Who is familiar with carls 860 motor curious if this totally fixes the problems in the 08-10 800 IQs. How reliable are they and what should a person know or look for. And what is good compression for used Thanks
carls 860 motor Qs
- Thread starter sevenhundo
- Start date
Isn't the 860 built off the 600 engine though? I was thinking it was, I could be wrong, definately would not be the first time and surly not the last.
860
The 860 is built on the 600 and 840 on 700 or 800 motor. If 600 you get a stroker crank with the kit.
Jack says he has had not issues with failures on these kits unlike the stock 800. He attributes that to the fact that those ridden in the Boise area are totally warmed up prior to hard riding because all the places they ride have some distance of trail before you get to the play areas. He also says he hasn't seen any stock failures for the same reason.
Because of that, I warm mine up good before riding.
The 860 is built on the 600 and 840 on 700 or 800 motor. If 600 you get a stroker crank with the kit.
Jack says he has had not issues with failures on these kits unlike the stock 800. He attributes that to the fact that those ridden in the Boise area are totally warmed up prior to hard riding because all the places they ride have some distance of trail before you get to the play areas. He also says he hasn't seen any stock failures for the same reason.
Because of that, I warm mine up good before riding.
There are 2 860's built by Carls. One is built off the carb'd 600 which includes a crank.
The other 860 is based off the 800 CFI platform. The 840 is built off the 700 CFI motor.
My riding partner used to have one and it was an awesome motor. At 1,600 miles, the V-force reeds chipped up so we went ahead and rebuilt it since it was during the off-season.
There is one in the swap meet for an excellent price. Wish I had the money, I'd buy it.
I am also one of the unlucky 09 800 Dragon owners. Have mine at Carl's Cycle now getting ready to put the 860 Kit in. I only have 1400 miles on mine and have a cracked cylinder skirt. Could not see paying to put junk parts back in it and have the same problem a short time later. Tom at Carl's said he just had a customer bring a sled in with their 860 kit that had 4500 miles on it and the owner had not done a thing to it since they put the kit on it, Brought it in for new pistons and rings. The kits are spendy but at least it gives you a dependable motor. Good luck
Pretty sad when the big bore kits main attribute over the stocker is better reliability.
The added power is just a bonus that one can enjoy because they can actually RIDE the sled. 
Thanks for the info eveeryone. my father inlaw sold his 900 and he has been looking at dragons but ive found a few with the 860 motor. I didnt have to tow out his 900 so i didnt want to tow a dragon that was my main concern. Anyone know what good compressin is on the 860s that is used. Thanks
Anyone? someone must know compression and HP Thanks
Compression will depend on the heads installed and the elevation you are checking compression at. They have 2 or 3 different sets of heads. I would find out what the orginal owner had the sled set up for and call Chris @ Carls with that information to see what they put in the engine for heads. From there you will be able to get an idea on the cranking compression.
Carls doesn't quote HP numbers so you won't be finding those, the engines run good and the 860 carb set up for High Alt 9K+ was 10-66's and a 64-44 .46 helix.
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At 5000' my friends pulled about 125-130 ish compression, not sure what head he went with tho. I'm guessin power would be aprox 180-185 ish maybe a tad more based on seat of the pants..lol thats also with slp race twins/stingers as well
