1996 Honda Xr400r
1996 HONDA XR400R
CYCLE WORLD TEST
RIDING THE RUMOR MILL
PHONE RINGS. VOICE ON THE OTHER END SAYS, "GOOD day, this is Jim Bates from American Honda, could you lower the cone of silence so that no one else can hear what I am about to tell you?"
A secret meeting is set up at Honda's California R&D facility. Members of the press are escorted through empty hallways where all the doors have high-tech card-key latches. We enter a tunnel and are ushered past heavy steel doors into a large meeting room. Confidentiality forms signed, a 1996 XR400R is rolled out for inspection followed by a technical briefing. After the specs, an envelope containing airline tickets to a hush-hush destination are distributed. The first ride on Big Red's new Thumper is set.
Honda could have skipped the James Bond antics. After years of percolating XR400 rumors, the bike’s June unveiling was hardly a state secret.
Engineers played it conservative in building the newest XR. For $5099, you are getting a seemingly plain-wrap dirtbike-sorry if rumors of an ultra-lightweight or liquid-cooled XR400 had you salivating. What the 400 did get, besides a reasonable price tag, was a refinement of existing XR technology. Keep it simple, keep it functional were the design team’s watchwords.
Foremost goal for the chassis was increasing rigidity over previous XRs. Early in 1995, the Japanese release of the XR250 (it’ll be here for ’96, too) gave clues about the 400’s chassis, which houses a dry-sump engine and carries the oil in the front downtube. Its combination of rectangular and round tubing incorporates the swingarm pivot into the rear motor mount. Because of increased rigidity, the steeringhead angle was steepened in comparison to past XR models for quicker handling with less fear of dreaded headshake. The rear subframe is now removable for simplified shock access, a la the CR motocrossers.
Suspension components were uprated, too. A piggyback Showa shock with spring-preload adjustment and 16-way compression and rebound clickers works through Honda’s familiar Pro-Link setup to give 11.8 inches of travel. A lot of thought went into choosing the appropriate fork to match the package. Engineers came up with a “hybrid” design, which incorporates the right amount of flex for the cushy feel of conventional forks (who'da thunk it, a certain amount of fork flex turns out to be a good thing), while retaining the advantages of less overhang and steering precision common to upside-down units. Its cast lower caps have double-pinch clamps on both fork legs to buy back some of the steering precision typically lost on conventional forks. Light, thin-walled slider tubes are bonded to the caps, the left side incorporating the brake mount. The fork’s 11 inches of travel are adjustable via 18 clicks of compression and 12 clicks of rebound damping.
Seating position is an inch lower than the 600’s-more importantly the seat’s width was thinned for increased rider comfort and bike control. Physically, the XR400 fits right where expected between the XR250 and XR600; it is not an Open-class-size bike with a sleeved-down motor like the typical European or American 350/400cc Thumper.
Keeping with XR trends is the all-new 397cc motor. Aircooled, with four valves, five speeds, relatively mild 9.3:1 compression ratio and a counterbalancer, its specifications seem run-of-the-mill. The reasons for all of this are simple: Honda didn’t want to mess with the success that has been the XR series. Part of that success has been the trade-off of outright horsepower for increased durability, a hard compromise to argue against, especially if you’re out exploring the wilds of Baja.
Or in the thick woods of Michigan, which is where Honda flew the assembled press to ride the XR400.
First, we had to start the beast. Generally, as displacement goes up, starting labor does, too. We were treated to an XR400 being started by hand. It is that easy. Even cold, all that is required is turning on the choke and kicking. No fivestep procedure, just kick. A cam-mounted automatic decompression device holds an exhaust valve open until the engine is spinning at faster than 600 rpm. During testing, the barmounted compression release was never needed.
The bike, even with its new muffler, sounds distinctly XR. We tested ours with the pin-hole exhaust snout-easily removed via two Torx bolts-removed for a bit more performance. It snaps off the bottom, building rpm so quickly you could be fooled into thinking you’re on a 600. Throttle response is instantaneous, though there is a slight hesitation at times bouncing through whoops, a float-level or venting problem, we suspect. Mostly it barks off idle almost like a 250cc two-stroke enduro bike, only it gets right to grabbing traction where a two-stroke might miss that point and end up spinning. Next comes a healthy midrange, and there’s even a decent top-end pull. The motor does not over-rev; it just stops making power, meaning you should have shifted by then anyway.
Speaking of shifting, the XR is about as good at trading cogs as any Thumper to date, with positive action and short throws. Clutch pull is light, and the plates seem up to the task. With the XR’s strong off-idle snap, testers found themselves riding the bike a gear high-stuffed into a loamy berm 600-style, the 400 sometimes bogged. But all it took was a snap of the clutch to get the bike roosting again.
At 264 pounds dry, the XR is by no means a bantamweight, but it masks its poundage well, especially in the twisty sideto-side cuts of woods riding, where Honda engineers were looking to score. The 400 is not intended to replace the XR600 in the desert, even though back home we thought it performed admirably on our usual desert test loops. There’s no question which XR is better through the trees: In tight, slow going, the 400 requires less strength and concentration to keep on track. The only time the XR400 feels at odds is in loose, wet rocks; then you feel the weight. Overall, though, the new XR is agile and confidence-inspiring.
As claimed, the suspension is set up with the aggressive rider in mind. The spring rates are firm, enough, in fact, to satisfy an average-weight Expert rider most of the time. Don’t be disappointed if that doesn’t describe you: The suspension is still plush enough for Novice riders. Even at plonking speeds, the new 400 absorbs small bumps, just without going so far into its stroke, and bottoming is a rare occurrence.
A big concern with the past XRs was the footpegs catching on stumps or rocks. Good and bad news here. The 400 is better, but it is still a bit low when compared to a current-model two-stroke or even a KTM or Husky Thumper. Stopping the XR was never a problem, though, thanks to CR-style brakes front and rear.
Maintenance is simple, too. An oil-and-filter change takes all of 10 minutes, and the quick-release air filter can be replaced in seconds. The two-piece clutch cover makes access a snap, though the oil lines coming out of the right sidecase look a little vulnerable to rock damage.
It was no secret the XR400 was going to be produced, just a question of when. No, it’s not the fastest or the flashiest Thumper in the forest. Instead, it’s a bike built for everyone from the weekend warrior to the serious four-stroke racer. Turns out Honda’s worst-kept secret is a very good dirtbike. □
HONDA XR400R
$5099
