2008 WR 450 - Hot Cams??? - Please Help!!!

[RFausel]

I have done all the free mods to my bike and I also have a Drd exhaust system...Its not powerful enough!

I want a lot more power! I want to keep with a WR though because I like the electric starter.

I am considering getting a Hot Cams intake and exhaust cam for the bike and see what difference it makes.

I want to know who has done this upgrade to their bikes and what they recommend now.

I have heard that I may put extra strain on the starter...Is that true? Is that the only thing with extra strain? Whats the difference between the hot cams and the yz cams?

How much of a power difference did you feel when you put the cam set in? Is it worth it? I want a ton of power, but I dont want to lose the reliability.

Parts

http://www.hotcamsinc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=cProducts.list&brandid=10&modelid=246&modelyear=2008&enter.x=67&enter.y=8

part # 4023 -1 IN - 169.99

part # 4044 -1 E - 189.99

Dyno Charts for the cams

http://www.hotcamsinc.com/documents/support/40231IN_and_40441E_1159198299560.jpg

[tweav]

You will be able to tell the differance . I put the yz cam in my o7 and I could tell . and no it does not put more strain on the starter , in fact it puts less strain on it , because it dumps the compression sooner , but this does make it hard to start with the slow wr starter . I'm going to put them in mine just not right now .

[RFausel]

How much harder would it be to start? I there any way to eliminate the difficulty? (maybe by increasing the compression or would that cause too many other issues?)

Has anyone else done the hot cams mod on a 07 or 08 WR 450? What was the outcome?

[SJMC_DON]

I put OEM YZ cams in my 07'... I had e-starting problems, search this forum I'm sure you'll see some of my rants... anyway, I contacted Hotcams with this question -

I have a Yamaha 2007 WR450, I have recently installed a set of 2006 YZ450F cams, (OEM).

The bike runs strong, definite improvement performance wise but now the bike will not start with the e-start. It cranks over but will not fire, hot or cold. Will kick start almost every time. Is their something with the characteristics of the YZ cams causing this?

Cam timing and valve clearances are spot on, I have what I consider to be expert jetting help and have yet to get the bike to start with the e-button.

Does Hotcams sell a set that will give me YZ power characteristics while maintaining reliable e-start?

This was their response -

Don, our wr450 cams will allow you to use your e start. What is happening is the YZ450 exhaust cam has a longer decompression pin than needed and this is not letting your electric start have enough compression to fire. You will also see performance gains over the YZ cams with our cams. Thank you.

The power gains were awesome in my opinion but I was not willing to sacrifice the e-start:excuseme: I would spend the extra $ for Hotcams specifically made for the WR ?

[RFausel]

Awesome...Thanks a lot Don..Thats exactly what I wanted to know...So it sounds like I'll be buying the hot cams tomorrow...I'll report back on 'em when I install 'em!

[SJMC_DON]

Awesome...Thanks a lot Don..Thats exactly what I wanted to know...So it sounds like I'll be buying the hot cams tomorrow...I'll report back on 'em when I install 'em!

I am very interested in the outcome... I re-installed the stock cams on my bike... still fast enuf for me ?

[tweav]

I put OEM YZ cams in my 07'... I had e-starting problems, search this forum I'm sure you'll see some of my rants... anyway, I contacted Hotcams with this question -

I have a Yamaha 2007 WR450, I have recently installed a set of 2006 YZ450F cams, (OEM).

The bike runs strong, definite improvement performance wise but now the bike will not start with the e-start. It cranks over but will not fire, hot or cold. Will kick start almost every time. Is their something with the characteristics of the YZ cams causing this?

Cam timing and valve clearances are spot on, I have what I consider to be expert jetting help and have yet to get the bike to start with the e-button.

Does Hotcams sell a set that will give me YZ power characteristics while maintaining reliable e-start?

This was their response -

Don, our wr450 cams will allow you to use your e start. What is happening is the YZ450 exhaust cam has a longer decompression pin than needed and this is not letting your electric start have enough compression to fire. You will also see performance gains over the YZ cams with our cams. Thank you.

This info is wrong the pins are exactly the same length on both the yz and the wr cams . It's just the fact thet the yz cam is advanced a few degrees so it opens the valves sooner thus dumping more compression.

[Chew]

I have a 07 and installed the Hot cams with good results. The power is now more in the mid and top range. I am probably going to change gearing so I can get some of the grunt on the bottom end back. I also installed a Weisco 13:1 high compression piston at the same time. The starter has no more stress on it, it actually starts faster now with the new cams.

[RFausel]

Thanks for the heads up Chew!

Sounds like the bottom end is noticably weaker...Is it worth it? Did it give a lot more power mid and top or not really? Are you pretty disappointed with the low end loss of power?

How does it do on advanced hill climbs compared to when u had the wr cams...Is the WR cams better for those situations or other situations?

I just want an acurate analysis of the changes (good and bad) without calling Hot Cams and speaking to a sales rep and hearing everything will be better and there are no problems.

Anyone else done this mod to a WR450? What was your experience?

[cerby25]

Did you check prices from Yamaha of Troy through eBay? I have a '99 wr 426 and it was alot cheaper through them.

[RFausel]

Yeah. I checked on Ebay..I actually found a company in Ohio that had the pair of cams for 290 and another company that had them for 280..I called my local yamaha dealer (montclair yamaha) and they said they would lower the price to 150 each for me, so I think Im gunna spend a little extra just so I have that extra insurance feeling cause I know I can always go back there.

I called the guys at hot cams today. Really good guys. I was impressed with their knowledge. I was told that the issues with the decompression pins is generally when people are running higher compression pistons...BUT he said if you do have any problems then they are cool with you sending them the cam to have a different length decompression pin installed.

[SJMC_DON]

So RFausel, are you going with the Hotcams or OEM YZF?

[RFausel]

Im going with the Hot Cams set-up

[Mrmonk7663]

I'll be going with the hotcams in about a month myself :-) 2004 WR450

[Chew]

There is a noticable diffference with the mid and top end with the hot cams. I am going to try a 51 tooth rear sprocket to get some low end back. I talked to my mechanic and he said go with the stock wr exhaust cam and run the hot cams intake and it would be a good set up for bottom and top end.

[SJMC_DON]

I talked to my mechanic and he said go with the stock wr exhaust cam and run the hot cams intake and it would be a good set up for bottom and top end.

I heard this too, except to use the OEM YZF intake cam with the stock WR ex cam and a higher compression piston is supposed to be the set up.

If someone was going to do this I would have suggest using the OEM YZF intake cam... it's cheaper than hot cams:excuseme:

[SJMC_DON]

There is a noticable diffference with the mid and top end with the hot cams. I am going to try a 51 tooth rear sprocket to get some low end back.

This is similar to what I experienced with the YZF cams, the low end was a softer hit but felt like it pulled a lot harder if that makes sense... almost like a long stroke XR motor... 1st and 2nd gear felt taller, definitely.

The mid to top is where it really ripped which is odd, I expected a hard bottom end hit... keep in mind I was running stock header and can with a GYTR end cap.

[motoscotty]

That's funny to hear the wr is not powerful enough.I rode mine at Perris and was able to do all the jumps and not lose any time to the guys I dice with on my yz.My wr is bone stock and still has the throttle stop in it.I will say it bottomed horribly everywhere.My yz does have a lot more snap to it but the wr is very capable in stock form.I would recomend putting that money in susp.

Good luck

[RFausel]

I agree...Do your suspension first...BUT.. I already did...I have a full Race Tech suspension set-up...Which I highly recommend..THEE best purchase I made. EVERY aspect of my suspension is wayyy better!

I would recommend Race Tech to anyone...They are awesome!!! They'll set it up exactly for what you want. Theres a reason so many pro's choose them...I cant tell you how much it will make a difference!

[motoscotty]

Yes if I was going to moto that bike I would need susp. work but in the woods the stock stuff is so plush it is great for that kind of riding.I went Perris with it only to prove to the guys I was with that a wr 450 is competitive bone stock and I did just that.It is so quiet with that little thing in the pipe people don't even know I'm there til it's to late.