Hey guys and gals. I found out about this forum just tonight. I'm living in Vegas, Bought my first pilot a little over a year ago. and since owning it i have blown it up or "popped" the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) 3 times. Not something I'm proud of but it is what it is and that's how i came up with my username. So here I am and I'm seeking out ideas such as jetting, the ins and outs of the 400 and helpful tips and hints on what to do. I have already been in touch with Slick Rick and he is the one that told me about the site. I have several toys a couple of my newest favorites are the 07 Aprilia SXV 550 supermoto and My 2000 KTM 380. I bought the pilot for my wife and since we bought it i bet Its been blown up longer than its been running. Pretty sad I know. Here is a pic of my two favorite girls in my life. Hope to get to know most of you in the Pilot days ahead.

Hi and welcome to the site sorry your having problems with your help we can fix the problem.

Tell about your Pilot is it all stock, list all your mods if you have any, has the Engine been modified or 'ported' if so by who?

Pictures of the parts from the last or past poofkabooms?

What is your current jetting?

What part of Vegas you live in I see a mountain close in the background, where do you usually ride? My daughter and son in law live over on the West side of Vegas.

Hey Hoser! Not sure what all has been done to it. The cylinder Head has ATV inscribed in it. From what I have gathered it had been sent out to AZ and they put a chrome roll cage on it. motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) work is as follows, V-force reeds, chrome pipe and silencer, and after market clutch, Tack and Temp gauge in between the legs. Other than that it appears to be all stock. I currently have the full set of sand rims and tires and have front white rims and stock tires. I have been trying to find a set of stock Rears to match. The only thing I have found so far was a set of golds that I believe were off an Odyssey. I had to put some washers on the hubs to get them to not rub. This is used mainly for moving it around until I can find a decent set to replace these.
As for the jetting. I have a 185 main. with the clip on the top mark of the needle. After doing some research that is pretty lean. so I moved the clip 3 notches down. I received in the mail today another intake boot that I recently won off of ebay. However when it arrived here today I noticed it does not fit over the carb. My carb is a 39mm and pretty sure the boot is for something smaller. The guy I bought if off of said it was on his pilot but replaced it with an after market one before he sold it. Maybe i can heat it up and it will give some to fit over the carb. My old boot is cracked at the two notches part. So I thought this one would work but I'm guessing it won't. Still not sure.
I also had a buddy of mine pick up 5 jets today. 190 195 200. Hopefully one of these should get me up and running right. I'm also wondering if maybe ATV RACING didn't shave the head. Not sure. So at the current time I have the cylinder re hoaned new piston, new rings. 81.5, another boot-which i'm hoping i can make work, bigger jets-hoping I won't need a bigger needle, And the change of the clip moved down 3 notches on the needle which will for sure make a difference.
So.....now that I have talked your ear off whatcha think?
Oh, and we live in South East Henderson out by Lake Las Vegas.

ut oh it has an ATVR 4 hour Engine, ship it to hoser and get ready to find out everything has been bored or milled too far

boil some water and place the carb boot in it... This will soften up the rubber and you can then massage the 39mm carb into it! Be patient, but it has been done...
The cracked rubber could be your culprit, creating a lean condition... Before you go changing too much start there... Do you know how to do a leakdown test??? Learn!
Do a compression test too, that number will tell you your compression, and give you a clue if ATVRacing shaved your head... How many layers of the head gasket were on the last poofkaboom's???
Welcome to the site

I got the water boiling now, as for the layers it appeard to only be one. I do know how to do a compression test. and to do a leak down test is just simply pumping it up and leaving it sit for a while to see if it drops correct? As for the other boot I see what you mean, Not saying it didn't do it but in the boot the carb butts against a notch on the inside of the boot, and I was able to get the lock ring on and tighten it down. It may have been the culprit but not positive. And thanks for the welcoming to the site.

Oh, and how long should i set it down in the water for 2 min 5 min? or longer?

shouldn't take but a few minutes??? remember you will still have to touch it lol if you have some thin gloves use them...

If they ground the ATV name on the cylinder or head chances are they ported your Engine, can you take detail pics of the cylinder and head then post?

If they ported your Engine I can pretty much tell you what the problem is now, I have already been down this same road with many other Pilot owners that had ATVR do their Engine work.

You and I gotta talk some day about where you ride maybe you can start another post and tell us?

Step one completed! LOL it was a struggle but finally it went. Just leaving it on to cool now.

pics of the head coming in a few.

I think I have a completely stock head available if a replacement head is needed. Its not really mine any longer, it is Aussie hoons but I am holding it for him and I am pretty sure he wanted to sell it instead of shipping it to Australia.

Good luck on getting the ATVR Engine straightened out. As someone already suggested pull it and send it off to Hoser, it will come back right

Thanks for the offer. Would it be better to go with the other head that i see on a lot of the pilots? if not how much you looking to get and if this is shaved that would make me have to run race gas or no?

And here are the pics

I would recommend the speedchaser cool head if your Engine has been ported and for the desert, you can run it with 92-93 octane and not have to worry about detonation or leaking head gaskets, http://www.pilotodyssey.com/ more info if you click on the pics of the heads.

Unsure of your skill level but this page shows you how you can CC your current head
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4387&view=next

That cylinder has been ported chances are that head has been butchered by them don't reinstall it regardless how you jet that Engine it will poofkabom again, see my last post on checking the volume of the head (cc's)

You verified the piston to cylinder clearance?

You can do a quick check using this viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3115

If you notice in this pic the coating for the throttle cable was slightly torn as well. but seeing how it is connected to the top of the slide I wasn't sure if that was an issue. Also having a hard time finding the correct choke assembly piece for the carb. The whole piece that screws down in. I put one off a a kx500 39 mm carb and when you pulled it manually it would fire right up. if you didn't pull it it wouldn't start. So that told me that it was working. If ya like I can send a pic of it as well.

yeah The last time it kapoofed i took it down to GreenValley ATV and motorsports. Mike is well known all over the valley for 2 strokes. He did the chanfering and cleaned it up. We were set at 81.5 and so that's what I ordered. he also re did the crank main bearings and seals as well as the rod and rod bearings. I will see what i can do to figure out the heads cc's this may take awhile lol I'm a little slow when it comes to fine details.

Can i just use the dial caliper. lol

Sorry I do not have any feeler gauges to use for this.

No feeler gauge how do you set the gaps on your spark plugs?

I would swing by the local auto store and pick up a set I havent bought any in years but they cant be that much?

I don't recall how ATV Racing marks there work??? I wonder/hope this wasn't worked on by them???
Afastcar or slickrick, did they scratch anything on your stuff???

mmmmmm well, i do have a set. but i am currently re-doing my garage. Yeah, that's it. and I can't find them. Truth is i have way too many toys and I have been trying to get my garage straight since me and the misses moved in. its only been 2 years, but you know how other projects come first. LOL

and Yes they have had it. the side of the cylinder is marked as well as the head.

I can also add that right after i did the break in i only had like 40 min on it, as i was checking the plug i noticed it was an BR8ES and when i looked in my manual it said to use a BR7ES then when i did it went KAPOOF! The first pic for the break in was the 8 the second pic is the 7 plug and it blew up the next time out. Mind you this was just riding it here in the street not out in the desert. I still need to get different rims that fit right.