ATC400x?

[Lantz]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone has thought about taking an XR400 and a 400ex and making a 3 wheeler. From what I figure you could put the 400ex motor in the XR400 frame, and take the sub-frame and swing-arm from the 400ex. You could use the gas tank off the XR and the seat and rear fender off the 400ex. Then the only thing to figure out would be the front forks?

[DohcBikes]

Or you could buy a 350x

[Lantz]

Yea but I want to build a trike that is easy to get parts for. Also I would be gaining electric start and reverse and it would be about 20 years newer. The reason I'm looking at the 400 platform is the steel frame (easy to modify) and its a dependable air cooled engine.

[DohcBikes]

OK, good answers!

Well, you would be luckiest to find a set of trike tripples that would swap over. Find an xr400, take the frontend off and do some measuring, then maybe post your results, and then people could compare those with measurements off their projects.

Just remember that the combination of the xr400 neck with a trike frontend may not give you the desired rake and trail for the best performance on a trike, so you would need to adjust accordingly.

Ask the 350xperts here but I do think there are options for a 350x......does the 400ex motor bolt right in?

[Lantz]

Thanks for your reply, I have been wondering some of the same things. I think setting up the front end would be the most challenging part of this project. I have an XR400, Ill have to take some measurements and compare it to my SX. Since the rear end would be sitting lower it would probably kick out the front end, I would imagine it would need shorter forks also? I was thinking I could widen the XR triples and find some shorter forks?

[Louis Mielke]

The 400ex engine will not bolt in without heavy modification and the 350x frame is already pretty weak from the git go. They typically need gusseted to prevent breaking with even the stock engine.

[DohcBikes]

Since the rear end would be sitting lower it would probably kick out the front end, I would imagine it would need shorter forks also? I was thinking I could widen the XR triples and find some shorter forks?My advice is please dont attempt to widen tripples. When a frontend breaks at the tripples, very bad things can happen to you.

What you would do if you went that route is find a set of trike tripples that fit the neck of your bike. Honestly considering the interchangeability of hondas off road products you might find one. Then you use an entire frontend from a trike....forks, wheel, brake,fender, etc.

Check out fabiodrivens xr600 street trike. it has a Tecate front end on it.

[atc300r]

Read this build thread.http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/149357-350X-with-2006-reverse-400ex-motor?highlight=400ex+motor+in+350x+frame

[Lantz]

Thanks for all the replies, this gives me something to think about. As long as my SX holds up I'm going to hold off starting this project until I get a couple of others done.