FE/FC Fe350 impressions and mods

Hello all,

I am a longtime lurker but felt I should start sharing my experiences to help others since this site has been so helpful to me. I have been working on my new FE350s that I bought in February. To make a long story short I have been riding my 14 Terra but wanted something more dirt worthy and spent the bucks to get the fe350s-- And I haven't regretted it for a minute-- BEST bike I have ever owned.

I am a fan of keeping a bike "stock" and declared to my bro and dad (my riding partners) that the bike was staying stock when I brought it home from the dealer. BTW, here is a shout out to my Husky Dealer in Fontana, CA JOHN BURR. Shopped around for this bike at 5 dealers over about a week and spent HOURS at several dealers but could not come to compromise on price. I called John Burr, drove over, and left with the bike two hours later. BEST PRICE and BEST INTEREST rate with no hassles at all. They are a newish Husky dealer.

Anyhow, the idea of leaving the bike "stock" vanished in about two weeks when I decided I wanted to get rid of the backfire/popping and wanted to get some more power out of the bike. Problem is, as I started reading the forums there was SO MUCH cool stuff to do to the bike that I started upgrading the bike and haven't stopped! What a difference the upgrades made!!

DESMOG: didn't "feel" any different but I CAN CONFIRM that this gets rid of the popping and backfiring. I was so pleased and it was a really easy fix.
FMF 4.1 MEGABOMB PIPE AND MUFFLER: all I can say is wow! It wasn't cheap but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Just the addition of this exauhst changed the bike's power by 10-20%. It now growls and roars and has power to pull me through tough terrain.
50 TOOTH REAR SPROCKET: This was a cheap, nice upgrade. I still have 14 tooth front and may change to 13 eventually. Going from the stock 45 to 50 dropped me about a gear in my normal riding conditions. On technical single track where I was riding 1st and 2nd, now I am riding 2nd and 3rd gear. I did the chain as well at the same time. It was my first time doing a sprocket and chain by myself and I accidentally cut too many links out so I had to adjust the rear wheel in further than I wanted. I think I cut 4 links out of a 120 link chain and should have only cut three. This would have allowed the wheel to be almost all the way back. Oh well, next time I will get it perfect!
POWER COMMANDER: Have this on order; haven't received it just yet. I expect this to finish turning the stock mild 350s into a full-time screamer!
DIGITAL FAN: It bothered me that my fan was running so much and so often so I bought the digital fan from Husky. A couple of things: 1- the husky book and website is incorrect on the wire harness you need to install this. The accessories catalog says you need the "Y" harness, which I ordered. WRONG! It needs the Accessory Harness that runs straight from the battery, and of course it is on back order. So here was my temporary fix...I took the stock fan and mounted in on the other radiator and kept it plugged into the stock harness. So the new digital fan is mounted but no power to it yet. Cool thing is I think I will keep both fans on the back even when I get the new one hooked up. I'll set the digital fan to come on about 185 and if the bike is really the hot the stock one will kick on around 195.
SUSPENSION: I haven't upgraded anything but have gone through the settings repeatedly to find the right settings. I would say this is the one place I have the least experience and can't figure out how many "clicks" to do on each setting. I have most of the settings set to what the manual calls "aggressive or race" settings (I forget the word they use but the opposite of comfort). I had the settings all set in the mid-range for a ride and came back tired and arms hurting. When I dialed them up more aggressive the bike feels better but not sure I have it quite right.

That's all I can think of for now; I hope my experience helps others as I learned so much reading all these forums!

Congratulations on the awesome new bike! That is the exact new Husky I would like, an FE 350.

That's awesome your Dad and brother are your riding partners, that is pretty cool.

We all know the most important thing with suspension is to have the correct springs installed for your weight, or you will be sol with any adjustments. The Husky hard parts has a Husky branded Xtrig shock preload adjuster. I would get one, the stock plastic adj has caused to many people to many problems. Proper springs and sag adjustment will transform your ride. Enjoy your new beast!

Congrats on your FE350S, I have the 2015 model. Did you install the FMF pipe and muffler simply after de-smogging, without any TPS adjustment or remapping?

I did the fmf pipe and muffler first which totally transformed the bike power-wise. The down side was the Decel pop got worse/more noticeable. This is when I did the desmog and it took care of the issue. I never messed with the tps. I had read mixed thoughts on Advancing the tps and when I have $10k brand new bike I thought it was a better and safer investment to do the power commander. Of course I am left to wonder if the remap (still on regular stock map) or tps adjust would give me even more performance....but I'll tell you this is a totally different bike now than the one I brought home from the dealer. It is a full time screamer with no dead spots, flame outs, Decel pops. I can run up hills and tough single track in 2nd and 3rd gear now where before I was stuck nursing 1st gear with clutch feathering.

The company I bought the power commander from, fuel Moto, flashed the unit according to the upgrades I have on the bike and will custom tweak the mapping for as long as I own the bike which is a cool perk. As good as a dealer remap? I guess I'll never know but I am pretty satisfied with the bike now. Just need to learn about the suspension now...

I'd just ride it mate and see where you want to spend the money on?

Just adding to this, I picked up my 350S this week, been breaking her in and having a damn good time. I'm coming off a 2015 250XCW(2-stroke).

First real impressions, compared to my old bike mainly since I rode the same trails with it.

-Suspension is breaking in. Getting less harsh and more controlled.
-Feels more stable than my 250XCW, jumped a few bumps on the trail and lands much better, feels more balanced when I bump-launch. Mind you those are not motox triples, 8-10ft long with 2-3 feet of air with a nice flat landing. There is a nice spot with 3 of those in a row and I just nailed them as I used to do on the 250. Felt very natural.
-Definitely does not have the low end snap my 250XCW had. Also very easy to stall/flame out near idle, something i'm told the Euro map will help. Midrange is where it's at, pulls very nicely. I have not "explored" top end yet. Still in break-in, it really wants to rev when you get there tho. Remap is supposed to wake up both low and mid range further.
-Runs HOT... The street legal map is definitely on the lean side of things to satisfy EPA and all that jazz... The Euro Map with a new end-cap with fix that from what i've read. ProMoto end cap is on the way and remap will be done once break-in is done at 7 hours.

I definitely dont regret the change. Being able to just hop on the roads and ride... wow.

Congratulations! I bought my 15 fe 501s back in 10 /15 and now have about 2500 miles on it.These Austrian huskies are amazing. A blast to ride and fun to set up. I was really stoked to hear about your double fan setup and then going to be eager to hear how that treats you. My 501 has gotten pretty hot on me a few times. I have ordered a universal puller fan from Summit Racing USA very similar to the type that comes on these bikes that I intend to add to the left radiator. The thermo switch that triggers my stock fan has failed so I've already wired it manual directly to the battery through a fuse and a toggle switch. I run the new fan setup pretty much continuously once the engine is warm and it made a huge difference having that fan buzzing all the time. Wanted to add that I noticed it took about 2000 miles before my rear WP spring was broke in. Only a hundred and sixty five pounds I was tempted to get a softer 5.4 kg spring from racetech. My patience paid off as the rear spring has softened substantially and I reset this a couple of times to make up for it. I did fine the factory recommended suspension settings in the manual to be kind of useless for my weight and wridding style. I know everyone is different but I found for me I am using substantially more rebound at both ends than I am compression. In fact way more rebound dampning and then what the manual calls for at any setting. 9 clicks out in the rear/ 7 clicks out in the front. I also drained 10cc of oil out of the fork legs. The oil adjustment really smoothed out the front don't sharp edged hits especially at speed. Since you seem to be a big fan of intelligent mods I will share these
too. Toss that stock twin air filter and buy a K&N. You want their outer pre-filter. I got mine directly from K&N the whole set-up was about a hundred bucks it showed up in a few days. This is one of the best mods I've done to my bike..! The king and then has a far superior sealing surface where it mates to the air box. If you eat used to suplied Grease that comes with the filter and follow the instructions you will never pass any dust or dirt past the ceiling surface as a lot of people are complaining about with the stock air filter setup on these bikes. I also modified my left side panel slash air box cover by trimming about 3/4 of an inch off from the top front edge to zero where the top of the air box cover Meats the rear top corner of the air box just under the seat lip. This really opened up the air box and increase the flow it looks a lot better than a bunch of 1 inch holes drilled in the side panel and it doesn't leave the air filter so vulnerable to roosts, mud, branches, etc as a bunch of large holes would. It looks great too. It's hardly noticeable. There's a nice gap between the top of the left side panel where it used to seal on the subframe and the lower lip of the seat. You would have to know it was there to notice it at all! Enjoy your bike and let us know how your dual fan setup treats you. Throttle on!

Geeze I apologize for the terrible spelling! I will start using my laptop here. My stupid smart phone is trying to spell correct every other word. I did want to clarify that I have had to reset my rear shock spring sag several times since new. The spring sacked a total of 12mm in 2000 miles as it broke in.

Wow thanks for info. Very helpful. I need to get my suspension dialed in and this might help! Thanks! I was thinking of going kn air filter and now will probably do it.

Every K&N filtered dirt bike or off road automobile engine I have ever seen had micro fine dust that had got past the filter and ruined the rings and or valve seats. If I see a K&N filter on anything I'm looking at buying used I pass it up with prejudice. K&Ns own data shows that they do not filter out the fine dirt as well as an oiled foam filter.

Use whichever air filter best suits your needs and riding conditions. Just be certain to make sure your filter is lubed and service as the filter manufacturer specifies! I know most people here know how to maintain their air filters. My 2015 Fe 501 s came with an improperly serviced air filter brand new. The stock Twin Air filter was grossly over oiled. There was blue green oil dripping on the dealership floor! There was no grease on the air box sealing surface! A lot of people have been complaining about this and I have been hearing about brand new Husqvarna and KTMs passing dirt and dust even sand particles past their air filters brand new off the showroom floor after a few rides. Fortunately I thoroughly inspected my bike before I wrode it! In my factory owners service manual there is a photo. It's black and white. It's not the greatest however it does show a bead of Grease applied to the air box sealing surface of the air filter nearly 3/8 of an inch in diameter. I am using the K&N pre filter wrap can service my filter is canon specifies I'm not having any problem with just passing the filter in my Husqvarna or any of my vehicle's I run K&N filters in. I think a lot of the issues with K&N filters people have are from not using grease on the sealing surface. If a foam filter works best for you run with it!

I don't feel you need grease on the surface and for over 15 years I haven't done this. I add extra filter oil to this surface on the filter and never seen any dust inside. Years ago I had a long talk with a K&N lab tech and he said first they design for airflow and second for dust control. He also told me to hold the filter up to a light and you can see tiny holes, this is why they flow the most air. Why all auto manufacturing voids your warranty if used??? I stopped using them for all applications, not worth the risk. Buddy's DRZ had one and the intake was tan with dust all the time. He switch to another filter and the dust was gone. Maybe you do need grease for the KN???

As long as you put something on the air box mating surface of your air filter that creates a seal you are protecting your engine. What ever the factory did to the air filter in my bike it was not proper. It would have failed and I have heard a lot of people complaining that their air filters are passing dirt and dust on these bikes. I pay very close attention to the air filter on my bike. I'm not having any problems yet. A k&n prefilter is recommend for dusty conditions. I run one. If I end up ridding in any EXTREMELY dusty conditions I may reinstall a two stage foam type filter. I am not racing this bike. Even when I ride in a group we give each other a one minute lead so we don't eat as much
dust. Use the filter that best suits your conditions and maintain it as intended by the manufacture.

I've seen first hand both gas and diesel street driven engines ruined from micro fine dust getting past a K&N filter. I'd say if you're on the dirt with a K&N you are only as safe as the foam pre-filter is effective. The K&N flows more because it filters less, it's pretty much that simple. If you don't believe me put some miles on the K&N and then run a clean cloth inside the air intake, the dust you will pick up is only a fraction of what the engine has digested... at that point it's too late to undo the damage.

Any pictures of your mods? I am really interested in the digital fan.

I don't know why the photos are being uploaded in duplicate. This K&N pre-filter is not made of foam. It is a very fine Micron poly weave. This is what my air filter and airbox look like after 600 miles of mostly off-road riding. I did the rag test. I wiped the inside of the air boot with a brand-new paper towel. Absolutely no dust. None... The only thing the paper towel picked up was a little bit of K&N oil from the filter being a bit over oiled from the factory. The tiny white specks you see in the air boot if you look real close are merely lint from the paper towel. I used a paper towel because I figured it would show any dust. I feel we have veered far from the thread that was originally made here by the gentleman with the new Fe 350. I'm sorry if anyone's had bad luck with K&N air filters. If you don't like them don't use one. Get out there and ride!