Melted Thermostat 2014 Te310r

Was out riding Big Bear Run Hardways, somewhere during the 38 special, something must have gone bad. The FI light had been flashing off and on from earlier and the engine was starting to stutter prior to this. About 5 miles down the road it would flip into neutral when I was trying to find 5th gear, not sure what that was about but was odd. Then bike sputtered to a stop, thought it was out of gas so we added more from my friends bike. Starter was turning over but bike would not light. We did notice oil was now leaking from that plug under the shifter on the bottom left of engine but apparently that stupid o-ring is a weak point. After towing up the hill and getting back to big bear, I discovered the thermostat plastic piece that connects to the hose to the water pump had melted. I never saw the coolant drain or heard any explosion like the guy sitting next to me on 38 special. I thought boy that is crap luck, then I was done 5 miles later. My questions are: 1-the bike still seems to have compression and can be kicked and my hope is for minimal engine damage, thoughts on this? Will need to be looked at for sure but oil smells burned which is probably not good. 2-would something in the thermostat or cooling system prevent the engine from starting up? It seemed to have run for a bit after dumping all the coolant. Luckily it is under an extended warranty and hopefully the damage is not too severe. Anyone else have something like this happen?

Huskys have a minor rep for surviving injury-free after being run without coolant- you may be in luck.

however- I doubt your t-stat was the problem.... more like a symptom. I'd be looking at the water pump, coolant leak, head gasket, etc.

Water "smells", burnt oil "smells", unexplained rough running are clues of an over-temp event. you get one or more of these- stop & investigate immediately.

Change your oil (smell it too. burnt?). start investigating for heat damage (hopefully you lucked out) and the reason for over-heating. your cooling system only holds about a quart of coolant total. I'd also replumb your system like a TC. IMHO, t-stats are superfluous on a small engine like this, unless you're ice racing in winter. Probably an EPA mandate.

btw, i'm only about 60% confidant you did over-heat your bike.

good luck.