I have set this bike up to fit me with taller bars, taller seat, larger pegs, heavier fork springs, and adding a fork brace made a huge difference. By opening up the intake on the airbox, changing the spark arrestor to the free flowing HRC unit from the early models, and changing out the main, and pilot jet as well as the needle made for crisper throttle response and increased boost overall. Disc protection and a skid plate are a good investment if you ride in rocks. For a non-race bike, I have yet to find anything that is as reliable and easy to ride.

Have ridden both the Cullowee, North Carolina and Piedmont, Tennessee mountain trails. My Honda XR400R bike is comfortable and powerful. Just put on a Pro Core IV pipe, and a Scotts steering damper. What a difference!

Put the steering dampener on and you won't believe the difference on rough trails with roots and pot holes.

Follow up on Honda XR400R offroad bike ownership: Sold the xr after 2 1/2 years, i rode this bike most weekends trail riding it never let me down, i've been in torrential rain, snow & hot weather, its been riden through rivers at least 2foot deep. Anything gone wrong, yes the speedo drive stopped working (the gears are made out of nylon)big deal! The only mod it needs is an electric start.