416 Question

[ChadEXer]

What is the highest compression I can go with and still run pump gas? Where is the best place to get the piston kit and the XR cam? Do I need the valve kit and spring kit?
How much do you think it will cost me to do the piston and XR cam including getting it installed. I have a close friend that works at the Honda shop and Im sure he will do it on the side at a good price. What is reasonable??
Sorry about all the questions
Thanks for the help!!

[BigBore81]

if i were doing the 416 kit i would get it at www.powroll.com this place has awsome kits comes with je piston gaskets and rings my friend has this kit with i think 10.8:1 compresion and it runs very strong on pump gas as far as the cam goes get it from www.servicehonda.com they don't do that great of buisness but their prices are very lower much more than anyone elses but if u get the price of service honda and go to planethonda.com they will usually match the price for you as far as the cost to get it done? spend a couple bucks on a torque wrench and a service manuel and do it yourself it is very easy u will just have to send the cylinder out to be bored this will probably cost u about $30 besides i'm sure if u did come across any problems u could just post a question and there is plenty of people on here that would help u out right?

Jay

OK,,,,the 10.8:1 piston is what your lookin for,,you can run pump gas with no problem or if ya want just a little more power you can mix a 50/50 of pump and race. Next size up is a 11.1 and some say it's OK with pump gas and then others say it needs race gas,,get the 10.8:1 and it won't matter what anybody says it runs on pump gas just fine..

Now the price thing,,I got my JE piston, XR400 cam, cometic gasket, and viton valve seals from Terry at Marcums ATV,,link at the top of the page. All this cost me around $300 to my door,,Terry will beat any price,,garaunteed. I didn't do the work myself do to lack of proper tools. But total cost for the work was $130,,and that was including bored cylinder, oil, oil filter, new oil cover bolt, labor, and they even upped my jet one size. So your lookin at no more than $500 total for everything and you'll love the power increase,,if you put a pipe on and noticed a difference,,think about adding 10 pipes,,that's the difference in power. You could go with a hotter cam but you'll have to harden rocker faces and other mods to accept the cam,,,the main benefit most people see in the XR400 cam is you just drop it in and go, no additional mods to make it work. Hope this helped,,any companies parts will make a huge difference it's all on how much you wanna spend,,but for the cheapest way out,,call Terry and get his complete 416 kit..;)

[knighttime]

Make it easy on yourself dude. Follow Rico's advice. It's all u need to do to transform the 400 into one bad-*** quad.

[ChadEXer]

Thanks guys, Rico you said all the work cost you $130. Where did you get it done. Did you take it to a shop or was it someone you knew. My mechanic told me it would be like $400 for the labor. I thought that seemed expensive but he has always hooked me up very cheap. So that is WAY too much?? What do you suggest?? I also called thumper racing and they said I would have to keep the stock piston compression to run pump gas?? And just the piston kit and gaskets was $220 and the XR cam was $275. I think they must be crazy Looks like I will call Terry!!

Call Terry first,,,he'll take care of ya on the parts and offer good advice. And your buddy that said he'd do it for $400 must be a poor friend if he's wanting to charge you that much,,I'd tell him to go jump off a bridge.
I took mine to the place were I bought my bike but they're also a very very large dealership and have a huge service dept. I've been doin alot of business with them and pointed numerous people to them for sales so they always take care of me. I think it took them a little over 2 hours in labor which most honda dealers charge $44 an hour,,,,,but I also have 2 other dealers close to me that I wouldn't let them change my flat tire,,so I don't really wanna point you at a dealer. If you think you can do it,,buy a manual,,the piston kit from Terry includes the price of boring your cylinder all you have to do is send it to him. Don't know what else ta tell ya..but look around for another engine builder if ya don't wanna do it yourself..:(

[Scott]

Chad, were you taking him the whole quad or just the engine? Maybe that's the difference in labor costs. If you don't tear the engine down, but at least pull it off the frame you'll save yourself money.

[RideRed400EX]

All this hype about teh 416 kit has me hooked. I have always serviced my bikes and I'd like to do the 416 kit myself. Besides the cylinder boring what "special" tools are needed.

No special tools are needed. I just finished my 416 conversion with XR400 cam. I did all the work on mine except the machine work (cyl. bore and valve job) and the cost is $550.00. I haven't even started it yet because my head pipe isn't back fro Jet-Hot yet(ceramic coating). Just get a service manual and take your time. The toughest thing for me was compressing the rings to install the cylinder. By the time you bore the cylinder to 87mm. most of the champher at the bottom of the cylinder is gone. Assembly took about 3 hrs. (I am slow) after all the parts were clean and gaskets scraped off. Good luck!!

Originally posted by Scott
Chad, were you taking him the whole quad or just the engine? Maybe that's the difference in labor costs. If you don't tear the engine down, but at least pull it off the frame you'll save yourself money.

That still shouldn't matter though,,I dropped off my entire bike as is,,and said call me when it's done.. I didn't even expect the oil change and jet change,,I figured they'd put the piston and cam in and that's it..I got home got out the tools and stuff to change the oil,,pulled out the dipstick and looky there fresh oil..so they even did stuff I wasn't expecting. The only thing I would do to help the guy is maybe pull the plastic and other items out of the way.

And ridred the only thing special I think you would need is a good torque wrench,,which I dont' have,,and the reason I didn't do my own work,,and a special valve spring tool,,that knighttime made himself,,so ya might wanna shout at him..

[kabd69667]

Well i know out there at GT Thunder, you can either drop off your whole bike and they'll put the cam, and the piston and bore the cylinder. This will cost you $480. Or you can just take your cylinder out there. They'll bore it for $330 including cam and piston. But you put the cam and piston in yourself. So there is a $150 difference

[ChadEXer]

I called Terry and I went ahead and ordered the kit. He was very helpful and I will always do my business with him from now on. Thanks for the help. Now I just need to find a place to put it in for me. I would do it myself but im the kinda guy that always ends up with extra parts left over after I put something back together!! Oh yeah Im getting my head ported and polished for $100 by a very reputable guy. Is this reasonable??

$100 bucks isn't bad but I don't think you'll need it,,,I've been told by respectable bulders that with a stock carb you'll see NO difference after the port work...so I'd just use that money toward having the work done..but that's me. And see I told ya Terry was a good guy. ;)

Well, I to am going with the 416 JE kit 10.8:1 with the XR400 cam from Marcum's. Looks like I will be sending Terry my cylinder this weekend, buy a torque wrench, and wait for my "updated" arrival!!! Sweet:) Rico is right, Terry is cool to talk with... and he has everything in stock.

My only problem is, all you guys are getting this kit, and I wanted to be faster than you guys!!:p