anyone have any concerns or experience with this?

[croom9]

Im about to buy this 2000 400ex from a guy on craigslist for a good price, but im kind of worried that this is going to be a headache machine.... anyone have any insight on the subject(is the 426 hard on the rest of the engine or something that this thing is broken down...and did the stage 3 cam have something to do with destroying the piston and rings?).... here it his ad i copy and pasted it from craigslist.... basically i have no experience with big bore kits and have no idea what to look out for



i have a 400 ex with a 426 big bore kit ,it has a lonestar stearing steam,extra back tires and rims and extra shocks,full yoshimura pipe new valves,i have a brand new gasket kit for it it has a stage 3 hot cam,jetted carb it needs the piston and rings cuz i lost my job and ran out of money the get the piston and rings for it i thank you for looking

[johnnynonails]

is it local to you, if so go see it,and check the guy out.
if you want to buy it blind your asking for trouble imo.

[croom9]

oh i definetly planned on checkin iit out..... i just dont know anything about the big bore kits and what to look for what their flaws are or what kind of havoc they can wreak on the rest of the motor

[rocky_mtn_honda]

your not going to really be able to find the "flaws" short of tearing it apart in his garage before you buy it...lol, i've found lots of folks frown on this, so you just gotta take the chance, and when you get it home and tear into it, pray the damage isnt too bad and usually its a pleasant surprise compared to what could be the case. i bought a 2001 from craigslist, basically stock for $500 and it needed piston, rings, all gaskets, totally reassembled, cause he tore it down and lost his job (sound familiar?), and i found out he rode around with his chain way too tight so it wasted the countershaft bearing in the left inner case...which also jacked the left inner case up pretty bad...so a new tranny, left inner case and that was about it...oil seals, valve seals, HD timing chain and tensioner, i think i have $1500 into it but its brand new basically. anyhow back to your original question, when you take the head off, inspect the studs in the jug to see if they've pulled out, check the valves, maybe lap em, ive also seen rod bearings get pretty nasty with these big bore hi compression engines...just take the chance if you feel the price is right, and you already know the consequences if its fubared inside..lol good luck with it

[flyboy1294]

One thing that I noticed that no one else has pointed out yet...

"Needs to piston and rings" means that it burns oil like crazy. You know something is up when they mention it needs a top end rebuild in the ad.

But as long as you are getting into this knowing that you're going to have to crack open the engine, go for it.

[mcgrath]

You will have to talk to the guy. If it needs piston and rings, does that mean it needs a rebuild or that he hasn't finished the rebuild yet ? He says he has a gasket kit, so... who knows youd have to take a look. If it was in the middle of a rebuild that would be ideal, then you would know exactly what you were dealing with.