engine mod ? for you guys who've been working on these engines for a while

[DirtDiggler]

I'm buying PEP zps suspension first and then I'm going to get into the engine a little bit so I have a few questions. I would like to know what I can do to get some more ponies without getting to far into high maintenance or a big drop off in reliability. I'm expecting these factors to change some what but I don't want them to get crazy.

1. I thought about going higher compression but I heard this increases heat a lot and lowers reliability as well as making it tough to keep cool.

2. If I do go higher comp like between 10:1 and 10.5:1 and go with a better cam will I get a decent gain out of this?

3. What about larger oil tanks and kits like 4 stroke tech's secondary oil cooling kit or the omf shrouds that are supposed to funnel more air across the engine? Do these things make a big difference or are some of them a waste of time/money?

All input on this by everyone is greatly appreciated.
Diggler

[Steven]

Anytime one puts more stress on metal via heat or force, it will wear the part faster... thats just a charteristic of metal.

Anytime one lessens the effect via extra cooling, parts last longer.

Reliability can be built into performance but nothing will last as long as the OEM set up... but it will last if you do it right and take care of it.

If you want to go fast, pay the price. You will be happy you did.

Steve

[danney f]

Start with a KnN air filter(rockymountain, cheapest$36) and jet the carb. Don't buy a jet kit($42) it's way over priced, they only supply a new needle and main jets and you'll only use one of them($4) out of the hole kit. Your stock needle is adjustable so you don't need a new one. You will also need a larger pilot jet($4).
Grind out the welds in the head pipe($0 if you do this yourself)
If after that your still not satisfied, go with a high compression piston, not to high higher you go less reliable it is. If you have it jetted right it will not make it run that much hotter. Than add a cam, hot cams aren't to bad and they don't charge a core. I've heard the customer service suck though. You can add one of FST oil coolers it does a good job at cooling the oil on the cam.
If it's all put together right and jetted right it will be almost as reliable as th stock set up.
Hope I've helped some.

[RytM1]

The engine kits are a matter of preference. I went with a 10.8:1 416 kit, with xr400 cam, and love the way it woke up my EX. It does run a little hotter, but the 416 kit is said to be one of the most reliable kits, and if u do mess up a piston or cylinder, you can re-bore it a little bigger and go with the 426 kit, etc. As far as the scoops go, exactly how much they help is still a debate, some say they notice a big difference, some say not so big. The oil cooler is the same way. Only thing that turns me off to it is tapping into the cylinder head to install the oil lines, so that it directs the cooler oil directly onto the cam. Do a search on the site for "engine kits" and you should have hours of informed reading ahead of you...lol.

[RED121572]

When it comes to maintaining my quad, Im a complete freak. Ive been keeping a log book for over a year now of every ride. Location of ride, ride time, outside temp and oil temp. I take a measurement of the outside air and then check the oil temp after every ride. (makes sure everything is still in tune)
Heres what my records show.......

With the pipe and motor mods, my highest recorded temp was 232*. All at once, I added the oil tank, air scoups and switched to Amsoil oil. Since those cooling mods were installed, My average temp has dropped 9 degrees. The last mod I did was wrap the header in exhaust wrap. Im seeing an addition 5 degree drop in temp after that mod was done. My 2 cts to you is that as long as your wallet is heavy enough, take advantage of every cooling trick there is.

For example, I went riding yesterday. It was 37 degrees out. After a complete hour of riding, my oil temp was 174 degrees.

Good luck!!

[DirtDiggler]

I was just at the shop talking to the guy who does my work. He's always trying to talk me out of spending to much money and he said one thing I can do cheap is lighten the fly wheel. Does anyone know what this is supposed to do and will I feel it throught the powerband or just mid - high?

I was thinking going with:

Stock bore 10:1 piston.
mid - high cam
new head pipe
rejet or bigger carb.
air shrouds
bigger oil tank and cooler

I want to feel a decent increase in power everywhere.