Tell me about the WR 400

[ktmguy70]

IM Looking at one of these, a 00 model. How dies it perform in stock form?

Reliability issues? Stupid question, but whats the valve adjustment like, is it a shim design? I know little about the bike, but have a chabce to pick one up to have as an extra bike for friends and family at the house, very good price, any info would be good.

Much appreciated!

[Team_Oatmeal_Pie]

I have the a 2000 WR400 and 2004 450. the 400 I bought new and its been a great bike, fast, reliable, strong runner. Valve life may be longer then the newer 450's. I have ridden this thing hard, todate I have only put a new set off rings in it and a 3rd gear, which went out, but that I attribute to 4 years of hard racing with lots of no clutch shifts. I honestly like it better then my 450, seems like the handling is better in my opinion-. I often think about picking up a clean 2000, 2001 2002 400 or 426.

If you can get a good one I wouldnt hesitate.

[SJMC_DON]

Valves in the 400's were Stainless Steel not Titanium and IMHO lasted longer in terms of clearance specs. Yes they are a shim and bucket design.

In stock form they are very performance oriented, these were the years of the nasty, un refined, hard hitting 4 strokes:thumbsup:

I had my 99 for 4 years and never had to adjust valves, never had the motor opened up for anything except the clutch.

The can be tough to start when hot, I would recommend a remote hot start kit to make life easier:ride:

[ktmguy70]

Thanks for the response. How are the Valve adjustments? I guess thats one of my key questions. Valve adjustments, and Valve life.. Seems the valve life is a bit better on the 400 you say, That would be good for me!

Seemed like a comfy trail bike to me, that could be pushed into race status kinda easily, which translates into a good spare bike to have around. again, thanks for the help!

[ktmguy70]

I myself prefer a harder hit, I grew up in the 70's where the powerband of a bike was defined by all or nothing..L That said, I also like the ability for someone to "put put" on the bike if the need arises, Maybe even my wife.

Seems the valvetrain questions have all been answered. From the first couple of posts it seems like a good solid bike if bought in reasonable shape, is that the general consensus? Price is 1,900. 300 miles on bike

[SJMC_DON]

Thanks for the response. How are the Valve adjustments? I guess thats one of my key questions. Valve adjustments, and Valve life.. Seems the valve life is a bit better on the 400 you say, That would be good for me!

Seemed like a comfy trail bike to me, that could be pushed into race status kinda easily, which translates into a good spare bike to have around. again, thanks for the help!

Yamaha valve adjustments are not that hard, they are definitely not as quick as KTM's but if you have any mechanical inclination at all, a manual, tools and a valve shim kit you can do it in a couple hours.

I kept mine around for years even when I had newer bikes just because it flat out ripped and was always a reliable back up:thumbsup:

[SJMC_DON]

Price is 1,900. 300 miles on bike

? 300 miles? If that is infact true, I would snatch it up:prof:

[Farmer72]

i had a '99 WR400. very reliable, never worked on the motor, clutch, anything. i recommend getting a YZ tank/seat combo. also, the diaphragm on the carb is not as protected as later models and may get dirty. do not clean the rubber with carb cleaner, i've heard it will destroy them. i fabbed a cover for that area out of thin metal. but then i bought an '03 CRF450. wow, suddenly the WR's faults (wrong rut) became clear as day. but the WR started very very easily. if i stalled over a log, i could locate TDC and fire it back up before i came to a stop.

[creeky]

I currently have an '00 WR400. I bought it from a good friend 4 years ago when he got done racing it in local enduros. He had a problem early on with the cam chain adjuster not maintaining proper cam chain tension. After two replacements, no more problems. He had the top end rebuilt due to lots of hours on the bike, then bought a new KTM 525EXC and sold the WR to me. The only change I made to the bike was fitting an Edelbrock carb because I couldn't deal with the jetting hassles that the stock Keihin presented. I have used the bike for recreational trail riding in all types of terrain over the past 4 years and have done nothing to it but routine maintainance and normal replacement of tires and sprockets and chain. It runs great, handles great and gives up very little to newer bikes of equivalent displacement.

[Rich_in_Orlando]

Great bikes, they also have the next gen carb compared to the first 2 model years so maybe carb slider cracking might not be an issue.

[matt4x4]

Awesome bike, still haven't seen any issues with it.

It's got great bottom end, I don't think "put put" is in it's vocabulary.

Depending on your wife's abilities, she might do alright on it if she's easy on the throttle and gives it an extra gear, however, my wife (rides a Honda 150F) is scared to death of mine and won't go near it.

A buddy who's got good riding experience from way back when he was young, got on mine for about 2 minutes and quickly got off again - the grin said it all, however, he did tell me that he didn't feel like a visit to the hospital that day.

[ktmguy70]

Thanks again for the Info. How is the suspension setup in stock form. IM sorry for the questions, Heres the deal. My coworkers Brother owns this bike, He bought it new, and went on a trip out west with it in 01. Its been sitting ever since. It has been started on a monthly basis since then, and even had yearly fluid changes while it has sat. I have ridden it, But I have noe "terrain" to ride it on at his house, just a street with a culdesac. So, the power feels good for a 400, but I really cant tell anything else about the bike by simply riding it down the street. Suspension feels good, but I,ve not pressed the bike by any means. I outweigh him by about 30 pounds, so id have the suspension set for my weight at the least. I think I'll just go ahead and buy it. For the price, even If I did have to put some stiffer springs up front, and revalve, add a pipe, etc.. It's still going to be a fair deal I think.

[matt4x4]

I believe this forum is meant for questions to be asked - so don't worry.

They're designed for single track riding, not 120 foot table tops, although YZF inspired by design, it's been softened up quite a bit, meaning you can probably do about 40 feet without bottoming them out (at factory setting with factory weight rider - 180lbs), but anything beyond, you'll probably want to respring/revalve them.

I like the way mine rides, I'm about 180 and set it back to factory after I bought it, will be playing with it next year when I start putting the hours on it and pushing myself and machine some more, but I like what it has to offer as it sits.

The power feels good because it IS good, you have to remember, it's a mildly detuned YZF, not like a totally detuned DRZ that's meant for ultra long maintenance intervals.

That said - you still get long maintenance intervals, just not ultra long. It's a really nice trade off between reliability and power.

What's he asking? From what I hear they're going for average 2500 - 3000 is it plated?

[ktmguy70]

Nah, its not plated, and I probably wouldnt plate it either, unless maybe I could add a cush hub. He said he would sell it to me for 1900,it has about 300 miles total on it, and looks much like it did on the showroom floor in 2000 I expect, looks new. It's had the free mods done to it and thats it.

[43Duc748]

How have you not bought it yet. Sounds like a great deal!

[ktmguy70]

Well honestly, I hadnt bought it because I simply wasnt in the know about the bike. I've ridden for nearly 35 years now, and have been into KTM for the last several years. I just didnt follow the WR line much, and I dont ride with anyone who has one. I mentioned specifically Valve train because I wanted to know if it was Honda-esque and had a weak valvetrain that would need attention right away, etc.. I didnt want to spend money on something I was going to have to "fix" . But from this discussion, it seems like a VERY good deal!

[matt4x4]

BUY IT!!!

For that price, if you don't like it (which is HIGHLY unlikely) you can unload it without being out of pocket - might even make a couple of bucks.

That bike has BIG grin factor, and you'll probably get thousands of miles out of it without needing more than a slight valve adjustment.

The 2000's were the last year of steel valves which hold up even better than their Titanium replacements, can you say "bullet proof"?

Hell - for that money, I'd drive to Montana and get it myself!

Oh, and the only reason I asked about the plated vs non plated, I've seen that it affects the price by 300 or more for a plated one.

Once you own it for a bit you're going to want to change your screen name to wrguy70

[redswr]

i have a 99 WR400 that has been ran probably harder than alot of them you'll find and has never been opened up. its seen a couple thousand miles in the dunes and i've raced it a few times. i thought for sure i'd have to do something to it after getting my hotstart stuck on at the beginning of a 45 min race but she's still going strong! if the bike your looking at only has 300 miles... you'll be happy with it for a very long time!

ps... i love having a second bike for friends/family just make sure you can get them to maintain it for you. last guy that rode mine put a new back tire on it ?

[Team_Oatmeal_Pie]

$1900 sounds like a very good price if indeed it has that few mile on it.

I dont think you will be dissapointed, reliability is great and the mid-range hit has a big grin factor.

[ktmguy70]

O.k, I picked it up last Night and put about an hour on it before it got dark.

Coming of a 300 xc to this thing is like riding a tank through the woods.

with just the hour of riding I did, the only negative I could feel was the weight, and the suspension. I know I'll need to dial the suspension, put some stiffer springs up front.

However, The motor is definitly fun! It pulls hard in every gear, and has a good midrange rush. Doesnt have quite the low ened I was expecting, but maybe some carb jetting will cure that, seems a tad lean off the bottom right now. Other than the suspension being on the soft side, It feels VERY good for a 7 year old bike, keeps the wheels on the ground over the roots and rocks pretty good, and handled a small 15 foot jump nicely. I really think that simply revalving the shock and the heavier springs up front and I'll leave it alone. Im starting to second guess as to whether this will be a spare bike for friends and Family or not, I might keep it for myself. The 300 Excels at race speeds through the woods, however I think this 400 is going to be great at anything below race speeds and might end up being my primary trail bike.

Thanks for the info guys, you did me right.