So I ride my 165 almost exclusively in the winter. For the tight nasty muddy NW trails it is the best mud bike I have. My 511 is a bit big and cumbersome on most of the winter trails we ride. Yesterday buddy Adam wanted to do a longer ride with some pavement connectors and I had not had the 511 out since last fall so I thought I would drag her out. It was supposed to be an OK day but turned out to be rain and this area is SLICK and was soaked. Not ideal for a powerful and heavy beast, or so i thought. Even though I have owned this bike for a few years and 4000 plus miles now it still does not make sense looking at it that this will be a good off road bike especially in these conditions. Having ridden the 165 the last 5 months the big 511 for sure was a re-learning curve. First off OMG, this thing is FAST and powerful. Forgot how fun it is ripping huge wheelies EVERYWHERE. In the tight slick steep stuff it took me a good 5-7 miles to unlearn my 165 skills and relearn what the 511 likes. It is pretty much 180 degrees apart. The 511 is all about motor and being smooth, the 165 is all about pin it and toss it around. Once i got into the rhythm if the 511 it all came back to me. Once again I am floored how this big beast of a bike works so well. When i first hopped on it at the truck it felt like my TR650. Huge and cumbersome. Riding a 125 changes your perception of everything else. I was actually kind of fearful of the crap I knew i was about to get into with this beast. Then I remembered how good it was at off road last year and to just relax and get used to it again. About 10 miles into our 63 miles mudfest it all clicked back into place and the rest of the day was pure wheelie machine and hill climb thunder. We did some big ass hills. I outclimbed my buddies TE310 several times. That CTS just keeps laying it down. Just keep a steady throttle out of the fun zone and it just keep clawing forward. I climbed some stuff yesterday that should not have been climbed. many hills here are usually one way (down) only as they are ridiculously steep. We liket o go up many of these as it is fun. We are good long time riders and can climb this stuff without f-ing up the trails and stop before we dig holes. But it is sure fun trying to see how far we can get up them. In the end it was a nasty sloppy day in the challenging Trask Mountain area that left me once again amazed and totally satisfied int he amazing performance of this redheaed stepchild of a bike. I know people who do not own one of these write them off as crap. I personally am happy I have one of these soon to be extinct odd balls. I will just keep this strange bike and keep riding it with a huge smile on my face and just keep riding it. I hope people get fearful of this soon to be discontinued goofy bike and start offing them cheap on Craigslist because I want a TC449 to leave stripped for woods riding. Still loving this platform despite what a crappy bike I'm told it is. 63 miles of sloppy fun... My own personal Norm (Buddy Adam with his TE310 loking like Norm with his big beard) Super slick trails of clay covered in decomposing leaves while raining that got me thinking I brought the wrong bike... No matter, lets do this... This was the bottom of a nasty hill. I made it to near the top, Adam not so much as he needs a new rear tire. Note CRF fender on the stump. This hill is a down hill and still takes prisoners. This is near the top of where I made it, note the grade and my rear tire... Steep and slick everywhere... Found a fun play area to goof off in...
Also found the pot of gold... Looks like Adam found the other end of the pot of gold... One more super fun day in the mud in the books and a reminder how great the TE511 is.
I don't like you. Just when I fall in love with the 165 you make me think of the tc449...you 2 bike guys suck lol
great post up top K... I feel the same way and plan on keeping this top ten worst bike. I like oddities and ones that work are even better.
Boys having a blast, cant fault a top day out on the beast. Thanks for posting. Think you might have had to ride my bike up some of those hills for me.
Nice pics and I used to switch from a Harley 883 during the week back to my 02 CR250 Husky on the weekends... This exchange made the CR250 seem like a tooth pic ... All that riding in the mud will really help with practicing throttle control, keeping traction, proper braking and most all dirt bike riding skills ...It is almost like some sort of stress test for riding .. A new rear tire goes a long way here for improving the odds for the rider & bike ...
Me too, although, the closest staging spot to the trask from my front door is just over an hour... I guess I'm lucky!!
what exhaust is that on your bike im trying to find something for my te449 and im not to crazy about the fmf offering?
Pretty EZ to do it you feel like it. Real EZ to chop the mid pipe and weld any muffler that fits on there. The Barrett uses movable stainless steel strap from mounting which makes it simple to use. I think I have a few of these mufflers laying around here if you want one. Will make you a good deal on it.
