HPI Bajas

[Gee]

I just got one last friday. It was a brand new kit a fellow put together but never had it started. But this retarded monkey is having problems starting it. Had it going for a few minutes then spent the next several afternoons trying again. Finally got it started yesterday and took it out for break in today. Was running alright. I was easy on the throttle then some mud puddles later the idle started dropping and I made some adjustment but to much one way and killed it when I hit the brakes. Spend the next hour in the brush trying to get the pig started again. Finally took off my belt and strapped it to the front and pulled it home. Frustrated as hell, I started up the savage x ss and made some noise to relieve the pressure. These things flood too easy and when they do it takes forever to get them started again. I really felt like mega hucking this sucker a few times already. A good thing I was wore out from cranking on it and by the time I caught my breath I had calmed down. I imagine it's just a learing curve but I've been startling weed eaters my whole life and haven't had one this freaking easy to flood. It's a brand new kit but I am thinking my first order may consist of another carb to try out. I haven't even had it full throttle yet.

Nice baja billy. What are some essential upgrades for a kit?

Is that the dominator v2 on the your billy? Do you have a picture showing the ass end and the pipe a little better? How does it sound?

These things have problems with water?


Slowkrawl. I like the flames. Looks cool. Why are you getting a kill switch? Is there something wrong with the one on yours?

Originally Posted by Gee

I just got one last friday. It was a brand new kit a fellow put together but never had it started. But this retarded monkey is having problems starting it. Had it going for a few minutes then spent the next several afternoons trying again. Finally got it started yesterday and took it out for break in today. Was running alright. I was easy on the throttle then some mud puddles later the idle started dropping and I made some adjustment but to much one way and killed it when I hit the brakes. Spend the next hour in the brush trying to get the pig started again. Finally took off my belt and strapped it to the front and pulled it home. Frustrated as hell, I started up the savage x ss and made some noise to relieve the pressure. These things flood too easy and when they do it takes forever to get them started again. I really felt like mega hucking this sucker a few times already. A good thing I was wore out from cranking on it and by the time I caught my breath I had calmed down. I imagine it's just a learing curve but I've been startling weed eaters my whole life and haven't had one this freaking easy to flood. It's a brand new kit but I am thinking my first order may consist of another carb to try out. I haven't even had it full throttle yet.

Nice baja billy. What are some essential upgrades for a kit?

These things have problems with water?

Is a dom just the dominitor brand?

Slowkrawl. I like the flames. Looks cool. Why are you getting a kill switch? Is there something wrong with the one on yours?

They shouldn't flood too easily. If yours is stock it should come with a Walbro 668 carb. They are actually very easy carbs to work with, make sure your H is at 1.5 turns and your L is at 1.25. (I think those are the stock settings for a 668) Also small changes on the needles makes a big difference. Check and make sure you don't have an airleak, also check your spark plug. If its hard starting, I have found those to be two common problems.

Also if it floods just take out the spark plug, tip the baja back, hold full throttle, and pull it a few times. Replace the plug and you should be able to start it.

Essential upgrade? I don't know I would recommend almost everything on mine. I think it really depends on where you drive, but outerwears prefilters, and the TR enclosed clutch setup if you drive in dirt and sand are good places to start.

A little water will be no problem, as usual the radio box is probably the most sensitive part. Obviously sucking water in the airfilter is bad, but an outerwears is water resistant.

The dominator line of pipes are built by DDM (Daves Discount Motors), they are all solid pipes.

The kill switch is just a third channel kill switch. It acts as a failsafe, and also so you can kill the engine using the third channel on your radio.

[Gee]

Originally Posted by billy gunn

They shouldn't flood too easily. If yours is stock it should come with a Walbro 668 carb. They are actually very easy carbs to work with, make sure your H is at 1.5 turns and your L is at 1.25. (I think those are the stock settings for a 668) Also small changes on the needles makes a big difference. Check and make sure you don't have an airleak, also check your spark plug. If its hard starting, I have found those to be two common problems.

Also if it floods just take out the spark plug, tip the baja back, hold full throttle, and pull it a few times. Replace the plug and you should be able to start it.

Essential upgrade? I don't know I would recommend almost everything on mine. I think it really depends on where you drive, but outerwears prefilters, and the TR enclosed clutch setup if you drive in dirt and sand are good places to start.

A little water will be no problem, as usual the radio box is probably the most sensitive part. Obviously sucking water in the airfilter is bad, but an outerwears is water resistant.

The dominator line of pipes are built by DDM (Daves Discount Motors), they are all solid pipes.

The kill switch is just a third channel kill switch. It acts as a failsafe, and also so you can kill the engine using the third channel on your radio.

Thanks for the tips and info. I've been surfing the bajaforum looking for answers. Following this guide. http://www.hpibajaforum.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=63157
Started a HELP thread which helped the first time around. I am tearing it apart now going through the carb resealing everything, checking the magneto gap etc. Will grab a couple more new plugs tomorrow and give it another try. Just the little bit I ran it I could tell it was going to be a blast. Soon as I figure out this problem it will be. I've had possessed rcs before that they are just evil. Had a jato like that and sold it and got another jato that was an angel. I'm hoping this isn't one of those cases. A little more cash will be needed to flip it for a different one.

I still have a lst2 that is on the list to convert to brushless before this one. But I want to run it as nitro for a while first. I love the ease and low end power of brushless but before I do a conversion, I've always ran the rc as original as I could first just so I can get a good comparison of how the two different. So far the nitro/gas has had the edge on the bigger scale rcs I've done. On a side note though I've only used 6s max so far.

Here I go again, shopping for items and can't find one place that has them all in stock. So have to order from three different places and three different shipping costs. Damit to all Hell!


Jerry your better off waiting till the kids are out of the house. You'd need to take out a second mortage to get 6 bajas.

You guys got some good deals on your bajas. I can't believe the patience though of not running them yet. Impressive.

[JERRY2KONE]

Yea thanks Gee I know exactly what you mean about not getting into the Baja just yet. That would cost more than I ever plan on investing into R/C.

And it isn't that I have patients Gee. I really do want to get things up and running, but Money talks $$$$$. I can only aford to do so much at a time, and when you have 6 vehicles to worry about it adds up quickly. So I am forced to take my time. I made sure that the boys have everything they need to at least run the stock setups, with a few little hopup items. They got Axial beadlocks with Road Rage 11 tires for Xmas, and the last Novak super duty XR ESC's available at T/H's. The wheels are all setup now, taped tires and balanced for maximum staisfaction. Our next score will be batteries.

The 5b will be in the works next year some time. Sorry to hear about your luck with your new toy. We hope it all works out for you.

[pinkpanda3310]

Originally Posted by Gee

Nice baja billy. What are some essential upgrades for a kit?

If you have a standard baja then you basically want to bring it up to ss spec, decent pipe, metal diff cup etc...

I haven't got it for my car but a ceramic clutch is a good idea. They are 4-5 times expensive but last that much longer if not more. If you do run out of clutch pad you get metal on metal which generates lotsa heat on the crankshaft and screws the bearings. A ceramic clutch will just lose performance with out much issue.

I have also heard if you put aluminium arms on the front you havve a greater chance of cracking the chassis. Under the front skid plate is a couple of screws which create the weak point.

Use high octane fuel and synthetic oil, it burns cleaner so the engine will last longer.

There's probably a few other things but that's all I can remember right now. Hope it helps.

Oh yeah, something else. Use the outer wears not only on the air filter but on the pull cord casing as well. If you run in sand and dirt a lot (as it's the most fun) the stator will get sand blasted.

Originally Posted by pinkpanda3310

If you have a standard baja then you basically want to bring it up to ss spec, decent pipe, metal diff cup etc...

I haven't got it for my car but a ceramic clutch is a good idea. They are 4-5 times expensive but last that much longer if not more. If you do run out of clutch pad you get metal on metal which generates lotsa heat on the crankshaft and screws the bearings. A ceramic clutch will just lose performance with out much issue.

I have also heard if you put aluminium arms on the front you havve a greater chance of cracking the chassis. Under the front skid plate is a couple of screws which create the weak point.

Use high octane fuel and synthetic oil, it burns cleaner so the engine will last longer.

There's probably a few other things but that's all I can remember right now. Hope it helps.

Oh yeah, something else. Use the outer wears not only on the air filter but on the pull cord casing as well. If you run in sand and dirt a lot (as it's the most fun) the stator will get sand blasted.

A Lauterbacher or Alcon clutch is a very nice upgrade, but not necessary. I use the stock Zenoah, not CY, they are very different. Zenoah uses a better pad material that does last longer, plus once you do get to the metal shoe as long as you are paying attention, it will feel different. As long as you ditch the plastic clutch bell carrier, and go with either an enclosed clutch setup or at the minimum an aluminum clutch bell carrier the stock style clutches last quite a while.

Gas is fairly important, make sure the gas you use doesn't have ethanol in it. In some states they use oxygenated gas (I know in Utah they do), that just means that it has ethanol mixed in. While your baja will run on it, the ethanol shortens the life of the seals and diaphrams in the carb. As long as the octane is around 90 you should be fine on all but the highest compression engines. I use Sunoco 260GTX personally and find the baja runs fine on it. Also make sure you use a high quality oil, I personally use Castor 927. Using the cheaper oil designed for lower rpm 2-strokes will not protect the plating on your cylinder. The oil will shear off the wall leaving no protection and the plating will be damaged. As long as you use a high quality synthetic or I use the blend that is designed for high-rpms you will be fine.

I'm impressed at the number of baja owners on this forum. I think the percentage-wise the number of hobbyists that are baja owners is still fairly low though.

[Slowkrawl]

huh, you bring up and interesting point about ethanol. I have been running husky 94 octane which I think is 10% ethanol

I don't think I can find any gas here without ethanol in it....are there any brands that don't mix at least 10% ethanol in their gas anymore? Once the EPA killed MTBE, think everyone went ethanol.

When I was racing 2 strokes, Belray MC-1 was the oil to use - it was 50:1 and lubricated better than most premix oils at 20:1. CR480 never had an engine related prob.

Whats a good brand to use with a Baja? Prev owner was using Pro-Mix Premium - any good?

Originally Posted by Duster_360

I don't think I can find any gas here without ethanol in it....are there any brands that don't mix at least 10% ethanol in their gas anymore? Once the EPA killed MTBE, think everyone went ethanol.

When I was racing 2 strokes, Belray MC-1 was the oil to use - it was 50:1 and lubricated better than most premix oils at 20:1. CR480 never had an engine related prob.

Whats a good brand to use with a Baja? Prev owner was using Pro-Mix Premium - any good?

I'm not sure if any companies don't mix ethanol, I think that most if not all do now. You might look around and see if there is an oil/fuel distributor near you, and ask if they have any unoxygenated fuel. I am lucky enough to have an oil distributor down the street from where I work, and they sell Sunoco fuels by the gallon or the 5 gallon drum. I can also get 55 gallon drums, but I only use the fuel in my baja, and that would last me a while. If you can't find any, like I said ethanol is no big deal, just watch your seals, they may go bad faster.

Belray, Amsoil, Klotz, Castor 927, etc. Everyone will tell you their favorite is something different, and give you reasons why its the best. I use Castor 927 personally, I have no issues with it, it is a castor/synthetic blend, and some may complain that it will build up carbon faster than a synthetic, but I have not experience that. My personal feeling is that any high-quality two-stroke oil designed for high performance engines will work fine. I believe that Pro-Mix is designed more for lower rpm lawn equipment and such, I could easily be wrong, but I think I remember seeing it at Lowes/Home Depot, most of those oils are designed for lower rpm engines.