honda400ex2003

i agree with ross, best is the oem glass flip or any other glass flip up that would be electric. at least it wont scratch at all and flipping up is nice for air flow when its hot. it is infinitely adjustable with the electric, which would make a big difference for me. i have a hard coat poly one that is a nice windshield but i added vents and such to help keep air moving through instead of swirling. it helps but it still sucks dust in behind us. steve

i like the desert tan color, wish i could get one! same thing for the most part other than the new doors for the 22.5s though. now that the weather is getting colder, i wish i had got the limited as well for my 22. oh well... didnt want any issues with the weight and such on the max in WI, until they changed the rules to 3k# from 2k#, they were over weight and technically illegal. im happy with my xt hd10, certainly enjoy it when im out. the seats get a little uncomfortable on longer trips and its about a 60-70 mile per day ride instead of 100-150 mile a day ride like the x3. steve

along with steels note- check your cv joints in your axles, might have bad ones that end up creating a lot of heat. if they are the only things melting, its more suspect that the axles are messed up rather than extra heat from the engine bay, esp with a tune and such. theres a lot of other stuff that would be melting that is plastic and closer to the engine than the cv boots. steve

welcome to the group and nice ride! steve

Yes, it makes a huge difference. each dB is a whole magnification of the previous. i had a 95dB exhaust on my 400ex for many years, i know about having a loud machine. that wasnt even that loud really compared to some others. enjoy, steve

certainly a creative idea for a problem you had. nice job, as long as it works for you, thats what matters. those dB reductions are pretty good, regardless of the hp loss. thats probably 2 hp worth of reduction (unless it flows the same overall like andy stated) id bet but certainly worth the trade off for someone who wants it quiet instead. just the screen alone will reduce it enough to lose some hp, even with nothing else changing. ive seen it on dynos when we pull the spark arrestor out of the exhausts, it makes a difference. steve

im running h11's in both high and low beams, beam tech that are really bright. for the price, there are a lot of us running them across facebook groups and such. i actually converted my car that didnt have leds as well at the same time. mainly because i bought a kit that had h11 and some other bulb that happened to fit my corolla. ordered the h11 setups for my defender and never looked back into the darkness. haha https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XHDYTGL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 will need 2 sets of those. steve

terrible designwork lol steve

i did my x3 bearings when i first got it and at 2000 miles. now have 5000 miles on it and havent done it since. i am not sure that i will any more. i am not planning to do my defender, so we will see what happens with that. its a couple hours worth of messing around to do them. not hard work but work none the less. steve

keep track of your fuel mileage, always start with a full tank and go x amount of miles. i would be comfortable with 120 miles in mine before worrying at all. Mine is hardly past half a tank by then and from what ive found, the gauge is actually pretty close on mine when riding on the flatter stuff. realistically I probably get close to 200 miles on a tank most days if im driving decent and in eco mode, even in my max hd10. thats 20 mpg. steve

youll only make those expensive and project ensuing mistakes a few times then learn to read the land a bit better before entering into situations. it takes time and experience. enjoy your new ride, it will be nice once you get it set up how you want it. steve

glad it came out good for you, it is pretty easy with the posts right behind the dash, other than that theres not much room for wires back there. steve

first off, you have to be smart about where you put the machine. these things are big and heavy, esp compared to a little honda machine. the defender cant help that you put it in a creek and sunk it or towed it out and bent stuff. LOL. OEM snorkels seem to be the go to- they work the best, install the easiest and look good still even though they are expensive. check around the pages and custom builds here, there might be some good pics of other styles that you like that are custom. tires are tough, what are the rest of the group using? i personally like x comps from STI/gladiator, they are 10 ply but a little heavier. im running 28s on my xt and they look small still, they only come in a 28 or 30" so that makes it tougher. i didnt want to lose too much power or need a clutch kit so i stayed with the 28s, i havent bottomed on anything yet but dont ride super technical stuff with it either. if you find a 29" that you like, that would be fine too. something at least 8 ply is 100% needed on these big machines. tie rods- S3 powersports or jake moorhead would probably get my vote. both are known and well abused products with great luck. steve

thats a tough one... the easiest thing to do is make sure it is always full but that wont always happen. id bet that after about 1/2 tank or so the gas can get far enough away from the pickup to starve it for fuel. as andy said, there may be something tangled but i doubt it. the pick up does not move around, it is pressed pretty firmly into the base of the tank under the location and has filter on the bottom of it. that filter doesnt move at all. about the only thing you could try to do is make a "floater" end that would lock onto the plastic inlet and move around to pick up fuel depending on direction. the tough part is, this is what the oem pump looks like. the filter is against the bottom of the tank, in about the middle. Something like the flexible pick up on the image below would have to go in place of the filer above, you would probably have to shorten the whole pump as well so that it wouldnt crush the hose on the bottom when the retainer screws back down on the tank. steve

Check to make sure its in park and check battery connections. thats the first thing id try. after that fuses, theres a panel by the battery and up front. if none of these, try putting the seat belt in the lock to see if that helps and put your foot on the brake. good luck. steve

it seems to be a common problem with them, even on the newest machines. I dont have one with switches but would think a differnent brand might be better or at least cheaper than the OEM switch. Does it get wet or something? maybe it can be sealed off better or have a silicone cover of some sort to shield it from getting gunk in it. My suggestion is to try to find a different brand of switch from some other mfg. https://www.amazon.com/Compatible-2016-2019-2018-2019-710004979-705800048/dp/B09T67Z9DB/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=can+am+switch&qid=1661784337&sr=8-11 steve

probably best to pull the one out of the other side and take it to a do it best or other hardware store and try to match it up. its going to be metric most likely, machine screws are probably going to be the best match being black if you can find them. get 2 so you have a spare for next time if you need it again. steve

as ross said, the elka shocks will lift it depending how you set them up and which model you get. Jake moorhead has great arms if you end up wanting to get forward arms, they are the preferred arm for most on facebook. https://moorheadoffroadengineering.com/products/can-am-defender-pro-a-arms steve

the springs are better but still not great. they are hd springs that are still pretty stiff imo. at least they wont lose their length and start sagging... im not going to buy shocks for it this year (hopefully never have to). i will see if these springs settle in and soften up a bit more still after they get some miles on them. they only have about 50 miles on them now so there is plenty of time for them to wear in. steve

agreed, im not going to start slicing and dicing on the seat frames thats for sure. ill adjust my trip distances or take the x3 before i cut them up. steve

steve

Wireless gets my vote. Easy to hook up after you get the wires you need. I didn't want to cut my oem connectors so I made some jumpers. Steve

Anyone have any aftermarket seats that they like? the XT seats are decent for about 50 miles then they start to get uncomfortable. id like to find something that at least bolts into the oem frames, unlike the x3 seats that i would have to do some mods to make fit. steve

you probably wont find an actual wiring diagram unless you buy a service manual, thats an option but wont help you quickly. it will take you longer to tuck the wires in than it will to get the panels off to run the wires. it is quite easy. steve

there is a bus bar right behind the switch panel in the front and the wires in the front 4 or 5 just sitting are all "extra" for wiring in accessories if you want to use them. there are some good videos out there on how to do it and how to get the switches off. the panel pops out on the top and slides off the bottom by going down off the plastic. since you have a harness already, you can run it down through the passenger side and into the machine after you get the panel off by the passengers feet. steve