Dual-sporting a 2010 TE 450, with cheap tricks

Thanks for leading us around, we both had a blast! Some of it was a little difficult with our tires and my gearing but I like a challenge, we'll have to do that again sometime. I have some video I'll try to get up within the week.

19,000 mile report
18,000 mile report was Mar 2014

It took awhile to get this latest 1000 miles since our favorite riding area got closed down some months ago. Probably won't hit 20,000 til next spring.

I did the 1000 mile oil change and found little to worry about in the oil, the filter is 2000 miles old, looks OK to me.

I changed the fuel pumps out, got rid of the CarQuest/Toyota pump that I installed in the field in June 2013. I felt like it was not really the best pump for a dirt bike and I have to say, the CAcycleWorks pump sounds better and seems to be performing better than the car pump.

I've got 2 frozen spoke nipples on the rear, need to cut those out and get them replaced.

The sticky Seat Concepts seat cover was causing me to have massive problems with my ass, turns out, my pants were sticking to the seat and my ass was getting rubbed raw inside my pants. I bought a $5 piece of stretchy vinyl at the craft store and stretched a single piece over the great Seat Concepts foam and it solved my problem.

So I just picked up an 08 TE450 with 140 miles on it and let's just say this thread is invaluable, I've read the whole thing. I'm new to EFI dirtbikes and Husqvarna so this solid bank of quality information is extremely helpful. Thanks for the write up.

If you want to sell it, let me know first.....

Oh yeah, I can make a TXC 450 street legal. I just emailed the guy...

Thanks man, I might the proud owner of a 2008 TXC 450 with zero miles in a couple of weeks!

Nice score and a good candidate for a Lectron carb.

Just got on it so it may be a little while.

I gave up on owning the 2008 TXC 450, too much work to get it sorted, just to have the same bike I've had for 4 years, gotta move on.....

Had a great ride this weekend with JT on his DRZ, he's fast on that bike, faster than me. Pics below, some virgin territory, a housing addition just getting started. Had a problem coming home, ran out of gas, since not all of my aux tank had been siphoned to the main tank, so I siphoned some to my empty water bottle, then rode to the gas station, but it seemed to be dying on me with a quart of gas in it. So I came home, pulled the fuel pump to check it, it was OK, then I put in some fresh premium gas, but it still was running like crap. It's the video below, and then pics from the ride below that.

Well, I replaced the fuel filter and pump strainer, filtered the gas again, still runs like crap, won't idle, blubbers at low end revs, seems to run OK up top, but it's unrideable the way it is. Can't believe it ran so good all day long yesterday, then run out of gas and now it runs like crap. I guess I'll start looking at wires, but the thing is, it DID start and idle better after the new parts, and I thought it was fixed, but it just got worse and worse the longer it idled.

Well, it's not the fuel pump, I put my old Toyota pump back in, it was working fine when I pulled it out to put the new CAcycleWorks pump in. Same problem as in the video, it starts fine and idles at 1900, but almost immediately, the idle starts to decline then it just dies.

When I remembered that I couldn't outrun JT on his DRZ at the end of the day, in a stop light drag race, I started thinking, "I've seen these symptoms before", unexplained dying at idle, poor idle, poor power performance, etc. Sure glad I did a quick spray test (the video below, stop the vid when the bike dies or else it gets a little gross). The bike died after I quit spraying on the left side and moved to the right, since the failure was on the left side of the boot. Gonna put my OEM boot on, the one that got damaged at 6000 miles by the high heat incident, it seems to be a heavier duty boot than the last 2 I have put on.



Another one bites the dust, this is the second replacement boot that has failed, this one only lasted 1000 miles or so.

Good to have found the culprit. Just got a replacement for my intake union.
Maybe I will apply 303 Aerospace protectant to the piece before install.
From the location of fracture/cracks I would guess as a stress fracture.
Hope there is a decent remaining parts supply of that union

Well, I put the original boot on, which I thought was fairly airtight, bike started up good and idled at 2000 RPM, took it for a ride, rapped it out good, ran like a champ, brought it back to the garage, bam , it died, wouldnt start, seemed like the same thing, sprayed carb cleaner on it again and whaddayouknow, same left side is bad and the short ride just opened it up. New one being sent by Bryon at BMP, hope to have it Friday, total of $165 spent on 3 intake boots in 19000 miles.

I called Bryon on Tuesday, had the new boot in my hand Thursday, got it on Friday, but no joy in Mudville...same symptoms, no idle, blubbery, down on power....I also replaced the temp sensor since it seems to have failed as I was trouble shooting the boot.

Well, that's disappointing. Want that 450 of yours to keep brapping along continuing its story

The intake boot didn't fix me up, so I headed for the culprit most responsible for problems on this bike: chafed wires. Found several, including the next to last pic, which is the fuel pump power line, and the last pic which was a loose connector on the battery ground! Alas, still no joy in Mudville......same symptoms....time to try a suggestion from a previous post.....