check them out if your interested! Thanks for watching. th-cam.com/play/PLBZ4L_G43W-70N8qlI8mgvdDcE24HwP2M.html&si=xxzn9mobiPLGfzDT
I owned the 98 XR 400. Great bike that can do it all, but this made it a little boring. Other bikes are better performance, but then they require more maintenance. It's a great bike that's only weakness is that it is good at at everything, but not the best at anything.
@nvmcrider8475 Honestly you put it perfectly. Compared to modern choices available these days it doesn't have the wow factor in terms of its power department. Definitely not in the suspension compartment either. Where it shines is the versatility, reliability, and it's simplicity. Keeping this thing running should not be an issue. Not sure if you ever had yours equipped with a pumper carb, but I feel like that makes this bike alot better in terms of power delivery. However it still won't ever hold a candle to a modern 450. But that's ok 👍 thank you for watching!
Suzuki DRZ400. It has everything Honda XR400 didn't. TWO Camshafts. Kick and Electric start and WATER cooled. Also made in Japan. Next better bike? WR450F!!
@@anthonynicholich9654 The DRZ has some good points, but it was too heavy with poor suspension settings. The smooth mellow power and quiet exhaust was great for dual sport, but the close ratio trans held it back from being good on the street and trail, you had to choose one or the other and swap sprockets. I agree with you about the WR.
@@nvmcrider8475 There was a version of a DRZ400 that was made only for 5 years 1999-2004 and a lot of people overlook which is DRZ400K kick start only model. Serious model off road oriented. I have one! It had a true off road suspension just like the XR400 if not better and was barely heavier then XR400 (if it was at all at 252lbs) due to being water cooled. I also have WR450F old version titanium 5 Valve motor. The best 450 motor while Honda CRF450 had all kinds of valve seat, valve guide and other top end problems (those years mid late 2000's) just like the previous version RFVC motors had valve roaching camshaft premature wear and overheating problems.
@davidandrew3481 I agree. The crf125f and 250f are the closest thing to a modern XR. The crf300l is close but it doesn't exactly match the XR400. I think they should bump up the CC's on the crf300l and make the suspension better. Could be a direct xr400 competitor then with fuel injection and eletric start. Thr crf300l is really reliable from what I hear
@LooxJJ like they say, all good things come to an end. And you're right it is sad. I had a XR600 for awhile and liked it. Not as much as this 400 tho. A 650r would be pretty awesome id love to ride one.
@garagedchaos6353 hell yeah thats good to hear 🤙 I thought about putting a hot cam in this bike. Mostly do to me wanting to remove the decompression mechanism from the stock cam. I heard they like to fall apart and tbh I like using the manual decompression lever better anyways. That's how my old xr600 was. Figured if I was going to go through the trouble of taking the oem cam out and removing the decomp stuff, maybe just taking it out and slapping a stage 1 or 2 cam in there would be easier and yield me some performance. Reliability is my only concern with that
😢 Of course it is. Suzuki DRZ400 is right at bulls eye of a Honda XR400. 2 camshafts water cooled and electric start reved to the moon and made in Japan so much of a better bike then Honda that had no top end.
![This Video Will Make You Want A XR400 [Fall Time Leota ORV Trail Ride]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Xnpilpg16Uo/mqdefault.jpg)
So definetly going to shorten my gearing, slap some new tires on, and do some more xr400 riding! Hopefully soon ill have some moto content coming on the ktm 150sx as well. Thanks for watching
I run 14/48 on mine. I'm riding thick forest single track. The 15 up front is great for fire roads but a bit high in the rocky, technical stuff. Nice video!
@gc3937 dang 14/48 must make the bike gearing extremely short. I rode with the stock 15/45 and idk if I would want to go any shorter than that lol. But I'm also not doing hard enduro and climbing rocks and stuff. I could see the benefit if I was doing gnarly stuff like that.
This is the bike Honda should have never quit making.
I agree. They would sell like hot cakes if they made them again
@@AUSTIN_457 I would have bought one 6 months ago, I bought the CRF300L and it is a huge disappointment, no where near the bike that the xr400r or even the XR250R was.
@user-se7vt5ow4e that's a bummer! I looked Into the crf300l just for something to ride on the roads and do light trail riding. However I might end up getting a DR650 in the future. Or a XR650L. I had a XR600 but l sold it. It needed alot of love (money lol) the XR400 is good for roads but id rather keep this as a dedicated trail machine
I had one i got new in 2000 rode the guts out of it now i have a XR 650L i drive it on the highway
XR400 still pulls like a freight train even with the high ratio 16/40, not problem at all, thanks for sharing
@@johnmignano7872 it sure does. Love the torque on this thing. Thanks for watching John 🤙
@@AUSTIN_457 being clear and knowing the type of riding we do comes back to simple gearing ratio selection, that is really the key, cheapest and most practical mod we can do
@johnmignano7872 I agree I have switched to a 15/40 and it's alot better for the environments I'm riding. I have a few trail riding videos since I changed the gearing but I still need to put my better tires on to fully be setup. Thanks for watching
@@AUSTIN_457 great to hear, I've tested a bunch of different ratios, 14/45 seems to work very good for off-road low down torque and road trips as well
To me underrated! I love mine!
I love the 400 but I miss my XR600. It was heavy but too much fun.even in tight trail.Rode at M-72 trailhead outside of Greyling years ago. Foxes,coyotes,bears,and even porcupines.There is a long jeep trail a person can probably hit 70 plus mph.Mostly sand.Really impressive with cool crisp weather. Paradise ORV riding in Michigan.
@scottcrowley2061 i had a XR600 for awhile but I used it primarily as a road bike. I did take it off road a couple times and you're right it's a great bike. I do find myself missing that instant torque at the crack of the throttle. Only thing I don't miss is the weight haha.
Not to self promote but I got a playlist of my xr600 on my channel. Check them out if your interested! Thanks for watching.
th-cam.com/play/PLBZ4L_G43W-70N8qlI8mgvdDcE24HwP2M.html&si=xxzn9mobiPLGfzDT
Mine blew up at the Virginia City Grand Prix. I think it was because of all the mud caked around the engine.
Damn man that sucks! Sorry to hear that. Hopefully you get it fixed up or you got some other badass machines to ride. Thanks for watching brotha 🤙
I owned the 98 XR 400. Great bike that can do it all, but this made it a little boring. Other bikes are better performance, but then they require more maintenance. It's a great bike that's only weakness is that it is good at at everything, but not the best at anything.
@nvmcrider8475 Honestly you put it perfectly. Compared to modern choices available these days it doesn't have the wow factor in terms of its power department. Definitely not in the suspension compartment either. Where it shines is the versatility, reliability, and it's simplicity. Keeping this thing running should not be an issue.
Not sure if you ever had yours equipped with a pumper carb, but I feel like that makes this bike alot better in terms of power delivery. However it still won't ever hold a candle to a modern 450. But that's ok 👍 thank you for watching!
Suzuki DRZ400. It has everything Honda XR400 didn't.
TWO Camshafts.
Kick and Electric start and WATER cooled. Also made in Japan.
Next better bike?
WR450F!!
@@anthonynicholich9654 The DRZ has some good points, but it was too heavy with poor suspension settings. The smooth mellow power and quiet exhaust was great for dual sport, but the close ratio trans held it back from being good on the street and trail, you had to choose one or the other and swap sprockets. I agree with you about the WR.
@@nvmcrider8475 There was a version of a DRZ400 that was made only for 5 years 1999-2004 and a lot of people overlook which is DRZ400K kick start only model. Serious model off road oriented. I have one! It had a true off road suspension just like the XR400 if not better and was barely heavier then XR400 (if it was at all at 252lbs) due to being water cooled. I also have WR450F old version titanium 5 Valve motor. The best 450 motor while Honda CRF450 had all kinds of valve seat, valve guide and other top end problems (those years mid late 2000's) just like the previous version RFVC motors had valve roaching camshaft premature wear and overheating problems.
Honda should bring back the XR Model, it's the most reliable Nike in the World
@davidandrew3481 I agree. The crf125f and 250f are the closest thing to a modern XR. The crf300l is close but it doesn't exactly match the XR400. I think they should bump up the CC's on the crf300l and make the suspension better. Could be a direct xr400 competitor then with fuel injection and eletric start. Thr crf300l is really reliable from what I hear
XR400R XR600 and 650R were legends...and just like all legends, they are all in the past...that is the sad part.
@LooxJJ like they say, all good things come to an end. And you're right it is sad. I had a XR600 for awhile and liked it. Not as much as this 400 tho. A 650r would be pretty awesome id love to ride one.
I put a stage 2 hot cam and a 11:1 wiseco 416 piston in mine and talk about woke it up
@garagedchaos6353 hell yeah thats good to hear 🤙 I thought about putting a hot cam in this bike. Mostly do to me wanting to remove the decompression mechanism from the stock cam. I heard they like to fall apart and tbh I like using the manual decompression lever better anyways. That's how my old xr600 was.
Figured if I was going to go through the trouble of taking the oem cam out and removing the decomp stuff, maybe just taking it out and slapping a stage 1 or 2 cam in there would be easier and yield me some performance. Reliability is my only concern with that
🤘🏻 🌟 🤘
What fuel do you use?
93 unleaded or ill get 4 gallons of 90 no ethanol and throw a gallon of 110 octane race gas to achieve 93-94 octane with no ethanol in the fuel
I've been using 100LL (also known as AVgas). Very high octane and very clean. Expensive but so worth it!
@@AUSTIN_457 Try some VP SEF. It's 94 octane, ethanol free.
😢 Of course it is.
Suzuki DRZ400 is right at bulls eye of a Honda XR400. 2 camshafts water cooled and electric start reved to the moon and made in Japan so much of a better bike then Honda that had no top end.
DRZ400's and Suzuk's 🗑️🤡🗑️🤡