Predator vs Duromax?

[blackleg miner]

I just bought the 420 cc clone from HF (predator) and I was debating earlier about the Duromax of the same engine size. The price is almost the same at (Overstock vs. HF).

I know these are both clones and there are a few cheap parts, but which one has a better record? Also which one would hold up to a few power mods? I suppose they could be made in the same factory overseas and it doesn't really matter.

Thoughts?

 

[r_chez_08]

I would say that they are pretty similar. I have heard the predator castings are very good though.
You have the predator, now get modding!

 

[blackleg miner]

I plan to. I wasn;t thinking though, I got suckered into a 1 year extended warranty and obviously if I pull the gov and do some other mods, they probably wouldn't take this thing back if I toasted it. Maybe I'll do the mods after we actually get the kart up and running for awhile.

I want to make my own exhaust and look into a better air intake.

There's got to be a thread here that talks about the first and most inexpenisve mods to do, right?

 

[r_chez_08]

Have a look here, rough guide.
How much are you looking at spending, and what power and RPM? I may be able to help.

I heard HF stopped doing the blue greyhounds because all the karters were using the 6.5's as box stock engines with the governors removed and no durability mods done. Racers would chuck the stock gear back on and take them back when they threw a rod or went wrong, so HF brought out the predator line which are the wrong spec for box stock.

Now they like check the motor for the reason of failure. You would have to be pretty smart to fix it up so they don't know.

TBH any problems are likely to be apparent fairly quickly, i.e. clearance issues, carb issues etc. After the first oil change, crack open that case and get part shopping
You could easily upgrade the filter and exhaust without them knowing, but then you need to remove the governor to really feel the difference.

 

[fresh101]

I would say that they are pretty similar. I have heard the predator castings are very good though.
You have the predator, now get modding!

I was talking to JD, and he told me that predator are pretty good clone but not something that you will want to go all out with (heavy mods). He said he has seen the block of the 420 been blown, and recommend to go with gx390 for heavy modding.

 

[DS13]

What's the price of a gx390?

 

[blackleg miner]

I think those are up in the $800 range.

Thanks Chez for the info. That page is exactly what I was looking for. I think I'll go back to HF and cancel my extended warranty, get $50 back to help defray the cost of this beast. I'm an honest dude and wouldn't expect HF to take back an engine that I destroyed because I messed with the gov. BTW - with the gov removed there's yet another reason to make a cool diamond plate dash, put a tach in with start swich and speedo. I'll be looking for how to do that in the future.

Now I need to finish the A arms. Seat and tie rod ends are coming today.

 

[r_chez_08]

No problem. Let us know how the speedo and tach go. I was planning on the same thing but I could not find a nice 2" speedo. I found plenty of tach's though.