As always good info from Mollydog.

Only afterthought from me is that the oil filter cover bolts are not strong - the long one (rhs) easily shears - need to take side case off to get it out if it does. I changed these bolts every second oil filter change.l since this was a PITA.

Don't ask me how i know, suffice to say i now double check whether i i have set the torque wrench to lb/ft or Nms before starting....


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I've not owned a 400 but I've had a 600 for a long time and most of the comments seem very (almost painfully) familiar.

The seat isn't really designed to be sat on. It's something just to park your backside on in between standing sessions. On its own I recon you get about half an hour before it feels uncomfortable and about two hours max before you feel like you're being split in half. A sheepskin isn't going to increase that by much. I once did a 2000 mile winter Eurotrip with the original seat and I can still feel the pain now.

The electrics are really rudimentary and lack of a proper battery with its ability to power tent lights, charge phones etc does become a real niggle after a while. There are ways round this - I diy'd a small 12v battery + regulator into the std generator but it's never going to be as good / reliable as a factory fit. The std generator was good enough to power the lights or my electrically heated jacket but not both at the same time. The lights themselves were close to useless, even when I managed to upgrade them to a 55w halogen bulb. Again, not impossible to fix but another area of expensive aftermarket substitution that only deals with half the problem (no lights with the engine off).

The 400 might cope with it better but the "reliability" of kickstarting isn't all it might be. The kickstart lever itself isn't the best bit of design Honda ever came up with and wears (and then snaps) around the pivot. I've had three of those levers and two have shown significant wear. I got thoroughly tired of routinely kickstarting the bike - especially as it has a tendency to stall at lights, road junctions etc. It would idle for ages and then stall the second you put it into gear.

Touring oil life is much longer than the minuscule mileages quoted. I've always worked on a 3000 mile interval and would be happy to extend that with a decent bike friendly synthetic. My rule of thumb has been to change it sooner if it's been ridden hard enough to use oil (high revs, hot temps etc). At normal speeds on open roads it doesn't use much at all between changes. A filter every second change and, as has been said, careful with the filter cover bolts.

Having used the 600 as a travel bike for many years I wouldn't go down the 400 route for a long trip these days as there are better options around, but equally there are worse ones. If you can get a decent one cheap enough and are happy to put the effort into overcoming its shortcomings (the subframe for example) then it it could do the job (= damning with faint praise)

So if I was eeking out 3000km between changes with very easygoing riding, would you say that it’s still ok to change the paper filter every other job? So every 6,000km?

Are the stainless ones any good? Easy to clean properly in a field with a head torch at night and no compressed air blower or bowl of mineral turps etc?

I think that must be pretty common across a lot of bikes for those to be made of cheese - with the three filter cap bolts on the Suzuki I could only nip them up a quarter turn past finger tight before it felt like too much.

Thanks for your comments, I reckon experience with the 600R is definitely relevant to the 400R and I welcome discussions about irritating and problematic aspects of the bike, I’m not here looking for pats on the back about what a brilliant choice I’m about to make!

Having done some quick googling, looks like there are 2 or 3 options for nice squishy looking seats for about £100 delivered that will just bolt on, probably worth looking at that.

I’m in the middle of researching the electrical system. As a minimum I’d like to power a HID headlight, indicators, tail/brake light and a 12v auxiliary power supply to charge my phone on the move OR use my small air compressor with the bike running, and if I can find the wattage maybe heated grips but that might be a luxury I’ll have to do without. I have no need for power with the bike off, I tend to cope fine with an LED head torch. It can definitely be done, I don’t mind figuring things out and effectively building the system myself without buying an expensive aftermarket loom. Fully understanding the electrical system on my bike can’t be a bad thing when I’m on the move. In that sense the more rudimentary it is the better, as long as it’s tough.

Regarding the reliability of the kickstarter, do you know of any preventative fixes to toughen it up? I’m not expecting an XR to be unbreakable, in fact my choice is somewhat based on the “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong” principle and I feel that an air cooled kick-start Honda gives me the best chance of understanding a problem and putting it right myself, I’m not the cleverest bloke. Also there is waaaay more choice for 400Rs on eBay and Gumtree, it’s very rare that a 600R or a 650L comes up, and when one does it tends to look like it’s been at the bottom of a pond for 3 years. Would be nice to have a lighter bike if I stop somewhere for a while and get to do some trail riding with people too.

Amen to that.

I guess I use a stainless filter because it was on the bike when I got it.
There are many, many views about the pros and cons - lots in the HUBB from memory.
I just back-rinse it in a bit of petrol when it is off.


If you do opt for paper then it is probably best to use OEM and certainly avoid cheap copies from unknown manufacturers with toilet paper innards.

__________________
Dave

YES! And if using a stainless re-usable, make sure to clean it really well. PLAN your oil/filter changes so you have somewhere proper to work. Gasoline is fine as flush/cleaner medium ... just do it OUTSIDE!

Scott's claim their filter is BETTER than stock paper element. I DOUBT THIS ... but I think it's "good enough" in any case, lots of riders have used them for ages.

Be very careful with seat choice. Seat needs to be WIDER than standard, use quality foam, should be FIRM not soft. But WIDTH is really the key. Think "Horse Saddle".

The electrical conversion will be the toughest thing to get right. HID use only about 35W. You'll need to tie into charging system to keep batt. UP and add fuse protection and find suitable place to mount battery. See Baja Designs for ideas and DIY solutions ... or check out the XR400 forums on Thumper Talk or elsewhere.

Good luck!

Well based on your reply I am going to absolutely take the stainless filter idea seriously. If I can clean it with a little cup of petrol, that does seem realistic.

I've never been precious about seats, quite like the thought of being more comfortable but is it that much worse than a stock DRZ400E seat? Never found that to be a problem on long trips.

Using a a 200w stator, do you think I could get away with my requirements with just a capacitor to smooth out the current rather than a battery? Looked at the LI batteries and even they are about 9-10KG which is an enormous chunk of weight.

The XR seat is probably better ... but no good for me on truly long rides.
You'll need to do further research on batteries and setting up a batt on the XR400. But you're WAY OFF on LI specs:
LFX14A2-BS12 - Shorai Lithium Batteries
Note Weight! Now ... note size! compared to normal battery.

Yes, you could get away with no battery ... but would be nice to run heated grips, super bright lights and such. But dig into it ... see what best course of action is!

Holyyyyyyy frigg, that's so light, would almost be rude not to chuck it in there. No idea what LI battery I was looking at but it must have been a beast! Cheers! For ultra technical electrical headaches I'll probably take it elsewhere, the 'Which Bike?' forum is surely not the place. If someone reading this who has similar plans for an XR wants to combine brains just give me a shout. Thanks so much for everyone's help so far!!

Spot on! They even mention this issue on the thousands of thread over on Thumper Talk ... in particular when using the Scott's Stainless filter. So beware,
those filter cover bolts will SNAP right off with little provocation. Solution?
I Loc Tite fasteners ... or you can insert stronger studs and use nuts to secure cover.