Dual-sporting a 2010 TE 450, with cheap tricks

They are always harder than they look !!!

This one didn't end well !

Gets good at about 3:16


View: http://youtu.be/SrknBxMJghs?t=3m16s

That'll take out the license plate and/or the rear fender!


On my latest ride, one of my buddies mentioned that the Husky was waaay loud. I referenced HUSKYnXJnWI 's excellent post here
http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/repack-arrow-exhaust-2009.20757/
and was able to tear down and repack my Arrow, albeit with some blood involved....which is par for my work.

Result? Quieter? More power?

Waaay quieter, and I only put a small $7 sheet of glas in there, it will easily fit another sheet the same size. I'm gonna ride it this weekend and see if I blow any out, and if I think I need another sheet, I'll put it in later.

13,000 mile report
12,000 mile report was on Jan 8, 2013

Clutch MC rebuild solved the lost fluid issue, the Honda clutch plates, the 7602 piston and the OEM cylinder are fine together, I was just losing fluid at the top. New head gasket, new comp release cable, new muffler packing, bike is running great. In a drag race thru the gears, I am running right along side a Beta 450RR with about 500 miles on it, my Honda XR650L buddy got rid of his BRP and is now on "the other" Italian bike. My other buddy got rid of his WR250R and is riding a 500 EXC now. That bike pulls me a little in 6th gear. To celebrate 13,000 miles, me and the KTM guy did some bush whacking, I got a flat, a cactus thorn pierced the rear sidewall and didn't stay in the tire, just 1 hole in the side of the 1 year old tube, I patched it and we rode on. Then I went across town and did some single-track with my Beta buddy, we had to pass on a 10 foot straight down cliff-ette, we just didnt feel lucky today!










And we rode again on Sunday....

A little over 500 miles on the little Metzler UniCross 120 tire, it was a fun tire, great traction, soft on the rough stuff but durable, great handling in the slow single track, a few knobs got damaged a little but there was no knobs that disappeared whole. I guess I could have gone another couple hundred miles on it, but when you have a XCMH 140 bad boy waiting in the garage and some rain passed thru the area last night, you just get the itch to get some max hook-up on the trails....

Had to replace the rear brake pads, just used the $40 ones that Bryon at BMP sent me, should be good until 26,000 miles....



The muffler hanger near the mid-pipe broke, had to get that welded up for $25

Glad you were able to save the pipe!

We did some hard dual sport today, 3 locations, some water to play in, went back over one section and found a jacket and gloves I lost last week, that was a big score, temps in the high 70s, felt like I was gonna melt inside my gear. The TE450 has never run better, I have a lot of confidence in it's ability to keep up with the 450RR and the 500EXC

GEAR UPDATE

I bought a pair of Sidi Discovery Rain boots when I got the Husky 2 years ago. I got the boots for $100, and they were practically brand new, the guy had only worn them a couple of times and didn't like them....my gain. So, the boots have 2 years and 13,000 miles on them and the right side sole was almost a goner, so I took the boots to my local cobbler and they did a great job with a very thick Vibram sole, for $80 and I got them back in 4 days.










I got a pair of Klim Dakar pants a few months ago and ended up burning a big hole in the lower left leg, I didn't want to try and put anymore heat shields on, and I suspected the water pump might have been in on the burn as well, so I had a saddle shop sew a piece of cheap leather over the hole, and it's working real good, I can hug up on the tank on the fast, loose right hand corners and my left leg can stand the heat now. About $30 added to a $60 used pant.

What a awesome thread for us rookie Dual Sporters to read. You guys rock!

Thanks man, you'll like this next part, you'll pack a little extra in your kit bag....and you might go check your bike too....

This Saturday, we had a few guys do our DS loop, and a 450EXC guy had his rear caliper pin and one pad fall out, he went for the rear brake and there was none! I found the pad but we couldn't find the pin. We tried an allen wrench, a good fit, but the "L" end was gonna clip the spokes for sure. I had some large wire, I cut 4 equal pieces and he put 'em in and bent both ends of all pieces and he rode the rest of the day with us! And Sunday morning, I took a look at my front caliper...and what do you think I found missing on my bike.....(second pic)

Had an awesome 2 days riding this weekend, 80sF, hot, and bright...found some new dirt around the declining lake ..

Those pins are notorious for that, trail junk just pulls them out if given the chance.

I safety wire the brake pins/clips to prevent that.

About to post the 14,000 mile update, wanted to put the tire update first.
Last year, a guy rode with us that had plated a 511 TXC and I noticed at the time, that bike had a 110 rear tire on it. My buddy recently got a Beta 450RR and it had a 110 rear tire on it. I have always loved the consistency, rubber compound and tread design on the Pirelli XCMH, so I bought a 110, since I had such good luck with my test of several 120 tires last year, and after feeling the decent traction I got in some really loose stuff I rode this past weekend, I am sticking with the 110 width, it just handles so awesome and quick, makes my 450 feel lighter than it really is, and the price is something that I can live with, and put a new one on every 750 miles. The 110 measures more like a 120, whereas the 140 measures more like a 130.
Pirelli - XCMH Dual Sport Rear Tire 110/100 x 18 = $69 (with 5% off from MSS)
discount code = M320-5-Pirelli-S1, order a couple of inner tubes and get free shipping

The worn out tire is the 140 width.
140 = carcass-106mm, widest knob-132mm
110 = carcass-101mm, widest knob-118mm

The XCMH 110/100 is new. It was just 140/80 and 120/100. I did not want the extra hight of the 120/100. Love the 110/100 size. Now I know what tire I'm trying next.

OHR, do you have measurements on a Motoz Tractionator 110/100? How does the MCMH wear?

I dont have measurements on any Motoz tire, we should have a thread so that everybody can post the measurements of the tires that they run.

The Pirelli XCMH is not a long life tire, it gets half used at 500 miles and is pretty done at 750 miles. The last one made it about 8 dual sport rides, about 2 months.

The Motoz is not a long life tire either. I'm gonna get same miles you did with the XCMH. Post up how you did the measurements, tools ect, on or off the rim. I'll measure my next Motoz and post.

14,000 mile report
13,000 mile report was on Mar 9, 2013

I just thought my clutch MC leakage was fixed, turns out, the bore has some aberrations and it still leaks, I don't have an appropriate tool to hone that little bore, so I am just watching the level and carrying baby oil with me.




Otherwise, the bike is running great, my cooling system is working so damn good now that there is not a leak into the combustion chamber. My 75% water and 25% coolant mix is just under the cap, when the bike gets warmed up, the catch bottle holds the expansion, and when the bike cools down, it all goes back into the rad, hadn't worked so well in a long time.


I knew I was having a problem with my shifter when I went to tighten it up a few months ago and I felt like I rounded the head of the bolt a little bit. This vid shows how loose the lever was on the shaft, I knew the next thing to happen would be the lever rotating on the shift shaft and me being screwed on the trail.

Bryon at BMP sent me a Driven shifter and getting the old one off took so damn long, I modified the new bolt by grinding some grippers so I could hand turn it as far as possible.