For those of you who offered suggestions on why we were not finding oil on the dipstick of the 400EX.. Thanks for your input....
What we found was NOT GOOD!!.. We checked it Friday afternoon with it cold, it showed in the zone... So, we fired it up, rode it around for about 15 minutes, shut it down, gave it about 10 minutes to sit, checked it again and it still showed in the zone...
We went to a mudrun with the EX and my Magnum, rode until about 11:00 a.m. and by that time, it was smoking pretty good.... Anytime you whack the throttle, it starts a two-stroke smoke trail..
By the time we got back to the truck, it was smoking REAL good...
So, I guess its time for a top end...
Does ANYBODY already have first hand knowledge of the RCR 430cc kit?... WHat cam profile was used? What compression piston? Gearing?..

 

Man, sorry to hear about the burnt-down engine. It's a little late to bring up now, but possibly you waited TOO long to check the oil after riding, and it cooled back down (in other words you were over-full the whole time). The manual says to let it sit for two minutes before checking the oil, to let the oil settle, but not cool off. :\

 

Once again, the oil level has been checked.. every two mintues to a totol of ten... The oil level never moves...
I FULLY believe the top end is gone... it doesn't have the punch it had at the beginning of the weekend... (compression loss)
THis thing is not at all what I expected... I thought Honda quality and reliability would also include the sport machines.... Granted, it gets ran hard.. but it is NOT abused... It has a MUCH easier life than my utility Polaris, and my Scrambler.... Not trying to compare machines, I know they are different, but still, I am NOT impressed with the durability..
He is trying to decide between the 426cc and 435cc kits and camshafts right now... and it will get a new top-end.. But he made several comments about getting rid of it soon afterwards..

 

Hehehe, and on top of that it had to get pulled/helped out of EVERY HOLE we hit... I know it's not a mud bike, so before all the Honda guys jump in and defend it, I know...

Too bad we got seperated. I wanted to ride it. Haven't ridden a modified 400 yet.

 

How old is the machine? Had you changed the oil recently? It sounds to me like you broke a ring or the valve rubbers.

 

Yes, the oil had been changed recently.. it got Hondas High performance (gold bottle) poured in it..
The thing is wasted...
Adam.. Yeah.. it sucks when he rides that thing at the river bottoms... he was cussing and screaming about it smoking when we got back to the truck....
He said that he was gonna trade it in on a "F'ing Polaris..." to quote him...
Was it smokng when we were riding together? did u see any smoke coming out of it?...

 

Didn’t you say he bought that bike used? It’s probably been rode hard and put up wet, from it’s first ride, to it’s last. Took the temper right out of the rings.

 

I never noticed any smoke at all. The only problem I noticed with it is that it looked like the pipe was about to fall off. :-)

 

Don't take this the wrong way but did you check the oil filter to see if it was put in the right way? I have seen this done before and the same thing happened.

 

Did he give the engine a good 20 hours or so of easy-riding to break it in before he ran it into the ground? It's possible that he just happened to get a lemon; defective valve-springs or rings. Thats a possibility with anything you buy, even to Hondas. :
I've ridden my 400EX every weekend since I bought it two months ago, and I've got absolutely no complaints. Seems like most other EX owners here have had good luck as well.