Finally got out for a ride today. Did a nice street/dirt road loop covering approximately 120 miles. The bike averaged 41MPG, which is not too bad since I did a bit of spirited canyon carving. Will be interesting to see what the MPG drops to in real dirt. The bike runs great and has a nice smooth power-band. It reminds me a lot of my old XR650R. The biggest difference is in the vibrations. The Old BRP was electric smooth, while the Husky is pretty vibey. I can really feel it through the foot pegs and seat. I'm hoping it will smooth out a bit once the engine breaks in properly. The power delivery is almost electric. Very linear, unlike the 525s and 530s I have ridden which have a bit more snap off the line. The seat is atrocious and will be redone shortly. The exhaust with the DB killer inserted sounds just right. On the other hand the intake snarl is really loud and can be heard through earplugs. So far I love the bike. Lots of fun to ride!
So I finally got to put some real off-road miles on the bike. Me likes: The bike is great and handles better than the XR. It feels more nimble and maneuverable, where as the BRP and that rock solid straight line speed, just what it was designed for in Baja, but was a bit of a brute in the tight stuff. Power delivery on the EFI TE510 is nice an linear. At first it feels like it's laking a bit compared to the snap of a carbed bike, but once you get in the dirt the smooth, electric like power delivery is great. It really helps put the traction down. On a side not the EOM Karoo-II's are awful. The rear is OK and does a decent job, but the font is abysmal and tends to wash out really badly. I plan on putting some real dirt rubber on there soon. I'm initially thinking of trying out the Maxxis IT Desert Tires. I'll put those on before I go to White Wash in March. The vibes are still there, but you hardly notice them when riding off road and on terrain like this: Suspension wise I'm digging the bike. The forks are still a bit stiff, but they are still not fully broken in. Even so they are working much better on the rocks than the professionally re-valved forks I had on the BRP. I wonder if this is due to the steel vs. aluminum frame of the two bikes. The BRP would just beat me up on the rocks, while the TE seems pretty smooth. The only issue I had was the bike running a bit hot. Temps were around 60F and the fan stayed on most of the time. Granted it was rocky 1st and 2nd gear two track I was doing. Here are a few more pics from the days ride:
Appears to be some nice terrain to fully break in the suspenison. Nice photos also. My 08 TE510 came with Michelin Enduro III tires which have proven to be extemely adequate for my ride terrain. I wasn't aware that Husky was sticking Karoos on their 2010 TE510s.. that doesn't even make any sense for the TE610s let alone the 510s. I'm surprised your 510 was running warm since I've never experienced that problem with mine even in 90 degree temps doing 1st and 2nd gear single track. I'm wondering if that DB killer you have stuffed in the exhaust is the source of your heat issues??? I'd try a ride without that plugging up the exhaust air flow and see what happens. I'm wondering how the new front forks and 15mm shorter swing-arm on the 2010 affects the handling in comparison to the 80/09 versions? The upper midwest isn't as rock infested but we have our own challenges which can leave you stranded..
Is the fan stock on the FI 510's ? Is there just one - how does it operate, via a thermostat (and if so where is it) or via a switch or ? I ask since, unlike a previous poster, I have big problems with my 510 overheating and I strongly suspect that is what killed my 450. Love everything else about the bike but I have to figure the overheating out.
The bike is looking great! I bet that the snap off the bottom could be had with a bit of fiddling with the fi mapping (not sure that snap off the bottom is desirable though).
Is the jetting set up properly? Do you have an UPTITE "Y". Those help keep the bike nice & cool. You can add a fan as long as you're not running the IMS 3.9 gallon tank.
Aside from the overheating, it runs just fine and the PO did say he had re-jetted so I have to assume yes. It does have the Uptite Y and I am running a Clarke tank. My 450 was definitely jetted correctly and had the Y and it still over heated. So where do I get the fan - does it come stock on the FI 510's ? Can I get it from Halls or somewhere like that ? Cheers
The fan is stock on the 2010 and runs off a thermostat. I'm just assuming the bike is running a bit hot in the tight stuff because the fan was on most of the time. It could also be that Husky has set the bike up w/ a relatively low temperature thermostat and that the bike is running properly. I kind of wish I had a temperature gage.
Thanks I found the fan and bracket in the parts PDF at Halls. I'll give them a call and see what the scoop is. If nothing else, if I can make it fit, I'll wire it up to a switch so I can turn it on and off myself. As for a temp gauge, I hated the stock speedo/odo (on mine it only comes on when the engine is running which, quite frankly, is stupid) so I put the Trailtech computer on there (I forget the model) but that does have a temp gauge. It also offers a lot more functionality than the stock speedo, but the model I have does not have neutral lights (you can get them) but I have learned to live with that.
Pull that big plug (DB Killer) you stuck in the end of the exhaust and try it.. I'll bet you notice a significant difference right away both in operating temps and performance.
I looked at this pic again: Did you use the OEM bracket or just attach the fan to the rad guard ? Cheers
Where did you find a HID that fit the stock housing? I had to do a ghetto mod to make my HID bulb work. Im with you on the loud pipe, Im a fan or quieter is better.I just ordered a quite insert. Loud bikes get trails closed around here. Another solution to the Overheating is try a higher temp radiator cap, that will keep the bubbles out of the radiator fluid longer.
Not sure why your 510 is loud without the db killer?? My 08 TE510 with the Arrow exhaust and sparky in only puts out faint 96db,, hardly anything that is going to cause a concern. I was actually surprised at how quiet it is.
The rad fan is mounted to the OFG Radiator brace as per design. The HID is a cheap Bi-Xenon HID from VVME with a digital slim ballast. Vendor Link Great service and speady delivery. I had one one my KTM 950 Adv w/ the euro healight and it worked great. The Bi-Xenon is not as good as a single HID, but still better than stock. Not sure of it's the Husky reflector or the Bi-Xenon HID that is the issue. I suspect a combination of both. This is what my bulb looks like: http://www.vvme.com/bixenondual-beam-hid-bulbs-p-35.html?cPath=15 It fit right in just like the standard bulb. I do have the new and improved 2010 headlight on the HUsky. That might be the difference.
96dB is actually quite loud, certaily loud enough to get our favorite riding areas shut down. My 2 cents
If I recall correctly , my stock exhaust was stamped at 92 db right from the factory all plugged up with the cat-con and sparky.. There wasn't a noticable difference on the 08 version from stock plugged exhaust to the power-up kit arrow exhaust.~ 4DB. Does your state have a db limit for their sound compliance checks? Most do.
That's not the issue: 1- I think the Husky exhausts are ambitiously rated for their dB output. 2- The local mandates are still a bit high on the dB side. They are closer to race mandates than practical sound levels that will keep our riding areas open. I prefer to err on the quiet side than be to loud. Having said that I'm the kind of guy that likes to go on a 500 mile DS ride and cover all kinds of terrain and come back in the middle of the night! Trailer-queening it to the local riding area and ripping it for a couple of hours just does not do it for me.
Also, I'm not sure if its a DB-optimism thing or something else, but I've noticed that if a two stroke with a <93db exhaust and four stroke with the same dB rating are riding together and coming toward me I can hear the thumper long before the pinger. I think it is extremely wise to keep it quiet, especially off road - noise is probably one of the biggest reason riding areas get shut down and so very easy to fix. IIRC its the KLX450 that makes good power in stock form and is extremely quiet - perhaps if nothing else that muffler could be adpated to fit the husqvarna if its not quiet enough for you:)
