A buddy of mine has a 2001 400ex with a Hot cam stage 2. When its cold it has a hard time starting is there anything you can buy to make the bike turn over easier??????thanks guys

 

Does it have a rev box? Many times thats the problem and easily solved by starting with the stocker and switching back to the oem one.

If its got the stock one on there now check out the following. Dirty air filter, bad battery (or low), jetted wrong, choke problems, pilot jet clogged or too small, and a host of other things that could be from various mods to the quad so if these didnt help lets hear about whats been done to it etc.

 

how cold are u talking about....all honds start like crap in the cold...like down in the 30's...

 

Yea but it started fine before he got the cam. Its not that it dont start it just seems like it needs more juice now because of the cam. It seems like it needs more power to turn it over

 

Is the valve lash correct? Has the timing been altered?
Does it seem to turn over slow...or it just takes alot of cranking to make it start?

 

I have had XR400 and XR250 bikes and both were tricky starters but very easy once understood. The two things XR's need to start easily are fresh gas in float bowl and high idle setting. If it's been setting a few weeks or more then you need to drain float bowl. Either lift up on two wheels until a steady stream of fuel runs out of overflow or pull float drain bolt. Many riders want the idle turned way down so it will just barely idle. This causes very hard cold starting and also causes very jerky off idle throttle response. Just turn idle way up when cold starting and then don't turn too low when heated up. I have seen many XR400 riders kick their bikes 50 times, change plug, cuss, cuss, cuss, and not want to hear how to do it right. Go figure. I now have 400EX and all the above applies same as with the 2 wheelers.

 

Unless I forgot to turn on the gas my EX has started up everytime with no choke and just a couple stabs at the throttle so I dont think their hard to start [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

But from what info is avail it seems that there is some issue with the new cam install (its not a normal problem when installing a hot cam properly) and first place I would be looking is the valve adjustment (hot cam recomends a larger amount of lash setting than honda) and then at the timing cause both of these could easily be the culprit.

Still have to wonder what slow/pilot jet is being run and if the carb may be leaned out alltogether also.

 

With some of the aftermarket cams, the decompression lever is taken out and this will make them hard to start. Mine sounded like it wanted to kick back and not turn over. I would also go and check the pilot jet. It should be at a 42 for the 400 to start eaiser. The 38 is way to small.