hot cams= less reliable

[81 clark racing]

ive heard people say by putting hot cams in your motor you have now just made it less reliable? i was thinking about puting them in my motor, but i only ride trails so i need it to be reliable

[wilkin250r]

As a general rule, anytime you increase power, you are going to decrease reliability.

How much? Well, that's tough to say. Some people have good luck, and last many years without any problems, as good as anything you would expect from stock. Other people have problems, and fail even sooner than expected.

But the basic relationship holds true. If you increase power, you decrease reliability. If reliability is all that important to you, then leave it stock.

[swva400ex]

had mine for a while no problems.need to check your valves a little more often.

[04450rrider]

I have also been thinking of doin a cam but i dont want to loose and reliabilty. I hate to have to be always tuning my motor and what not. I would rather just go ride and have fun.

[northwest Texas]

You guys will be fine. Technically, yes, you will lose reliability but is that going to be noticed? Probably not as there's so many more other moving parts that could lead to failure as well.

I wouldn't worry about the addition of a mild cam affecting my reliability.

[GPracer2500]

In my opinion, maintenance habits will have a greater impact on the long term reliability of a 400EX than swapping the stock camshaft for an appropriate HotCams brand camshaft.

If it was The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI ;) ) and my survival depended on a 400EX providing me with long term reliable operation, I'd leave the stock cam in place. Beyond that rediculously extreme scenario, I wouldn't hesitate to install a HotCams camshaft.

$0.02