TE/TC 17 TE 150

Thanx! I really enjoyed building it.

I got a chance to get about 15 minutes riding in my back field to check my latest carb settings and I'm not worried now. Nice and crisp and pulls hard. I would have to say I'm about 90-95 % there thanks to the advice on here. Looking forward to some high desert riding next weekend.

Masterpiece Darin!

I think I saw somewhere in the thread that at least a few guys got RKTek heads for the 150. If so, how do you like it? What was the cost?

Thanx Walt!

Isnt it going to hurt to race it in a tough muddy race like last year? Its beautiful

Thanx! Yeah I got talked into that race. Only mud from now on is..... Spectator at womens mud wrestling contest.

Now that I'm servicing the forks:

This is how I set them up stiction free, every time now, when wheel goes on.

With all the fork internals removed.

Install the forks back in triples.

Install the front axle loose.

Compress forks all the way up and hold them with bungee strap, zip tie or etc.....

Next center punch your bottom axle clamp feet.

Using a Tool Shop brand Trammel/Circle tool. Bout whopping $13 bux.

Set tool from center punch to center punch.

Now measure from point to point on your Trammel/circle tool.

I got 185 mm.

Next mark your axle clamp feet with the 185mm, with permanent sharpie.
I stamped mine but you can see in pics.
Go write it down in your manual.

I wrap my Tremmal/circle tool with electrical tape so it won't move.

From now on, I will use the tool to make sure my axle clamp feet are spot on and with no stiction.

I also adjust my forks, up on the top lines, in triples, making sure that my axle turns freely in the axle clamp feet.

If it does then your length up and down makes your forks bind at axle.

In use.....

left is the master the right side floats until you tighten it. snug the left with the axle nut and clamps left is basically done. then do the suspension comp and the right will find center/unloaded snug right and torque per spec. just a suggestion.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhb25ElKdEU

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qRIxzf9nqA

loosen the right side axle clamp and with no front brake bump the front wheel against a wall compressing the forks. This will perfectly line up the forks so now without disturbing the alignment tighten the right side axle clamp. If the right side doesn't float inside of the clamp when loose due to rock ding or a dumb ass hitting it with a hammer the remove the ding with a file and fine sandpaper. You can go one step further by loosening one side of the lower triple clamp if you've had a recent crash and the triples are twisted and in a bind (of course do this while the right lower clamp is loose before you align the axle).

Should I make this a 150?

Absolutely!

I'm going to convert my 82 to one this fall.

Finally after months of frustration with work and weather I finally got out for a real ride on the TE150 at the China Hat Poker run just outside of Bend OR last weekend. The 38 mile poker run was almost exactly the first loop of the ISDE event run the next day so it was a pretty fair mix of easy to hard trails. Kudos to the Lobos MC for the great event they put on this year.

OK full disclosure here, I'm 61 and positive I don't go as hard as you guys do so keep that in mind.

All I can say is this bike is exactly what I was looking for. The following is essentially a rehash of what almost everyone else has said about it but it is worth repeating.

Super light and just goes where you point it with no argument. We were riding mostly whooped out trails and as near as I can tell the suspension is good for my 180-185 lbs with gear with no spring changes. I could slam the whoops and the bike would just track straight, no rear end hop, no bottoming or packing, just rode right over them (well at least until my old legs wore out and then I had to slow down and ride over/through them). Never had stock suspension work this good without being worked on by a suspension shop. There isn't a lot of elevation change at China Hat so no real feel for how it's going to do on longer, steep hill climbs, but I'm not too worried.

This bike is so easy to stand up on and grip the seat/tank junction with your knees that I found myself standing up most of the time (OK so I was pretty much forced to stand because of all the whooped trails). I've set the bars forward and ordered a bar rise kit with several height choices to get the ergos right for standing. The other thing I noticed is my size 9 boots are too short for the gear shift lever which is pretty odd. With my feet on the pegs the front of my boot is just about even with the lever. If I could move it back about 1 - 1.5 inches that would be good. I've never heard of shorter gear shift levers but I'm hoping somebody makes one.

I was a bit concerned with my jetting but I had it close enough when I left that it worked without too much fuss up at elevation. It did load up a tiny bit at low throttle settings if I was idling around too much. Ran good from idle through the mid and up into the pipe with no stumbles or hesitations that I could tell. I don't normally ride at that elevation and will do most of my minor jetting changes when I'm back to normal elevation. Again I'm probably not as sensitive as you fast guys about having absolutely perfect jetting.

Fuel mileage is OK, my rough calc shows ~ 35-40 mpg during the 38 mile loop. I was worried after reading stories of short ranges per tank but I think setting the float to 8mm and looping the bowl drain tube up and over solved the problems. Also I probably get better economy than the fast guys as I don't hold it high up in the rpm's on single track for long.

The yellow spring really mellowed the hit. Maybe too much for terrain with good traction. The high elevation could also have been a contributor to the mellow feel. I'm going to play with the yellow PV spring setting and try the blue spring I have to see if I can't get to a spot I like.

Seat Concepts low seat was much more comfortable than stock. The stock tires aren't the best but I'll run them until they are gone and get something different.

Was it cheap? Not really. Is it a complete blast? Absolutely! This bike is just the motivator for getting myself in much better shape so I can ride more up to the bikes potential. If you're riding single track and like a small bore 2T this is the machine for you.

And of course the obligatory pic. The weather was 65, dry and sunny during the day, couldn't have been better for camping. A very nice change from the constant rain in the Willamette Valley.

Noel