Man oh man do I love my bike. For real, I love my bike but I have encountered problems with my 2010 TE250. I purchased my bike sometime in July of 2010 and broke it in per the manual. Life was going great. I've always wanted to dual-sport and finally decided on the TE, magic button, light weight, fuel injected, very good looking, STREET LEGAL bike right? I'm only 5'5", 115~120 lbs so there's nothing in the market for me except the perfect Husky that I've read and read, and then read some more about. There's other guys that I dual-sport with and I rolled up on a Husky. They're all KTM riders and they were beside themselves. I showed them all the goodies that came factory on the bike and life is soooo good. (at the time, I didn't know that there is some kinda anamosity from the KTMers and the Husky community if that makes any sense) They all were pretty amazed at the bike and we all have went riding a lots over the course of 3 months or so. Then, like a light switch at the end of September, my 250 didn't like to start cold. I mean didn't want to start at all. It would crank and crank and crank until the battery would weaken, then I would have to put it on a charger and crank and crank and crank and keep doing that ritual until it would finally start. Once warmed up, it was fine. No one knew that there was a problem.(KTMers) I have a small commute to work in which I travel about 5 miles. One morning, the 250 backfired and blew the boot off of the intake on the way to work. It took me a while to figure it out and I had to call someone from work to get me a screwdriver. This wasn't good at all b/c two of the dual-sporters are fellas I ride with. I'm trying to give them a good introduction of how awesome Huskqvarnas are. Problems kept escalating. My bike still has a starting cold problem so I quit riding to work in fear of when it's sitting for longer than an hour, it might, or might not start. Big ride at the end of September. My 250 is still starting very very hard when cold. I show up at our meeting point 10 minutes later, because of hard starting, I almost missed a ride. During the ride, the 250 shows signs of starting hard and I park at every hill I can so I can coast start it. Beginning of October, I'm going to take it in to see what's up with the hard starting problem but a fluke warm day is forecasted. All the boys want one more ride in before it gets too cold. We rode about 8 miles on an awesome county road. A nice little hillclimb is to the left. Only the "good" riders attempt it and make it, I'll give it a shot. I've been up it before but oh no, there must be a stick in my chain/sprocket. Something doesn't feel right. All the while the KTM fellas are laughing at me. I get off my bike in the middle of the hill and inspect my bike. I smell oil but it can't be from me. After further inspection, I can't find anything wrong. I coast back down off of the hill and the 250 starts up with the magic button like a champ. I explained that something didn't feel right and thought there was something hindering my chain like a stick or something. Oh well, I'll just take the easy road since many of them have climbed the hill and moved on. I shift into 1st and let out the clutch. Something is wrong. The bike moved but it felt like the clutch wasn't engaging. I shift into second and I pick up speed but not without hearing a shreiking sound. I stop. Oil is pouring out of the countershaft sprocket. I didn't want to cause any more damage to the bike, I immediately was towed to the nearest pavement and had to call the wife to come and get me. I brought my bike to the dealer (2.5 hour drive one way) and I explained to them my problems. It's been there since the beginning of October and haven't had a single call about my bike. I've had to contact them several times and everytime I call in, I get no significant updates. I was supposed to ride the tail of the dragon this past weekend but I'm bikeless. I really really like the way my bike handles, power delivery, brakes, lightness and was seriously considering trading it for the 2011 TE 310 for just a little more poop. I am very dissapointed in the longevity of the service of a brand new bike. I have accumulated only 3000 miles on it and have babied it the entire time. The dealer still doesn't know the root cause. I don't know what to do, if there was another bike out there that was a worthy street legal "dirtbike", I would jump on it in a second right now.
BS ... Its been there since OCT and they know nothing? You need to escalate this to a higher power ... Too bad on the bike as you sound like a hard core Husky guy ... Not sure on the starting but sometimes my 08 TXC250 starts with only a kick or 2 when the starter does not fire it off after a short grind of 2-3 secs... There was a report here from some guy who had a drive shaft issue that was due to the shaft cracking ... this was on a TE also because I remember he was gonna put the shaft off a TC on his but the TC shaft will not fit .... Sounds like you have a good wife also ...
With regard to the hard starting, I have to ask whether you checked your valves at any point in your 3000 miles? ThAt is definitely enough milage to require a valve adjustment. If the valve clearance has tightened up enough it would cause all of your starting problems. With regards to the countershaft sprocket leaking oil, I don't have any suggestions except to lean on your dealer and Husky NA for some answers. Or perhaps now is a good time to negotiate for the 310...
Sorry to hear about your bike. I have learned that Husky's need a lot of chain slack or it puts a lot of stress on the counter sprocket. More so than other brands. I don't follow the manual for chain tension. I weight the bike until the chain is at it's tightest point and adjust it there.
Not good ,but I'd check the valves the first hard start. Ask my son inlaw..... It's a sure sign of tight intake valves when the boot blew off. all that compression went out the intake . Shops/vendors need to communicate.
I watched George (Uptite Husky) try and start an 03 450 and it wouldn't start. He then adjusted the valves and voila...it fired right up and sounded pretty good. Check valves.
yeah, another vote for the valves. There are lots of other Dirtbike worthy Dual Sports out there, and if their valves get tight, they won't start easy either. And if your dealer has had the bike that long and didn't check the valves, I'd find another dealer or just do it yourself. It is not that hard.
I'm getting the hard start problem on my 2010 TXC 250. I'm going to start with the valves. I had heard that the older Huskies can use Yamaha shims. Anyone know if this is true? We don't have a Husky dealer nearby, so I'll have to order them.
