Tips for piston and cam install?

[stephen02ws6]

Hello, i am planning on putting a 11.1 piston, hot cam stage 2, and while its apart i was going to port and polish the head a little. I have moderate mechanical skills and have rebuilt a motor in school. Does anyone have any tips to make the work easier? I am getting a service manual but is there a write up on how to do all this?

[stephen02ws6]

are there any parts i am going to have to change to do this?

[Livingmylife93]

Stay organized.
Take your time.
Dont cut corners.


Don't drop the timing chain.
Make sure the decompression pin goes back in the right way.

You will of course have to replace gaskets, and maybe a few things with the cam. Some other people will chime in a little while...

[Troy]

The cam and piston are easy as pie but I hope you're not planning on porting your own head, lol.  Racer's Edge has a very nice cnc port job and they run hard, Bo White, aka VelociRaptor, does a very nice hand port and polish and it's almost free   Like he said, take your time and it will be fine.

[DL700]

check out this cam removal  video

use oem gaskets....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf7EK-Wsq0k

[1badazz_700r]

dont re use the stock head bolts. Buy new ones,due to stretching threads from being torqued. If your like the rest of us,get a higher compression piston. and if your sending the head to get ported you might as well get a biger cam X-2 or X-4 and have the rockers clearenced for it. since its going to be apart. and save yourself from doing it twice like i did I did the 11:1 and stage 2 hot cam first. within 15hrs of ride time. i did everything in my signature.except the pcIII and exhaust.

[stephen02ws6]

so its not as bad as it looks then?  do i just get the head bolts from a dealer?  wont the bigger cam hurt the low end?  what ignition do i have to change?  thanks for the answers.

[1badazz_700r]

its not bad at all. i actually cheated a little my head was at bo's place to get ported and he did the modification to the rockers and installed the X-4 cam in my head for me.So i just had to bolt it together. i also bought a new JE 12:5 piston from bo, and he installed the rings for me to the specs that he uses yes you can order the head bolts and gasket set right threw yamaha $ 26.00 for bolts and dont remember for the gaskets. i think the second time i just ordered a base gasket and head gasket. i think they were like $20.00for both.Some claim loss on bottom end. i didnt notice anything except a ton more power all the way through the rpm range.It was well worth the money

[air]

Put a 10 in zip tie around the chain, it makes a great strap to pull the chain back up through the jug and head.

[1badazz_700r]

 :thumbs:thats a good pointer. i used a shoe string

[air]

 I have tried wire and string also but a zip tie works best

[NaturalRaptor]

These are all great tips. 

[PDX Raptor]

It sounded like you already knew what parts you wanted to install, but here are some things you might want to think about, because 1badazz is right you do not want to be doing it twice. What kind of riding and how much power do I want? If you ride tight trails 80hp is useless. Also you might want an HC2 over the HC3 or X4. The last two are "race" cams and make power higher in the RPM range. 11:1 or 12.5 comp piston? Do you want to run race gas or pump? 12.5 you are going to need around 100 octane, 11:1 92octane. You don't need to change your ignition. You can buy "piggy back units" that change the timing of you bike. They are pretty easy to install. DL knows more about them than I do. From my dyno's the ignition adds a little power thoughout the rpm range but really starts to shine in th high rpms. it is hard to find tuners that can set up a good curve. Based on this I think it is not a very good mod for guys who ride trails that rarely let them "open up" their bike.

[Troy]

As far as low end loss goes you won't notice any from the stock cam because you are gaining alot with the higher compression anyway.  The stage2 hotcam is a beast all around in my opinion.  Going from that to a stage3 the stage 2 is stronger everywhere but the top, going from that to the x4 the x4 is badass everywhere with no loss down low.  Having started with the stage2 and upgrading twice I'd throw a stage2 in a track and trail bike in a second.  I love my x4 but if you're not duning and drag racing all the time the hotcam is tough to beat for the money and no modifications necessary to put it in.

[stephen02ws6]

it will mostly be on the mx track.  i dont use it to much up top.