BuggyMasters Review: 2007 Honda TRX400EX

[BuggyMaster]

Ahhh...the ol' faithful Hondas. Well you guys that are Honda fans may not like some of what I have to say about these particular machines. As much as I am a fan of Honda's mighty Pilot FL400, the more time I spend with Honda EX 400's, the more I hate them. These are one of the most unreliable four wheelers ever built. I just can't figure out what it is. And when I say unreliable, I mean heavy unreliable. I have never seen ANY four wheeler design that took out top ends and rod bearings (more top ends than anything) than these Honda engines.

Granted, the one that we owned that you see in the picture above we bought brand spanking new so it was perfectly fine but I look at used ones to buy for temporary toys all the time and I am reminded time and time again just how poorly built these engines are with each one I see. Engine knocking, smoking (what I call fogger systems), just unreal that these things are this big a POS after just a few years of use. Suspension wise and such seems fine but the weak top ends are relentless.

Now, if you have one running well, they have plenty of power to have some fun with. Very similar to most of the other manufacturers 400cc engines. They handle rather fine and are pretty comfortable to ride and generally are a pretty good looking four wheeler. One thing you should know is that they didn't start putting reverse on these until 2005.

What I find most amazing about these four wheelers is the following they have. People hear Honda and they think reliability. With my experience, I think just the opposite and feel that many may just be blind to the reliability due to Hondas generally well considered reputation. Also, these have some of the poorest resale value of any four wheeler. I have more bad things to say about them than I do good things so that's a bummer from such a strong manufacturer.

Pros: Decent overall machine. Many available which makes them easy to get your hands on for a fair price.

Cons: Know how to do a top end? Buy one of these used and you will have a good chance that you'll find out how to do one very soon. Very unreliable engine. Poor resale.

BuggyMasters Overall Rating: 5 out of 10