[XplicitRacing6]

I got the new 400ex Yesterday. I only got to go up the driveway since a tsunami has hit Missouri. Its falling flat on its face at higher RPM's. I believe its a tuning issue. Did an oil change, with filter. New air filter. I have a couple questions.

Question 1: Every time I pull in the clutch the neutral light come on. Is this normal? It's very annoying.

Question 2: The clutch lever is extremely stiff and very hard to pull. Its a stock clutch and lever also. My other 400ex was a lot easier to pull and use. Is there anything I can do besides get a new cable and clutch? I took the cable off and ran some WD40 down the cable, but it didn't help much.

Question 3: After driving 4 hours home with it on a trailer. I started it up and a TON of blueish smoke came out of the exhaust. Was this because of being on a trailer and oil got moved around above the piston? Is that a sign that I am going to need new rings?

Question 4: I got another header/exhaust from my buddy who I bought it from, it wasn't off this bike but it has a crack in the "header" I am very good at welding but this is really thin Metal. Has anyone ever welded something like this before?

I have more questions but they can wait. I didn't want to make this post too long. Thanks in advance for your good advice

 

[dr. feelgood]

The clutch may be worn out and causing the high rpm issue. I've had 3 sport quads with worn out clutches and with the first I thought the carb jetting was out of whack. Turns out the clutch slips at higher rpm so the motor will spin faster but not turn the wheels any faster so now I know to check that first before tearing into the carb.

Neutral light coming on with the clutch is not normal. I would check if you have wires touching or something else making it think it's in neutral.

I haven't owned a 400ex but I had a 250R with a really stiff clutch pull. I put a longer clutch arm (the piece that the cable pulls on on top of the motor) on it and it made a big difference because of more leverage. I don't remember which model I used it from.

I wouldn't worry too much about the smoke assuming it doesn't keep doing it.

Can't speak for welding the head pipe, I am not a welder and take all my stuff to a buddy

Rob

 

[XplicitRacing6]

The clutch may be worn out and causing the high rpm issue. I've had 3 sport quads with worn out clutches and with the first I thought the carb jetting was out of whack. Turns out the clutch slips at higher rpm so the motor will spin faster but not turn the wheels any faster so now I know to check that first before tearing into the carb.

Neutral light coming on with the clutch is not normal. I would check if you have wires touching or something else making it think it's in neutral.

I haven't owned a 400ex but I had a 250R with a really stiff clutch pull. I put a longer clutch arm (the piece that the cable pulls on on top of the motor) on it and it made a big difference because of more leverage. I don't remember which model I used it from.

I wouldn't worry too much about the smoke assuming it doesn't keep doing it.

Can't speak for welding the head pipe, I am not a welder and take all my stuff to a buddy

Rob

How would you recommend I check my clutch? I've never had to do anything with it before on any of my bikes.

With the neutral light. I figured something was wrong. I'll check that when I get home today.

Stiff clutch. I was thinking about getting some of those easy pull levers that Unkle Ra Ra got. They would probably help a lot.

The smoke. I'll start it up again today and see if it does. Why do you think it smoked the first time?

Thanks for the response

 

[SlammedRanger]

Question 1: Answer. No that is not normal as dr. feelgood said. Crossed wires or something of that nature going on there.

Question 2: Answer. New cable first i had a very similar problem and putting a new cable on helped with about 50% easier pull. I then got an ez pull lever and perch and now i can pull it with one finger. I would doubt its the clutch itself causing it. The arm isnt replaceable though on the 400ex. It is all on piece that goes down into the clutch side case. Man do i wish it had the splined arm like the 250r. Would be so nice to pull it with even less force lol

Question 3: did you turn the gas off at the petcock? If not every bump you hit the float bounced and let fuel go into the cylinder and that excessive of an amount of fuel will actually smoke blue. As it will clean the oil off the cylinder walls. If it does it again when you first start it without it being in the back of the truck i would say valve seals most likely. The rings 99.9% of the time will smoke worse when it warms up and when your riding not so much at idle.

Question 4: i wish you good luck with welding these headers. We turned the welder all the way down to where it was just bearly arking and it still blew right through it like paper. I ended up just purchasing a good used one for one of my buy and sell quads i did last year. Header was cracked so bad the one runner fell off when i unbolted it lol

 

[XplicitRacing6]

Question 3: I don't exactly remember. I'll see if it smoke when I get home from work.

Question 4: I have welded headers on my old ATC 200X But those seemed a lot more thick. I don't need it I was just going to weld it to use as a spare.

Thanks for your help