davefrombc

If the 300EX starts in gear someone has bypassed the neutral safety switch. Starting in gear can be a serious safety hazard.

Unless the 400ex is different from other Hondas, it shouldn't start in gear. All the ones I know all have a neutral safety switch to prevent in gear starting.

Ramps down low retracted are just asking for them to get snagged off road and destroyed. Nope , not for me or anyone else going off highways. I'll use my regular ramp or my trailer.

Double check wiring.. In many DC circuits with multiple wires at a connector white is ground. The black/ yellow and white might be swapped.. Only a guess since I don't have access to a wiring diagram for your quad.

Have you checked for a short between the starter solenoid and the starter? That would drop the power to everything else and if there is an automatic circuit breaker in the main feed it would open and take a while to cool down and close again. If there is a circuit breaker the problem also could be it is becoming weak and dropping out at a lower current.

Check to see if there is power getting to the input side of the solenoid and out when you press the starter. If there is both power to the solenoid and to its output then the problem is between the output and the starter. If no power on the output then it is between the battery and input. If you have power on solenoid output, check the wiring from there to starter. Have you checked to see if there is power going to the starter when you press the starter? If there is , it is an internal starter problem; most likely worn out brushes. You can get brush kits if that is the problem. They're not too hard to install and are a lot cheaper than buying a new starter.

4 things could cause that problem. Timing slipped so the intake valve is still partially open when cylinder fires , Intake valve is sticking slightly open, rocker arm is too tight and holsding valve slightly open and finally, a burnt intake valve valve allowing combustion gasses to blow back. Most likely is a timing slip or valve lash on the intake valve is too tight .

Craig's list can be a great source if you can pick up your purchase in person and be paid in cash for sales. be wary of cashiers checks, bank drafts and of course personal checks. Both bank drafts and cashiers checks can be fakes . My sister found out the hard way that a bank draft can be a fake that a bank will cash and then a week later find out from the clearing house it is a fake and charge back your account. Bye bye item , bye bye money and if payment was in foreign currency you end up losing even more because banks charge a fee to convert the currency into your dollars and you don't get that back when they charge back for the fake

Getting older and the progressive diseases that too often go with it sucks.......but it's still better than the only alternative. At 76 I've lost too many of my old friends. Take care and keep on fighting... I've seen some pretty fancy offroad wheelchairs if it comes to that .

That 92153D bolt illustrated looks like it might be a "shoulder bolt" where the unthreaded part is larger than the threads. They are used where they don't want the bolt to clamp two parts together and for the bolt to act as an "Axle" for levers or other rotating parts. Some industrial supply stores may carry what you want but your best bet might be to order them through an ATV dealer.

My `1991 Honda Fourtrax 300FW actually calls for 1 " smaller tires on the front than the rear .... 23" diameter on the front and 24" on the rear because of a slight difference in the gear ratios in the differentials. . That being said most, including me run the same size tire all the way around. The gearing is close enough and since quads are seldom ridden on pavement or hard surfaces that prevent tire slip we don't have a problem with drive train binding. Yes, it is "normal" to have tire sizes front and rear the same on 4x4 trucks and SUV's but it is not necessarily so on Quads , tractors and some other off highway equipment that are 4 x4 or all wheel drive. I don't know the specs on other machines. That is why I suggest checking because although the same size is normal all the way around but if a machine for some reason uses differing ratios it can cause binding and breakage . I would guess newer machines would be the same all around but double check yours to find out. It doesn't hurt and can save grief down the road .

It depends on the quad whether all 4 tires are the same .. Check the owners manual or online .. Some have a slightly different gear ration front and rear and use smaller tires on the front .

I can't be a lot of help either . .I ride an old 1991 Honda Fourtrax 300FW 4x4 quad with winch added .. I usually run tail end to the ones I ride with because some of them are only 2 wheel drive and no winches .. It's no racing machine , but let's face it , you can kill yourself just as easily at 40-45 Mph tops as you can at 70. I'm 76 and still ride like I'm 25 on it. sometimes it takes me longer to recover than it did when I was 25 though.There's not many places around here you can run machines flat out so I've never felt hindered by the lower top end. That's the main question to ask when choosing a ride . What am I really going to be doing with it the most, and how much power and speed do I really need ? I'm also partial to the Japanese machines and A Kymco ( Korean made) machine one of my friends ride has also been a great machine for him.. I'm more a fan of the clutch and gears machines rather than the CV ones with the belt drive .. Those machines often have a problem with belt slippage after a run in deeper water that can get in . They don't slip long once out of the water and the slippage quickly heats the belt and clutches to dry them out , but it's there and can be a real pain in a wet and muddy ride .

I cheered for the half time show . Now there were backfields in motion that really took my attention.

It depends on what you want to carry .. There are "saddle" bags you can get to hang over your gas tank fender bags that can be mounted to the rear rack and hang down behind you legs , or the big soft or semi rigid bags that take up your whole rear rack . There are also rigid rear carriers that extend the seat for a passenger.. There is also the choice of using a tote wired or bungeed to the rear rack. All have their advantages and disadvantages depending on your needs or wants .

I know of some from the days of the early 1980's 3 wheel ATVs still going strong . As Freedomflyer says , maintenance is the key.

The lithium battery in that jump starter also delivers a higher voltage and amps than the lead acid one in the quad . It is that higher voltage under load that spins the quad over faster . The CCA rating does make a difference when it is really cold . No matter what the CCA rating is , it is an adventure starting a vehicle when the thermometer is frozen at 40 below. A battery that matches the OEM rating for the machine should start the quad reasonably fast down to about 0 Fahrenheit but after that one with a higher CCA rating will make a bit of difference .

Trump claimed several times Obama would go to war with Iran to bolster his support for re-election in 2011-2012 .. It never happened as we all know , but now guess what Trump has done in an idiotic attempt to gain popularity for taking Suleimani out. I agree the general richly deserved what he got ; but it was at the wrong time in the wrong place and for the wrong reasons despite what his "intelligence services" claimed about "planned attacks".. I can recall very vividly a war fought under false pretenses that directly led up to this mess. I wonder how long it wil l take and how many are going to have to die before some of the Trump cultists wake up to how badly they've been misled. The last 3 years have seen the one percent and the better off members of the middle have had great gains on their stocks and 401ks. Everyone else has seen their situation worsen. Wake up GOP supporters. Trump has ballooned the deficit with his tariffs and then attempts to subsidize the farmers. His trade wars have only cost American consumers dearly while they have done nothing to boost jobs and well being in America. My condolences in advance for all those Americans and Middle easterners who are going to lose family members in the conflict sure to come ; either through terrorist attacks and useless blanket retaliation against Iran , or outright war in the middle east which will only that only result in more hatred towards the US and more terrorism.

Some very nice rides there ....... oh, and pretty girls

Your last picture took all the guess work out of identifying the choke , brake hold and kill switch. . Glad you found the problem and it was as simple as the choke being on all the time . You'll likely find you need to do a little more tweaking for max performance and ending any sign of stumbling , but you're well on the way now.. Happy Quadding , and have a Very Merry Christmas.

I think that red button above the start button is the choke, and it looks to be on full choke to me . Does that red button slide back and forth ? . It looks like an arrow indicator to the right of it and it is fully to the left.. If that is the case , that is most likely your problem. Start the bike with choke button tro the left ,, reduce choke as needed as it warms up and do all your fine adjusting on a warm motor / choke fully off..... slid to the right . The button you're pointing to might be a brake lock button . You squeeze the brake handle and press that button down to lock if it is .

At least you saw it driven out in the right direction ...Up toward the top of the carb from the bottom. I hope that's where the problem is .... one or more of those tiny drilled holes plugged.

Brings me back to blaming a possible plugging of those tiny holes in the main jet tube. They're about the only thing not cleaned or adjusted .

I'm not familiar with that particular carb, but the diagram does show the tiny holes I mentioned that are in many tubes in different carbs .. one thing not mentioned is the direction that jet tube comes out of the carb body . . Down towards the float bowl or up towards the top? trying to drive it the wrong direction can screw up the works .

Bogging is more often a lean problem than rich.. As Frank said , I'd pull the carb once more and look for any tiny, and I mean tiny holes in the tubes to the jets . They can be missed very easily because they're so small and not a brass jet as the bigger ones are . I don't know if your carb has the holes I'm talking about but many do.. Carbs and fuel mixture settings are often accompanied by a lot of my verbal lubrication here. Sometimes I wish I was multi-lingual so I'd have access to a broader range of "lubricant " phrases. They're so handy when fiddling with the small stuff and much better to use them than start tossing tools LOL