When I took the valve cvr off my 400EX I found....

[RED121572]

...black soot, LOTS of it on my WB's cam. I noticed that the WB's cam has like a powercoat on the cam when it was new. It wasnt smooth, it was a gritty like substance. Well, now that gritty like substance covered the cam, valve springs and whatever else. I dont ride in mud, I stay out of the water and Ive change my oil at least four times since that cam has been in there. Oh, and I do have an outterwears on my filter. Anyone else experience this black soot? Let the rest of us know.

Ive read in the past in the forum that the WB's cam will eat rockers. Ive found that to be true. This is my third cam and I could tell that the rockers have worn a bit.

The Wiseco piston that is in there now....I was pleased to see that there isnt a scratch on the skirt side of the piston. Thumbs up for Wiseco!!

[NTPRacing#19]

your exhaust valve is leaking. get it fixed.

[RED121572]

NTP, thanks for your reply. If the problem is a leaky exhaust valve, then I should see smoke upon start up, correct? (oil leaking down onto the piston)

[oynot400]

I would say exhaust valve or seal. It might not smoke much at start up but over time of running it may have caused it to soot up. The coating on the cam when it was new is graphite coating that is used for the first start up and a rust preventive for shipping and storeage.
I also learned that hardened rockers are a must for a aftermarket cam. If your cam is worn down then you better get hard ones or buy new and have them cyro-treated, that is what I did.

[NTPRacing#19]

yea OYNOT is right, they dont smoke much if there even was a leak. it wont take much at all for the exhuast to get through, and even after time it will soot up. or you got a bad seal somehwere. it could aslo be the grindin down of your rockers. you need hardened rockers when you get an aftermarket cam.

[VarmintHunter]

It sounds like the seals on your valve stems are leaking. The seals are underneath your valve springs. It's a real pain in the butt to remove the valve springs without the right tool. But changing the four seals is easy and cheap. Service Honda has drawings that illustrate where the valve seals are located and gives you the part number.

[Mxbubs]

I dont think it would run with an exhaust valve leak, however, I could be wrong. I say that because one time I got a grain of sand between my valve and the head, and that little bit of leak wouldnt let me run.

Worn valve seals gets my vote.

[RED121572]

Thanks to everyone who replied, I appreciate it. My initial plan was to replace the stock valve springs with new stockers and a port and polish job. Now that this little problem has come about, Im gonna take everyones advice and get new valve guides along with a valve job.

Thanks again for everyones help.:D