Thought I might make a post about my recent purchase and the experience that goes along with it. May help someone else that is on the fence.

I've had a motorcycle sitting around for a little over a year. I just hardly used it, hated seeing it sit. Decided to get a trade estimate from the local dealer (which sells BRP and CFMoto). Their trade estimate was just about enough to trade for a 2020 CForce 400 straight across.

First impressions:
1. The engine brake is real strong. Hardly ever have to use the service brakes.
2. The radiator is massive. Way bigger than what I've seen in comparable machines. Up high too, where it should be.
3. It has a park gear. I have a strong disdain for parking brakes. They stick, get left applied, need adjustment, etc.
4. The brake handle is on the right side, where it should be. It always bugged me that some put it on the left side.
5. The foundation seems quite good. Nice metal bushings on all of the suspension, big beefy replaceable ball joints up front. No outboard brakes on the rear, just a big pinion brake for easy servicing.
6. The switches definitely feel Chinese. That's lacking IMO, but they work, so not much to complain about.
7. The turning radius is not that good.
8. I read a lot of complaints about hard steering. I don't think it is bad at all. With manual steer machines, it seems like the easier they are to steer, the twitchier they are at speed, so it's a compromise.
9. I also read a lot about the harsh ride. I don't find it to be that harsh at all. It's firm, but still far better than the old solid axle machines that I'm used to.
10. Shifting is a little clunky, but I suspect it will get better as the machine gets broken in.

I will continue to update as I get some more miles and use out of it, as I cannot find a whole lot of feedback about the 400s. These are just my thoughts after the first 10 miles of use.

Cool.  Have had a Uk Spec 450 and I'm certainly impressed too.  Though it is my first quad.   

Everything you say is true.  The retention for me is exaggerated.  In addition, I have temperature problems, I have told the dealer to check it, the engine temperature easily reaches 5 bars on the instrument panel, circulating at warm temperatures between 30 and 32°C.  My father driving on a very hot day, about 36°C or more began to sound a beep and the temperature was at maximum.  It could be a thermostat problem or circulating at high ambient temperatures, I don't know. 


Regards

Everything you say is true.  The retention for me is exaggerated.  In addition, I have temperature problems, I have told the dealer to check it, the engine temperature easily reaches 5 bars on the instrument panel, circulating at warm temperatures between 30 and 32°C.  My father driving on a very hot day, about 36°C or more began to sound a beep and the temperature was at maximum.  It could be a thermostat problem or circulating at high ambient temperatures, I don't know. 


Regards

Does the fan run? I've never seen more than 3 bars. The fan seldom runs for more than a few minutes at a time. It gets hot here too.

I've got 130 miles on it now and only one issue. Was riding low speed for a long time on a hot day, had a bad low speed stumble and a hard start. Not sure if it fixed itself or what, I have not had it act up again. The dealer mentioned that the factory puts some sort of fogging oil in them before shipping, sometimes that can cause ignition issues.

Everything you say is true.  The retention for me is exaggerated.  In addition, I have temperature problems, I have told the dealer to check it, the engine temperature easily reaches 5 bars on the instrument panel, circulating at warm temperatures between 30 and 32°C.  My father driving on a very hot day, about 36°C or more began to sound a beep and the temperature was at maximum.  It could be a thermostat problem or circulating at high ambient temperatures, I don't know. 


Regards

Does the fan run? I've never seen more than 3 bars. The fan seldom runs for more than a few minutes at a time. It gets hot here too.

I've got 130 miles on it now and only one issue. Was riding low speed for a long time on a hot day, had a bad low speed stumble and a hard start. Not sure if it fixed itself or what, I have not had it act up again. The dealer mentioned that the factory puts some sort of fogging oil in them before shipping, sometimes that can cause ignition issues.

The problem was in the CVT filter, with only 200 kilometers the CVT filter/mesh, was very clogged, it could not cool, no air was passing through.  For this reason, when running there was excess temperature.  Now clean works perfectly, no more than 2 temperature bars in frame. 

Regards

Everything you say is true.  The retention for me is exaggerated.  In addition, I have temperature problems, I have told the dealer to check it, the engine temperature easily reaches 5 bars on the instrument panel, circulating at warm temperatures between 30 and 32°C.  My father driving on a very hot day, about 36°C or more began to sound a beep and the temperature was at maximum.  It could be a thermostat problem or circulating at high ambient temperatures, I don't know. 


Regards

Does the fan run? I've never seen more than 3 bars. The fan seldom runs for more than a few minutes at a time. It gets hot here too.

I've got 130 miles on it now and only one issue. Was riding low speed for a long time on a hot day, had a bad low speed stumble and a hard start. Not sure if it fixed itself or what, I have not had it act up again. The dealer mentioned that the factory puts some sort of fogging oil in them before shipping, sometimes that can cause ignition issues.

The problem was in the CVT filter, with only 200 kilometers the CVT filter/mesh, was very clogged, it could not cool, no air was passing through.  For this reason, when running there was excess temperature.  Now clean works perfectly, no more than 2 temperature bars in frame. 

Regards

I noticed that on mine shortly after buying too, while I was checking the coolant level.

It doesn't really make sense to me that it would cause overheating, but I suppose it is a possibility.

One year update.

I've got 350 miles on it now. Just got back from a weekend trip to a riding area in Arkansas, was a good time.

I have had occasional issues with it getting an occasional bog/stutter when it's been ridden for a couple of hours. It is only at part throttle, and also is hard to start at times with a poor idle for a bit. The machine is out of warranty now, and it hasn't been a big issue, so I'm not that worried about it.

The factory skid plates are a joke and mine are all torn to pieces. The ground clearance on a stock 400 is not that great. I've got some 26" rubber on the way to help with that. Not sure how I'm going to fix up the skid plates yet.

The steering on my machine seems to be getting harder and has a creak to it now. I think the lower bushing may be dry but I'm not sure. Will post back what I find. Longer rides are exhausting.