Modification question for Taffy and other guru's

I am looking to get a little more low end grunt out of My '99 FE400 but want to keep my top end speed. I am running a stock bike with a 13 tooth front and a 48 rear. I run mostly tight woods tracks that I usually am only able to utilize gears 1 through 4. My track is so tight that 1st gear is used around the hairpins and can sometimes hit 4th on the short straights and long downhills. I really want to be able to hit the hairpins in 2nd without the bike lugging too much. Currently hitting these turns in second makes me lose more time than if I hit 1st, jam the brakes, spin the *** end around at a near stop and then rail on it to get my speed back up as quick as possible. And the reason I want to keep my top end speed is because most of the guys I ride with ride quads and are always talking **** about how fast they are. Well, yesterday I beat a yamaha yfz 450, 660 raptor and a new 500 Polaris Predator. But they all make excuses why I win every time. They keep telling me I won't win when they do all the mods that they are planning, but I figure to show them otherwise.

I want to keep the reliability that my bike has show so far. It starts real well since upgrading to the new cam gear and chain and getting my timing set dead on. I will probably replace the rod and check out the bearings and such this winter when I am not riding much. Would having Dale do my cam be advisable? I really don't want to do anything that could cause hard starting as I have kickstart only. I also don't want to spend a great deal of money on this bike as I would rather put the majority of my play money back for a newer or a new bike. Thanks in advance for all suggestions.

Jay

Hi Jay,
For roughly $700.00 you can increase displacement to either 426cc or 448cc.

Dale

Dale,

I assume that this consists of boring to get the increased displacement. For this money what else would be involved? Would this include getting my cam redone? What about changing the stroke?

Could you just elaborate on what all would be involved. And how it would affect the performance.

Jay

For more grunt, I would go with a stroker crank.

Powroll did one for my son's CRF. What a huge bottom increase, plus improvements in the midrange and top end power.

http://www.powroll.com

You will be able to start in second and save first for those gnarly hillclimbs that can't be ridden at a high speed of attack.

Increasing the bore size to 95mm will net you 426cc / 97mm 448cc.
That is what you would get for roughly $700.00

Depending upon your budget ($3,000.00 and up) you can extract in excess of 55 RWHP from the 448.

As for stroking the OEM 400 crankshaft: Don't!
Said crankshaft does not have enough material to safely do so.

Please visit my gallery to view various dynamometer graphs:
http://www.husaberg.org/modules.php?set ... php&page=1

Hope this helps.
Kind Regards,
Dale

400 Crankshaft



As you can see stroking the crankshaft via an offset bushing (Powroll) will create a potential for failure.

Dale

Dale,

$3000 plus for mods is a little much for my cheap self. I would rather put that type money towards a new bike.

As for boring, would you say it would be safe to let a local shop do the boring? I would really hate to send the engine away for this to be done unless I had the entire thing gone through. But then I would rather send the complete bike so it can be run and tested while on the bike. That is unless you say that wouldn't be needed.

What about the cam work you do? What kind of increases could I expect with the cam work and rejetting? And what does it cost? Is changing the cam even needed if I bore? And can the cam timing be ******** like the Yamaha YFZ 450.

Jay

Re: 400 Crankshaft

LINEAWEAVER said:

As you can see stroking the crankshaft via an offset bushing (Powroll) will create a potential for failure.

Dale

Click to expand...

I'm curious. Why do you believe an offset bushing would weaken the crank assembly. The outer bushing diameter would remain the same and the locating hole in the crank would remain the same. The stresses and forces on the crankshaft would be in the same location spread through the same amount of mass. The bushing have an offset hole for the connecting rod, but its strength is from the support provided by the crankshaft.

Just curious, I do not see the potential for failure, other than the increased stresses from the increased power (which you would get from a larger bore, anyway).

BTW, newby, you could probably add 2 teeth to the rear sprocket and make the perfomance gain that you want. It won't affect your top speed since the engine probably can't hit its rev limit in 6th gear with stock gearing. The engine just doesn't have enough hp to pull peak rpm in 6th gear. My 501 doesn't. I added 2 teeth and I did not lose any top end, but I gained in the acceleration dept. Plus, now I have a granny gear for some of our really low speed and very steep hill climbs.

Hi Splat,
When Powroll strokes a built up crankshaft they offset the pin bore which requires an increase in diameter on par with that of the stroke increase. A bushing is then pressed into the offset and enlarged bore to reduce the ID back to that of the OEM.

The bushing itself is not bored to an offset. It is the OEM crankshaft pin bore that is enlarged and offset consequently thinning an already questionable section of crankshaft.

Kind Regards,
Dale

newby said:

Dale,

$3000 plus for mods is a little much for my cheap self. I would rather put that type money towards a new bike.

As for boring, would you say it would be safe to let a local shop do the boring? I would really hate to send the engine away for this to be done unless I had the entire thing gone through. But then I would rather send the complete bike so it can be run and tested while on the bike. That is unless you say that wouldn't be needed.

What about the cam work you do? What kind of increases could I expect with the cam work and rejetting? And what does it cost? Is changing the cam even needed if I bore? And can the cam timing be ******** like the Yamaha YFZ 450.

Jay

Click to expand...

Hi Jay,
If cheap is your agenda you own the wrong bike.

Chances are your local shop does not have the provisions to increase the existing bore size as the cylinder must be bored, plated and then Diamond honed to final size.

As for Camshaft selection:
All else remaining equal it is hard to beat the OEM profile regarding low end power output.

Dale

Thanks Dale,

That is slightly different than what they told me they were going to do to our CRF. But maybe there is a difference in the crank assembly, that would account for the variation in technique described. Since it has been 2 years since we installed the stroker crank, I can't remember any specific details of my visual inspection prior to reassembly. I have the old connecting rod laying around, so I can look at that .

Splat said:

Thanks Dale,

That is slightly different than what they told me they were going to do to our CRF. But maybe there is a difference in the crank assembly, that would account for the variation in technique described. Since it has been 2 years since we installed the stroker crank, I can't remember any specific details of my visual inspection prior to reassembly. I have the old connecting rod laying around, so I can look at that .

Click to expand...

Hi Splat,
What I described is typical Powroll protocol of the last three decades.
I personally have used their stroker service for nearly as long and their craftsmanship is indeed top notch. The 400 Husaberg crankshaft is simply without adequate material to support much of a stroke increase. An alternative is to use a 501 crankshaft (70.7mm Stroke) with a correspondingly shorter connecting rod. Said combination displaces 470cc's and is a proven winner as some early Factory engines were constructerd as such.

Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Dale

Ps
Powroll often shrinks the rod length via a proprietary process. In addition I have often looked to Carrillo for one off units.

Splat,
I originally constructed the following motorcycle some thirteen years ago using a Powroll stroker as the foundation. Said motorcycle was finally restored in 2002 and the little stroker looked good as new with what must have been a million hours of abuse.

Then:http://www.motorcycle.com/mo/mcandy/flat-tracker.html

Now:http://www.husaberg.org/modules/Gallery/albums/album32/106_G.sized.jpg

Dale

Ps
The authoring Moto-Journalist was obviously more Journalist than Moto as one can clearly see by his gross mistakes regarding power output and technical jargon.

Dale,

If cheap was my agenda, you are right about owning the wrong bike. But what I meant was that I would rather spend that $3000 on a new berg than put that much in a 5 year old bike.

I will check with one of the local machine shops about the boring. I don't guess you would know anybody that is any good working on these bikes if I can't get it done locally? :wink:

Thanks for all your advice so far though. Would you personally rather spend the money and upgrade a '99 model or spend that money on a new one?

Jay

newby said:

Dale,

If cheap was my agenda, you are right about owning the wrong bike. But what I meant was that I would rather spend that $3000 on a new berg than put that much in a 5 year old bike.

I will check with one of the local machine shops about the boring. I don't guess you would know anybody that is any good working on these bikes if I can't get it done locally? :wink:

Thanks for all your advice so far though. Would you personally rather spend the money and upgrade a '99 model or spend that money on a new one?

Jay

Click to expand...

Hi Jay,
Depending upon the condition of my existing mount, current modifications and how it has performed I may very well put the money into that which I am already familiar. As a matter of fact I perform such upgrades for clients on a regular basis. New does not always mean better.

As for the cylinder:
You will need to forward your cylinder and new piston to a specialty plating company such as MaxPower: http://www.maxpower-engines.com/mpcplate.htm

Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Dale

Dale,

You're absolutely right about spending the money on a machine already familiar. I have done it many times on cars and trucks and even my farm tractors. I guess I had a brain cramp and really didn't think about all the times I have done it before.

The couple of reasons I would rather spend the money on a new bike is if there is a great deal of handling difference and I like the looks of the post 2000 models better. I would love to find a 2000 FE400 with a bad engine. I have had not one issue with my engine since upgrading the cam gear and replacing the chain.

What are you experiences with the reliability of the '99 and '00 engines versus the newer engines?

Jay

newby said:

Dale,

You're absolutely right about spending the money on a machine already familiar. I have done it many times on cars and trucks and even my farm tractors. I guess I had a brain cramp and really didn't think about all the times I have done it before.

The couple of reasons I would rather spend the money on a new bike is if there is a great deal of handling difference and I like the looks of the post 2000 models better. I would love to find a 2000 FE400 with a bad engine. I have had not one issue with my engine since upgrading the cam gear and replacing the chain.

What are you experiences with the reliability of the '99 and '00 engines versus the newer engines?

Jay

Click to expand...

Out of the box it has been my experience that 1999, 2000 and post 2002 models have the least amount of issues.

With proper upgrades all Husaberg engines (including pre oil pump models) are quite dependable.

Dale

Just for discussion sake, what is an approximate cost for the factory crankshaft? (501 and 650 cranks)

Newby

i'm not aware which camshaft you run but i bought my '53' cam very, very cheaply! so cheap that it's in your budget range for sure!

secondly, i think that you'd be better letting dale modify your dell orto than going to bore and stroke work. apparently his work to the carb is very good and has been recommended here.

i felt i vastly improved the dell orto and after all the mods were done the carb was virtually set up like the 470's.

the '53' and '55' cams are better than the '01' cam and because dale's cams are even better than the '53/55' there are one or two used around.

you may be able to pick up a used keihin FCR but a great deal has to be done to them to get them from say WR spec to FE so if you can get one straight from another husey that would be great and you can do all the work yourself.


the last mod that's dead easy is the MX pipe. i know what you're thinking! it'll be loud but i found that it was no louder for some reason?

these are the three DIY jobs you could try. the carb and the exhaust especially. gearing should be 13/48 or 14/51 if you can.

looks like everyone has given you excellent advice it would seem to me though that my thoughts are more within your price range.

regards


Taffy

Taffy,

Was wondering when you were going to come out of hiding!

i'm not aware which camshaft you run

Click to expand...

My cam is stock, the only thing I have done is upgraded to the steal cam gear.

the last mod that's dead easy is the MX pipe

Click to expand...

I have a Big Gun exhaust minus the head pipes. I think it is from a 501 or maybe a different year because the mounting tabs are not quite in the right place and the 2 into 1 collector is not in the same place. It is a little further towards the front of the engine than on my 400. I think I could easily have it cut and put back together by a machine shop to fit my bike.
The only reason I haven't done it is because I was wondering about the noise. Would there be a enough if any difference in an aftermarket head pipe than my stock one to matter?

gearing should be 13/48 or 14/51 if you can.

Click to expand...

I am running 13/48 gearing at the moment. And thought I may try a 49 or 50 as per suggested earlier in the thread.

Jay