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View Full Version : Scramblin' Man ..............



Wickedfinger
12-29-2003, 12:16 AM
After a week of flourescent Christmas cheering, I finally got to take my 2000 Scrambler 400L out and put her through her paces today. Lets just say all 50+Hp, the FMF Gnarly pipe, the 38mm TMX flatslide carb, the Boyesen Radvalve, the Uni-Filter, and the HSP Hypershift clutch kit - were all worth the original owners money (heh,heh,heh - I didnt have to buy'em myself ... just the quad with'em already mounted). Its been a while since I last rode a moded Polaris (2000, when I sold my last 400L Sport) and boy did it catch me by suprise. After I warmed her up and tooled around for a while, I decided to see what see was made of and pinned the throttle from a standing stop. The next thing I remember is me landing flat on my back, staring straight up at the sky with the machine pointing the same direction (up) while resting on the grab rail momentarily before bouncing back onto 4 wheels again. After I dusted myself off, I looked around to see if anyone had witnessed my moment of stupidity. Satisfied that no one had, I resigned myself to the fact that if I were to try and full on floor it again, I would have to make sure I was practically leaning on the front bumper to keep the front end down. Whoever said you can't wheelie Polarises needs to rethink that brilliant statement. It seems that around here Polarises have started to come around an gain a good reputation as fast quads that are finally starting to gain peoples respect. This is something that wasnt that case years ago when I would ride my '96 around. Guys would make stupid remarks like "get a real quad" and "Atomatics are for wusses" "nice grandpa quad". When I would challenge them to a drag to show them what a real quad can do, they would always jump at the chance, and they would for the most part, go down in flames. I used to love showing up guys on Banshees especially, god I loved spanking them. We would get done racing and 9 times out of 10 them would just keep on going, embarrased by my automatic grandpa rocketship.

There were a few other quads riding today - mostly a sea of Blasters with a few Warriors, an '86 LT250R, a couple of 4x4 quads, a Polaris 250 Blazer and two 400EX's. As much as I tried by play racing with them and pushing, nobody seemed interested in Dragging. In fact when I started talking to one of the guys on the 400EX's and half jokingly asked him if he wanted to really test out his new White Bro's exhaust system by dragging me for kicks, his exact words were - You gotta be f'ing kidding me - I'm not racing you on that beast. He instead challenged me to a MX race through the woods circuit, and after weighing the fact that I would smoke him in the straight aways but he would make me look like a fool through the turns if he ever caught me, I decided my pride had been hurt enough for one day and I politely declined. We decided instead to go for a good leisurely trail ride, with me in the lead - and on every relatively straight section, I would floor it just to let him know who was speed king for the day (some call it ego feeding, I call it fun). I managed to come up on the rear of the guy on the '86 LT250R, and noted he had an aftermarket pipe on it. After a while of riding him good, he decided to bite and nailed it in a clearing. I pegged my throttle and the mighty 400L lurched as I remembered this time to hug the tank. I was able to clear him in about 8 seconds and kept it going full blast until the trail started back into the woods again where my "thrills vs stupidity" guts ran out and I backed her off. He was at least 20 lengths behind by that point anyway and fading fast. After a little while, I came upon one of my usual rest stops and pulled the Scrambler over to wait for the guy on the 400EX I was supposed to be "riding" with (ha ha). It wasn't long before the guy on the LT-R came by and just shook his head while he gave me the thumbs up as he rode past. My new friend on the 400EX came up right behind him and told me he saw the whole thing. He was cracking up and said when I launched the 400L, it looked like a funny car jumping off the line and I blew by the Quadracer like a fat kid looking for cake. I got a chuckle at this as well and all I could do was smile for the rest of the day as I cruised through the trails. Overall, yes it was a good day of riding.

REDMAN225
12-29-2003, 09:03 AM
cool....i'm thinking of getting the 04 scrambler 500. do you have any experience with them? :-D

Wickedfinger
12-29-2003, 02:39 PM
The 500HO is basically the same bike as the 400L model except for the big thumper and that its a little bit heavier because of it. Even though Polaris claims the 500HO motor has the same power as the 400L motor at 37hp, the 400L motor revs quicker and hits its peak HP level sooner. The 400L motor actually reaches peak HP at 5700 RPM and the 500HO at 6600 RPM before sign off. This makes the 400L a quicker and faster quad even though the 500HO actually revs higher and longer. The throttle limiter kicks in at 8000 rpm on the 500HO where as there really isnt one on the 400L (but the transmission keeps it in check). Believe it or not even with what I just said and that though its a two stroke vs a 4 stroke, the powerband characteristics of the two motors are actually fairly close - this is because of the automatics clutching principals and has nothing to do with the motors - but - the 400L is the faster ride. Now all of this is stock vs stock and when it comes to modifiying the two motors, theres no contest - 400L has it in the bag. It costs far more money to get the 500HO motor to even come close to the 400L, even with just an aftermarket pipe, the 38mm TMX flatslide carb and reedcage installed on the 400. The 400L motor with those mods pumps out 52hp where as the 500HO needs a pipe and silencer, porting, 11:1 compression piston, a long duration cam, and a 42mm TMX flatsider just to reach 48HP.

Well, thats just my take on it - I would recomend the 400L. The truth of the matter is - do you have to buy a new one or would you settle for used. If you want the 400L model 4X4 Scrambler, 2000 was the last year they made it, so you would have to buy used.

REDMAN225
12-29-2003, 05:24 PM
thanks!...great info. i do not like buying used so it looks like its the 500. :-D

smokinp
12-29-2003, 06:04 PM
cool...sounds like you had a fun day

TravEX
01-18-2004, 12:45 AM
i know this is an old post, but i had to put in my 2 cents.

the 500 has ALOT more throttle response.

i had a 2000 Sram 400 2x4 before my EX, they are great quads, just too heavy and tippy, the Scrambler 400 is a great wheelie quad, but the 500 is VERY hard to wheelie (remember the 400EX is still the wheelie king).

Both Scramblers are a BLAST on trails and joy riding, and reverse is a NICE feature to, hehe.


Wickedfinger, if we could ride together, i drag race ya!