Sparks Cams?

[Thumpin]

Has anyone used the Sparks X1 cam?
With the kinda woods/trail riding I like to do with my 416ex, I miss that lowend snorting torque that the EX is known for. And Im gettin tired of that ticking Stg2 Hot Cam! The 2HC is a good cam and hits hard in the mid to topend but I want that low speed grunt back!

The guy I talked to at Sparks said its between a stg1 and 2 Hot Cam. That sounded perfect for what power band I wanted, like a stage 1 1/2, perfect for XC riding! It also has the decompression unit on it like the stock cam has. Uses the stock valve clearance settings too, that should make it run quieter. The X1 is a drop in cam just like the Hot Cams.

I will let everyone know how it works for me, and the differances in the X1 and stg2HC. Should be here this week some time!

[SHIFTx450]

Keep us posted!

[a4guy]

Very interested. Let us know.

[honda400ex2003]

Im in, lol sounds like something i would be interested in running on my 10:1. something inbetween, the stage 2 is just a tad high for me and the stage 1 levels off quite fast when you start getting into some bigger mods and more air in and out. this would be very nice for what i do. steve

[Thumpin]

Well I finally got the cams swapped out and sunday got to try it out just messing around on the country roads and in a tall grass field with my buddy with his KFX 450. He got a new full exhaust (EHS) and a Lexx FMI.

Well before we got his tuned in we'd drag race and I was pulling him all the way through. And when we drag raced with paddles at the river I'd beat him every time when he was stock. After we tuned his in, he was pulling me in the drags much harder. His KFX came to life!

Anyhow back to the X-1 cam, it is a sweet cam grind, it looks like a stock cam with a more radical lobe profile! And yes it's much quieter than the Stg2 Hot Cam I had in.

The power band is real close to a stg2 HC, but it hits much sooner, has much more lowend torque, hits harder in the midrange, and to be honest with all of you, I don't think I lost much, if any of my topend pull!

I like it alot and I think anyone building an XC machine will love this power band! I was lugging it down to idle in 3rd than punching it and it came back to life much quicker than the stg2 HC ever did. It seemed to streach my arms out more for sure!

My jetting stayed close, I turned in my A/F screw an 1/8 turn, and it seemed a bit too rich on my main jet, so I will take it from a 198k to a 195k and than it should be spot on again.

The real test will be riding in the trails, and see how it handles them again with more luggin power!

I will keep all of you posted on how the X-1 works for me!

[honda400ex2003]

not what i wanted to hear lol. sounds like a great cam i may have to try to find one if i can sell mine sometime. steve

[bkelley]

Originally posted by honda400ex2003
not what i wanted to hear lol. sounds like a great cam i may have to try to find one if i can sell mine sometime. steve I was thinking the same thing haha. At least it's not as expensive as their other cams.

[Ryan'07400ex]

Originally posted by bkelley
At least it's not as expensive as their other cams.

Is the cheapest you can find this cam is $200?

[kali250r]

am i going to notice any difference by adding a cam on a stock 2000 400ex with a slip on fmf powercore?? not interested in bore'n it out just yet. I think my next purchase will be the fmf header..or maybe a cam...?

[bkelley]

Originally posted by Ryan'07400ex
Is the cheapest you can find this cam is $200? Yeah so far I've only seen it on the Sparks website. It'll probably make its way onto eBay within a few weeks.

[atvracer980]

I'm running the original version of the X1- cs 426 I believe- I've ran it in cylinders rangeing from 85.5-89mm and have had real nice smooth power- I've now had it for 8yrs and still running strong- race xc for 4 years on it, 6 hr races ect... its been a reliable cam for the money spent.

[CJM]

Welp im sorry i bought a hotcam stage 2, oh well for now.

[Thumpin]

ATV Racer980, you said you ran that cam in many differant bores and had great luck with it, thats great to hear! I think they've had that grind around for some time, and it has a much better powerband to it than that STG2 HC offered me, the X-1 is a Torquer! Honestly I can't beleive more people on this site haven't tried it!

What compression pistons and bore sizes seemed to work best for you? It's interesting to learn what combos work for other people.

Thanks for your reply everyone!

[Thumpin]

Your best bang for your buck for a 400EX is the 10 or 11:01 compression piston of your choice, than add the Sparks X-1 cam, and you will be amazed of the output your 400ex will make!

But I would do the piston first, before just installing a cam. Thats just my opinion, stock the 400ex is pretty mild in piston compression, and any gain in compression will really wake up the EX. Than the extra duration and lift from the cam won't let the low engine speed torque suffer, it will have more than enough compression that the power will increase a bunch through out the whole rpm range.

Save your money, and do it right, deep inside you thats the power gain your really looking for, and you'll thank me later!

[honda400ex2003]

i still really like my stage 1 and 2 with testing both. the stage 2 is a bit more high strunge but not terribly bad. it would be great for dunes or open trails. actually i was doing some mudding type riding tonight with it and thought it wass alright, i had to work the clutch a bit more than the stage 1 but other than that, it hits great and starts down low enough with the q4. with the t4 it was even higher up and made for a great faster trail setup or drag race setup with my 10:1 comp. i will probably keep it in there just to rip once you get on it a bit. it puts more smiles on my face so that is all that matters. lol. steve

[Thumpin]

I'm not saying the Hot Cams are junk and won't work for anyone, because they are pretty darn good cams for what you pay for them, and have pretty good power increases for what ever stage people choose.

The Sparks X-1 fills in the gap between the stage 1&2 that I was looking for, and it does it very well. The X-1 is a great All-Around Torquey cam. And doesn't have that loud ticking that was just needless noise to my ears.

One thing I noticed that made a huge affect on the 400ex's powerband output was the exhaust! The stock header (ground out welds) and a good slip-on had great low to mid tractor type pulling power, even with a stg2 HC and 11:1, but would fall flat toward the top-end. Switching to a good full exhaust with larger diameter header & mid pipes, soften up the lowend and made the mid-topend pull much harder matching the stg2 HC's powerband.

Thats where parts match up makes all the differance on the output your looking for, and the header type used is a big part of it!

[honda400ex2003]

Originally posted by Thumpin
I'm not saying the Hot Cams are junk and won't work for anyone, because they are pretty darn good cams for what you pay for them, and have pretty good power increases for what ever stage people choose.
!

my bad i agree 100% they are great cams. Next year i will probably try an x1 out to see how it is. steve

[Foxhound013]

Not trying to hijack the thread but how do you guys think it would perform in a stock bore 400. We might be doing a 416 this winter anyway, but if we don't will the x1 cam hurt performance. I want more torque for the woods, I was orriginally thinking hotcam stg 1 but I don't want to not have any top end so when it comes to the straight aways the 450's don't eat my 400 alive lol :D . Which do you guys think would be the best choice. Thanks.

[kali250r]

Originally posted by Thumpin
Your best bang for your buck for a 400EX is the 10 or 11:01 compression piston of your choice, than add the Sparks X-1 cam, and you will be amazed of the output your 400ex will make!

But I would do the piston first, before just installing a cam. Thats just my opinion, stock the 400ex is pretty mild in piston compression, and any gain in compression will really wake up the EX. Than the extra duration and lift from the cam won't let the low engine speed torque suffer, it will have more than enough compression that the power will increase a bunch through out the whole rpm range.

Save your money, and do it right, deep inside you thats the power gain your really looking for, and you'll thank me later!

Thanks for the reply... good idea im going to look into doing a piston first.

[TRXRacer1]

Dammit! Now I have another cam on the list I need to choose from on my next build. Thanks for the review Thumpin!

[bkelley]

I'm thinking about going for one of these babies here soon. How much power do you guys think my EX will put out if I added the X1? I'm still going to do a 416 or 426 kit in the future, but I figured adding a cam now would help hold me over for a bit.

[Thumpin]

Just doing just a cam now will mainly add mostly more mid range power with a better over rev. But adding a higher compression piston will make that cam come to life better. Running a stock header with just a cam change may work out ok for you giving you a noticeable improvement on power, but not like add a piston by its self.

Adding a piston and cam together is like ice cream and hot apple pie together, Its heaven for a 400ex! Hope this helps.