Hey Z400 engine affectionado's...is there a big gain in the "seat of the pants" with the base gasket mod with a Hot-cams stage 1 intake cam? I ride the woods and hill climb with a 13t front sprocket and slip-on, no lid. Will I notice a big difference? Or is it like $200 down the drain for .05 horsepower that I'll not even notice.

And what's the deal with Hot-cams, if I buy the cam, or cams, I have to get a shim kit too?

Ok I'm on a budget, I've already spent $600+ on my Z and haven't touched the motor, you get the idea

 

The biggest gain for the $$ is the DRZE base gasket. It will be noticeable, but not that noticeable. The hotcams are about the same, you most likely would notice it, but it wouldnt be much. And yes you have to either buy a shim kit or buy the shims individually (which I no idea how you would know which ones to get)

Lets say it's a good improvement for the money. The best thing you could probably do other than the DRZE gasket is buy a 39mm FCR from a YFZ off of ebay. That will improve it alot!... but for more like $300.


$600 is a good start, but watch out it's ADDICTING!!! Just ask mucky or myself!!!

 

I installed both the DRZe base gasket and stage 2 (both) hotcams at the same time. There was a BIG seat of the pants power gain. I think it was more then the pipe and no airbox lid gave over stock. Best price for hotcams that I found was at woodwardspecialties.com (~$120 each).

For the shims, A manual has a chart that tells you what shims you need to get. All you need to do is check your clearance, look at the size shim that you have and follow the chart. Shims from the dealer are only ~$5 each. So I would not buy the whole kit.

I would highly rec. getting a carb after the cam/base gasket.