Scary Story for all (my 426 break in)

[Green95Hoe]

Im keepin this quiet among my close friends but I figured id share with you guys. Long story so here ya go. Completed assembly of my new 426 with an 11:1 and a stage 2 yesterday. So I throw 2 quarts in and begin my 30 minute cam break in. Ride it carefully without any real load. I bring it in the garage. Cool Down and tear off the plastics. Check the valve lash per Hotcams sheet. All 4 needed just a c-hair adjustment. Put it all back together and fire it up. Start riding harder but still not past 1/2 throttle and no real load yet. I smell OIL. Ticking gets louder. Shut th ebike off and look around. Dont see anything. Fire it up and head towards the house thinking maybe just maybe I forgot to torque down a tappet or something. I stop at the bottom of the trail and put it in neutral. After about 5 seconds of idling I begin to hear a squeal/screech. Words cant describe how GOD AWFUL that was to hear 40 minutes into my new 426 breakin. I hit the kill switch so fast. Maybe less than 2 seconds of the squeal before cut off. Tow the bike to the house. Check oil. No oil. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Further inspection I find the drain plug laying on its side on my skidplate. None of us could pinpoint when the plug came out but I think it was right after the start of the second ride but could have been as early as 15 minutes into the first ride. I guess ill never know. I pulled all the palstics off again and chcked the head. Everything looked fine with so signs of anything abnormal. Again re-rechecked the valve lash. Put oil in through the tappet covers. Cold cranked for a few and then eventually started it. Ran beautiful. Ticking is still there but its no louder than it was stock and I can only blame that on the Hotcam. No other noises. Compression is still very strong because the starter still comes close to stopping while cranking through the compression stroke. Never thought id miss a de-compressor. Anyway we rode it pretty tight for a good 45 minutes with no problems and no noise. I think the ticking is getting quieter as the cam tensioner tightens back up. I anticipate less noise when I go back to synthetic in the spring. As of now there is about an hour and 20 riding time on it. Still got some to go but the plan is to really give it hell tonite to finish up the break in.


If this isnt a test to the true strength of a Honda engine. I dont know what is.

Here are a couple pics I took just before the break in.
http://pic14.picturetrail.com/VOL564/494166/8163220/129583665.jpg
http://pic14.picturetrail.com/VOL564/494166/8163220/129583664.jpg
http://pic14.picturetrail.com/VOL564/494166/8163220/129583661.jpg

~Brad

[Old Head]

Now thats what call heartstopping, almost made me get that sick to the stomach feeling that i'm sure you got when you saw that drain plug.

[Titanium]

thats a pretty good lookin 400. i think i'm gonna buy a totaled 400ex somewhere and build one up cus i'm afraid to touch my kfx lol.

[underpowered]

Been there, done that, almost. my dad rebuilt his Polaris ( that says it all) 400 scambler. rode it for about 2 hours and it locked up. the radiator hose split and driane dthe antifreeze out of it. We werent so luck, he had to completly rebuild it again.

[exrider008]

man ur lucky, and i was jst wondering how u liked your razors.

[Green95Hoe]

I couldnt be happier with the Razr2's. I almost went with the Irazrs and im so glad I didnt. I do alot of riding in the stone quarry up the stone piles and they just love to pull me up. The side tread is great for trails and mud but not so great for fishtailing. I dont think that will be a problem anymore with the new engine. Well im off to take on night number two of the break in and YES i will check the drain plug before I go. I wonder how much oil im going to find in the snow in the field. Wish me luck

~Brad

[JOEX]

Dang! Good thing you were able to shut it off soon. May have taken some longevity off the motor and a wee bit of performance loss, probably not noticable though. Nice save;)

J/W... why are the rezzies facing forward?

[250ex13]

Originally posted by JOEX
Dang! Good thing you were able to shut it off soon. May have taken some longevity off the motor and a wee bit of performance loss, probably not noticable though. Nice save;)

J/W... why are the rezzies facing forward?
i think its too help keep it cool

[Green95Hoe]

Rezzies forward? Its just personal preference. I seem to always get asked that. Is there something I dont know? I just think it looks cool from the front because of my lower A-arm skids and bumper IMO. I never saw rezzies on a bike until I bought mine so thats just the way I went with them and it seems normal to me.

BTW: Rode it for a good hour and a half. Everything still feels great except for the fact I cant get used to the newfound power. Man, this thing pulls hard all the way through the throttle stroke.

~Brad

[Buffalo400]

:eek2: :eek2:

You didn't see the oil fall down on the floor?

Your so lucky, I can't realise it...

Don't forget to thank God and hit the trails!:macho

[Green95Hoe]

No I didnt cuz 90% of it drained out in the field. I was also riding in 3" of snow so my skids had all kinds of slush buildup. When I was in the garage the snow was just falling off and I didnt realize it was impregnated with oil. The whole garag efloor was wet as well as the outside. When I came home from work the next day I found a nice oil mess in my driveway as well as the track from the leak off teh skidplate as we were pushing it up the driveway and into the garage.

~BRad

[BlackTrx440ex]

OMG!! the first day i got my 440 out and running and in the pitt was riding for about half a day, stopped, looked down my oil was dranning out the side of the motor where the drain bolt is it feel out, so they went back to the truck and got me a new drain bolt and oil :)

[BlackTrx440ex]

the other side

[yamablaster24]

man thats always a scary thing. i was breaking in my 400ex on the track and my Drain plug came out, lucky enough i saw the oil on the track and pulled off

[Unverfehrt400ex]

So can you tell much of a performance upgrade with the 450r shocks?

[Green95Hoe]

Night and Day my friend. Nite and day. Very highly recommended. Got mine on e-bay for 150 and re-sold my old ones for 100. I used to do alot of bottoming out when I jumped and when I hit steep stone quarry piles. I love how I can adjust the compression and rebound. I soften them for the trail and stiffen them for when I go jumping. I would recommend these on any 400

~Brad

[parts eeter]

I got me some 450r fronts on my ex and luv em.Best 250.00 I have ever spent.So how much improvement did you notice when you did the piston/cam combo.Details pleeeese...I am working on this same stuff.Your frame looks really nice.I was debating on a frame paint and your quad just tipped the scales.

[Green95Hoe]

Originally posted by parts eeter
I got me some 450r fronts on my ex and luv em.Best 250.00 I have ever spent.So how much improvement did you notice when you did the piston/cam combo.Details pleeeese...I am working on this same stuff.Your frame looks really nice.I was debating on a frame paint and your quad just tipped the scales.

The difference is phenomenal. That is the new stage 2 hotcam so there is no sacrafice on the bottom end for the top. I get out on the street and it just keeps on pulling right to the end of the RPM range. I need a Rev Box now. I also had to order up a 15 tooth front because the 14 I had is killin me now. First gear is completely a waste because as soon as I get my thumb throttle to 100% im out of first gear. MY top speed sucks too and I want to go fast. I also have some other things too like the removal of the choke and HMF pipe with K&N that compliment the whole setup real nice. A 450R carb, port and Polish and Rev Box are next on the list. Without a doubt revs up much faster than my buddys 440 but I havent raced him yet. He drove mine and agreed it will take his at slower speeds but he thinks he will take me on top end due to my current 14 tooth front. As for my frame, you can choose to flame me but thats actually a brush on Rust-O-Leum. Its a hammer finish black/grey and it almost gives it that Rhinolined look. Ive always sworn by rust-o-leum for rust protection and my entire suspension on my truck is painted with it as as well as my trailer. Looks sick when I have all my toys together.

[parts eeter]

I bought the hotcams stage 1 cam.I hope I made a good choice.Alot of people swear by both of these cams,but I am using only a slight overbored piston so I wanted to keep a smaller cam in it.If I went with the 426 I would have used stage 2.Didnt want to chance losing any low end.I thought that the higher compression will give back the low end lost by the cam I used and then would see mid to top increases.I have heard these motors are really responsive to mods.I am really excited to get my quad built.I am actually going to use PJ1 honda red frame paint on mine.I am gonna build it completely and then going to dissassemble and bag/catalog parts and do a frame paint and rebuild.I am gonna try to do it all in 3 days.If I am organized I think its possible.I am really busy and have to bide my time carefully.Thanks for the info.

[Green95Hoe]

Yep, should be a nice setup when done. I agree they are very responsive. While your at it I suggest a choke removal. I did that a while back and it made a significant difference at WOT. Most people think its a bad idea cuz they might need it but if you up your slow jet to a 42 it will take care of that. I also give it three pumps of the throttle in the winter and she starts right up. I never thought id mod mine when I bought it. I told everyone I was leaving it stock because it had plenty of power. Im sure many will agree with me when I say that once you start modding its hard to stop. I bought my quad to draw my attention away from my truck and im still going mod crazy.

~Brad

[josiah400ex]

close call, glad you caught it...

[coryatver]

I had my drain bolt fall off... I noticed my foot was slipping off the peg and looked down and my oil was blowing out... I shut it off before it all ran out.

[EX Stud]

what's up fellas... yalls 400's look sweet!

Hey Green95Hoe where did you get that front end conversion for your 400? I was thinking about doing that just with some racing plastic...

I just finished putting my engine back together Satuday at 2am. I am trying to break it in GOOD. I rode for a few hours yesterday and for 30 mins today. It feels really good I just haven't gotten over half throttle. How long did you guys go on your break-in period...

I would really like to tear mine down next winter and paint the frame up and put some new plastics and stuff on it...

[Green95Hoe]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by EX Stud
[B]what's up fellas... yalls 400's look sweet!

Hey Green95Hoe where did you get that front end conversion for your 400? I was thinking about doing that just with some racing plastic...

I just finished putting my engine back together Satuday at 2am. I am trying to break it in GOOD. I rode for a few hours yesterday and for 30 mins today. It feels really good I just haven't gotten over half throttle. How long did you guys go on your break-in period...

I would really like to tear mine down next winter and paint the frame up and put some new plastics

Thanx for the comments. I actually pieced it together after going through the parts listings on Bike Bandit. I have a whole writeup on the conversion here on the forums thats only a week or so old. As for the break in. I took the other approach to teh break in http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Still only got maybe 2 hours riding time on it and im only riding to 80% what I would but ill give it hell at 3 hours. and do a third oil change at 4