HI, and thanks alot for helping me out. I have a 400ex with a white brothers pipe, and silencer, an air filter, and some other apperence parts. I am toren between keeping mine, and do some more work on it like a big bore kit, or sell it and get eaither a banshee, or a yfs 450. I like to jump, not that big yet, like 4-5 feet high, and at the most 10 foot far, im hoping to get better, and get bigger air. I also like to race up ols, and china wall, but ill do that a couple of times, and move on and dune. Please tell me what you think is the best for me, and how would a 440 ex compare to a yfs450, in overall riding. Ive been riding for about 2 years now, but rode dirt bikes before that, if that helps any. thanks alot.

Wait and look at the 450 honda. With that said the 400ex is a great bike but with limits. Cooling would be my number one concern my wife's always seems to be running hot. Also in the St. Anthony dunes in Idaho we found hills that were just to much for her 400 it has all of the standard 400 mods. I would still wait for the honda before I made a choice.

i ride a banshee and its fun with alot of racing power but it can be a bit heavy to jump. i dont mind jumping it and love to do so but if you plan to go big then a banshee may not be on your list. i just got to ride the new yami 450 from a buddy and its ok to me. its smooth through the chop but the seat feels like a rock. i mean a good 2 hour ride would hurt. id have to agree with neverenough to wait til the new honda comes out and then re ask the question.

thats my $.02

rich

either the the yfz or a moded banshee......and dont buy the first year of any bike if you want to check the 450's out.....i have a moded banshee including major engine mods and ohlins suspension, it jumps anything you can hit (or i can hit so far) and dunes very well....so i guess its all in what you want to spend and what kind of maintnence you want to plan on doing.....my thaughts

I had two of my 400's made into 440's, and added the cam. It definatley helps but it is no comparison to the Yam 450. The Yam is a much better bike all the way around, and faster than the 440's (I added the Cascade seat cover and another 1" of foam to the seat to the Yam - it did hurt after a few hours of riding.)

The Honda 450 will be out next month, like one per dealer, then in January they will begin regular shipment (well, at least that is the story as of today.) I have two deposits down, and will post what I find when they come in. If you can, wait until the Honda is out before you buy.

The Yam will set you back at least $7,200, the Honda 440 kit installed with cam & jetting will set you back at least $800.

Try a Banshee before you buy one, it seems that people either love them or hate them. Do remember they cost allot more to run and fix up (they burn gas like crazy, you need to buy the two-stroke oil, they have two cylinders, two carbs, two pipes...)

Good luck!

I bought 2 new YFZ 450's.
Stock, they are very peppy. Jetted and piped will bring on excellent power.

My only YFZ 450 gripes are the rock hard seat, and the thumb throttle is a bit too far from the grip. angled out at a bad angle, and the throttle return spring to hard. Hard to use. Sore hand real quick.

Motion pro twist throttle cures that issue.

I don't see much difference coming in the Honda. The 450 two wheelers by Yami and Honda are super close.

The Honda 450 will be a kick start if that is an issue. The YFZ 450 is electric.
The Honda offers a dealer performance package for $299. Pretty cool in my book.

The YFZ 450 stock tires suck in the sand. I give the Raptor and Suki 400 stock tires a B in the sand. The YFZ 450 a C-.

SandStars cure that issue.

Over all, my experiences over the years are that Honda generally honors it's warranties,, Yamaha does not.

My son jumped his YFZ 450 all weekend at Dumont and it's a flying machine.