Calling all 2013 TE449 owners - Would you buy it again?

The 449/511 seem to be pretty reliable...

Hell YES I would buy it again. LOVE this motorcycle.

http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/another-great-weekend-on-the-511.34075/#post-323289

Mike-AK can hate dislike on it all he wants, don't care. Has been super reliable, super satisfying, is not afraid to think outside the box and don't look now but the people that actually own one and ride one seem to love it. I don't care where the engine is built it is reliable and speaking to dealers and people in the know (not internet jockeys) they all say how stinking reliable they are. So we can spout all we want about the motor but it is very good if your willing to look past the hate spread on it on some crapfest internet forums. I have had PILES of huskys. My Taiwanese motor seems to have no issues when riding with my Indian built (KTM) brothers. Valves have not moved in over 4000 hard miles. Crap seems to last forever on this bike. Zero bolts backing out like my 08 TE450 would (had to keep an eye on many bolts on that bike but was a very good bike too. It is simply NOT the POS some want it to be, sorry.

Tinken beat me to it. I remember the travails of keeping oil in a Yamaha 500 4 stroke my best friend was racing ....circa 1974 . We were motocrossing, but every flattracker on the planet showed us their oil catch system.

The problem is due to the simple physics of the big bore racing engine in a tight package.


BMW made a simple business decision that the system was adequate for all those casually ridden TEs and that the rest of us would apply the centuries of hot rodding knowledge to improving the weak points.

I had two CRF450X Hondas and one of the selling features to me was the separate tranny oil. In the end I would rather change the oil in my 511 every other week than deal with a powerband that wore me out and a starting ritual that bordered on absurd with the Hondas.

My Android smartphone locked up twice last week.

This simply is not the case. My "love fest" has exactly ZERO to do with trying to sell anything. I am not trying to talk someone into buying a bike because i think down the road I can sell this person something. I REALLY do like this bike and I also have a "love fest" with my 04 125 which I sell nothing but a 165 kit someone else makes and I just help facilitate the sales of. I get this once in a while where it seems I cant like something because I am just trying to sell. I make almost nothing for the 449/511 except a damper setup and rotor guards that cross over from many models. This simply is not the case (car sales approach). I like this bike because it is stone reliable, works fantastic for me, takes me anywhere, is cool looking (to me) and unique. I embrace out of the box thinking and like odd stuff. This bike just does it for me. I am not alone here. Look at this thread. Almost 100% of the people who actually own one love it. I used to cycle through bikes pretty often but am very happy with my 04 165, 511 and TR650 to cover everything and am in no hurry to sell my 511 as I ride it a ton and love it and it works great for me. Why cant it just be that simple without reading a bunch into it. The people that are hating on it here don't own one and many have never rode one and just hate it because it is BMW inspired and did not win races. Thats fine. I'll just enjoy mine and continue to give honest assessments of my 2 plus years and 4500 miles on the bike riding all sorts of terrain on. Seems all my freinds who toss a leg over it love it too. I get tired of the "this bikes need thousands of dollars of upgrades" posts too. I "fixed" my oil in the airbox "issue" with a $5 hunk of hose. It really "needs" nothing else. If you want more power and better running the $40 ECU remap and a $200 muffler will get you huge power upgrades. This is a great bike IMHO.

Its all good. Good points and understood. I liked my bike with the race map II (free) and $5 hose plus uncorked stock can so really it can be a good bike for nearly free and you must keep in mind pretty much all DEQ legal factory bikes need some uncorking / remapping at some point to run like a closed course bike should. Buy a TXC or TC and deal with non of these issues. I ride with many KTM 350 riders and they are all struggling more than we are to make the EFI work right. I don't want a fight ether just want to be able to like a bike and not be called out as a car salesman. It's not just this post that Mike posted about it is an accumulation of his posts and obvious hate for the bike. Even though he owns a bike he had to replace the ECU and injector to get to run right and holds a shared 1 quart of oil which he claims is stupid (yet pretty standard these days even on the uber reliable YZF motors). Which is fine but tiring to read from guys that have not owned a bike how horrible it is. There is another web forum for stuff like that. Bottom line is a ride with piles of KTM owners and those are said to be the top performers and win at all levels. I feel I give up nothing to them and am quite happy to toil away on my "inferior" machine all day long. IMHO it is a great bike stock that needs a little sorting due to EPA regs and the plate. After that it is VERY good. ZipTy did a few things for mine and it took it to yet another level of performance. This and the complete lack of needing to fix anything (no bearing failures, no bolts backing out, valves have never moved, no E-stater issues, no crap mikuni EFI that needs injectors and ECUs, an air filter that stays clean forever, CTS that seems to make the chain and sprockets last forever, etc.) for over 4000 miles. Can hardly wait to put some more miles on it. It is slightly cumbersome int he really tight stuff at walking speeds for sure. Most big bore dualsport based bikes with a plate are. Once it opens up to half throttle in 1st or above I am all smiles and couldn't ask for much more. When the new 70 degree Bergs came out I demoed on for a weekend and fell in love with the FE390. I bought this bike hoping it would be a similar mount and I feel it really is.