TC250 questions

I have some questions about the 2010 TC250. My intentions would be a light weight bike for tight woods, it would never see a track. I am aware of the TXC and TE models but the TC would be my first choice as I love light bikes.
My number one issue without an e-start is how easily is the bike to start? Owners are reporting that the bike starts great. But the magazines all say it is hard to start. I trust actual owners much more than mags but there is the possibility that the problem is only found in hot weather since all the mag test were done in the summer. I see there are owners in places like Australia and Arizona. I am sure someone has been starting their TC in 80 degree plus weather. Any problems?

Second issue is sound. I have to admit that I greatly admire the Honda 250X for how quiet it is while still performing well for woods duty. How loud is the TC silencer with the spark arrestor in? If it is obnoxious I see that FMF shows a Q for the TC. Has anyone seen one sound tested? Another concern is that the TC sounds like a top end motor, which I don’t mind at all, but that makes me wonder if it needs a free flowing exhaust to work well. With the Honda X, dynos do not show much of an improvement with loud exhaust. But it is a bottom end motor that was engineered to run choked up. Would a TC really suffer from being made as quiet as possible? If I get one of these I might just get a cheap X can and have it modified to fit. That would probably be super quiet and a lot less money than a Q.

Does the bike boil over very easy? Does it flame out much? Is it a 5 or 6 speed? If the spread of gears is limited I could run high gearing as I am used to using the clutch a lot from riding a 125, but does the TC clutch take abuse well?

How mandatory will a revalve be for woods? I have ridden several stock 06 and up YZ 250s and they are not too bad stock. Is the TC similar or would it beat me to death?

Does anyone have enough hours on any 2010 250 to speculate on the reliability?

Thanks

IMHO the TXC is designed as an competition enduro/xc bike the TC is an MX machine. But I am a firm believer in enduro designed machines for XC stuff.
this motor design has been in the WEC for a few years now I think it should be well sorted as far as reliability goes.

I'll let the TC guys chime in, but you describe EXACTLY what my TE310 does for me to perfection, without much more than a little fine tuning. Suspension, motor, exhaust, weight, cooling system, etc. etc. Reliable to the point of being bullet proof. Only thing you have to worry about is pushing the start button in lieu of the kill switch! Sorry... Had to interject! Love me some fuel injected goodness....

I don’t want the weight of the woods models. I have gotten spoiled by my WR125. I know some bikes ride light but I seek out the ugliest trails I can find. There are always lots of downed trees which means dragging a bike over and under them and also finding creative new lines to get around stuff. Regardless of how good I get I will be pushing and picking the bike up multiple times a day. If I did not like this type of trail I would be on a WR250 as I think they feel light until it comes to picking one up.

Here's what I posted in another thread about the starting:

"I'll throw the Bull$hit flag on the hard starting TC 250's. I don't care what Husky Relic or anyone else says... my TC 250 has started in 2 kicks cold 95% of the time regardless of ambient temps and usually under 5 kicks hot (never more than 10). Compared to my '09 Honda CRF 250R, which required a busload (FULL STAFF) of relief kickers to get fired in every situation prior to me going into cardiac arrest... the TC 250 is a Godsend!

Either I got a TC that was annointed by God, or the magazine testers are morons. While I'd LOVE to think that God chose to annoint me and my TC... I think the realistic conclusion is that the magazine testers are morons.

I will say that I think it was stupid for Husky to keep the hot start button at the carb instead of putting a lever on the bars. STUPID."

I found out today that in addition to a warranty upgrade on the carb for the "Hot Start Issues" that don't exist on my bike, there's now a Husky factory remote hot start lever kit available as an upgrade kit for about $126.00. My dealer has mine waiting on me (because I have had to use the hot start button at the carb a few times).

Never had an overheating issue but I always swap to Engine Ice in all my bikes on day one, Plus I never ride the bike hard enough to really test it's overheating limits. I did, however, own a KTM 250 XCF-W that puked coolant like a binge drinking sailor on shore leave every time I stopped for more than 10 seconds... so I'm pretty sure the TC stays cooler than some of the other bike brands.

The suspension was perfect for me (5' 9.5", 185) for woods riding after softening both C&R on the forks and shock.... but I'm an old guy who puts around the trails and never pushes the bike even close to it's limits.

The stock muffler is reasonably quiet. (Dirt Rider did an recent article comparing MX 250's and the Husky was one of the quieter bikes). To my ears, compared to other 250's I hear when I ride, the TC seems to be a tad louder than the woods bikes.

I think part of my success with starting may be partly due to the fact that I installed a flex jet fuel screw and am constantly testing, fiddling with settings to get things dialed in under a variety of temps. I keep a log of conditions and temps and dial my screw to the settings in my log. Also, I moved the kick lever forward one spline to get a longer stroke on each kick. If you try to jab the TC like a 2 stroke, forget it. It likes a long, firm-but-steady, "kick-through". When I start cold, I always give one complete twist of the throttle, I find TDC or no more than one click past TDC, and then kick as described above. Hot... NEVER apply throttle, kick like above. If not fired in 2 or 3 kicks I pull the hot start for one kick if it fires or not, then push the hot start back in and it's usually going in 1 more kick. I can't ever remember any start, hot or cold, going over 10 kicks using the above process, even after letting the bike fall over once on a trail when hot.

I will probably install the warranty upgrade kit just to see what it does, and I'll definitely install the remote hot start lever. But I honestly have been pleased with the TC's starting. Compared to starting my son's '09 CRF 250 R (sold) and my '08 KTM 250 SXF (sold), the Husky has been a dream.

Oh yeah, the one thing I don't like... 1st gear is a tad tall for starting out especially in the rough stuff. A Rekluse may be in my future if they get around to making one for the TC. But suffice it to say, the lightweight feel, flickability, tossability etc are vastly superior to anything I've ridden in the woods with the possible exception of the kid's old CR 125 and his current KTM 150 SX. I recently bought a KTM 200 XC-W for a back-up bike for me if the son starts racing the TC 250, and I'm having a hard time convincing myself that it handles any better than the TC 250 in the woods... comparable... but I don't think "better".

Hope that helps.

thanks krieg. Could you compare the power / ease of use in the woods of the CR125, ktm200, and the TC250. I have ridden the other two so that would give me some idea.

Does the TC feel heavier in corners then the KTM200?

Oh yeah, one more thing... reliability. The jury is obviously still out on this. I am a bit concerned about the tiny oil reservoir (.8 liters). I change my oil every two hours. And I wouldn't think about using anything but a good synthetic. I'm currently using ELF 10X60. When it gets really cold again, I may drop back to Motorex 10W50.

For my lazy style of riding, anything smaller than a 2T 200 requires too much clutch work. I also enjoy more low end power than the 125 and 150 can provide... but the incredible lightweight feel of the small bores is intoxicating.

As with any 250 four stroke, the power on the TC is definitely more linear/smooth than even the 200 XC. If you can tolerate the tall 1st gear which I described in my first post, the TC will reward you with smooth, and more importantly to me, predicatable power. Mine will lug my 185 (200 with gear) lbs around quite nicely with throttle rolling only and very little clutch work. Again, please remember that I'm a slow old man, so your requirements may be different.

As far as feel in the corners, I've ridden friends' KTM 200's a gazillion times over the years and always thought it was one of the best woods bikes made for guys like me. I bought this '10 200 based on a memory of a ride on a friend's '07 200. I remembered it feeling incredibly light and nimble with just the right amount of power. After riding my '10 200 about 2 hours, I'm really struggling to say it's a better turner or lighter in turns than the TC... in fact I think the TC may have the nod for the type of riding I do. I just kinda "think" the TC into a line and it flicks itself right where I was thinking. The 200 is close to that, but I just don't have enough time on it to compare it fairly. The handling differences I'm feeling between the two bikes are subtle at best and I'm sure the 2T versus 4T thing has something to do with them feeling different as well.

I heard a 2010 TC250 at my local shop and it was deafening. I think it is too loud for MX let alone the trails. How Husky can claim the bike meets strict euro-stanards is beyond me. Others have reported the FMF is very quiet, but does remove some power.

NC

Deafening? My son has one and it's the quietest 250-450 4-stroke MX bike we ride with. Deafening is a KX450F.

Does the spark arrestor quiet down the stock exhaust at all? I'm just wondering if I should budget in a Q to the bikes price.

Yes it sure does. We have it out on my sons bike. On the Q if you do they still have the 20% off intil the end of this month. If you do get one your gonna love it. I haven't really had my sons in the woods much but it's a light weight quick turning bike. His suspension is at LTR now getting the make over. We have a 52 rear sprocket we are going to try the next time he takes it in the woods. As Krieg has said 1st gear is a little tall. Also I would like to add my sons bike is a one kicker. It sat for almost a month and did require three kicks @ 20* and snow on the ground.

John, is your TC still starting OK?

It sure is. It's a one kick wonder. Well now the suspension is off to LTR and they called my son today and it ships back in the morning to him. He can't wait; it's all I' ve been hearing.

John, I really... REALLY gotta wonder what is going on with these test bikes. When I read the mags and even the posts by Relic, I'm at a loss for words. It's almost like I should be lying and telling everyone my TC is hard to start... just for the sake of fitting in with the crowd.

But DAMMIT... I ain't lying. My TC is an easy starting 4 stroke compared to others I've owned. It's not a 100% one or two kick starter like the 2 strokes I've owned, but it is LIGHTYEARS better than recent Hondas and KTM's I've owned.

Whenever I ride, I've made it a habit to watch the other 4 stroke owners try to kick their bikes after unloading them. I'll admit the Yamaha's seem to be quick starters, but ALL the other brands seem to have issues... especially Honda and KTM. It's almost hysterical to watch the Honda guys after about 25 kicks. Almost without fail, they demount... out of breath... heads shaking in disgust. I've seen a handful of them just let the bike drop to the ground as they walk away kicking the ground....

Anyway, I've hijacked this thread enough.

I'm baffled.

I will also off road a TC250 in the future, but planned on getting a Rekluse right away for it. Dirt rider had zip ty's endurocross TC250 in the latest issue and it has one...exp version.

I've used a TC450 off road and track a lot BTW, and it works better than the TE's some friends have IMO. Then again I never liked the gears and suspension on my KTM ''W's'' either.

Maybe Revloc will make a dyno ring for it. It is a lot cheaper then the Rekluse.

That crank does sound a little small ... After I take the filters out on my 08 model, you can lean the bike over on its side and drain another half cup or so out of the engine ... You might wanna try that on these bikes to be sure it is completely drained ....

You might want to consider some samples of the oil to see how it is actually holding up after such a short run ... It would be very interesting to know the results and Blackstone does this analysis on the lower cost side I think ...

2hrs? That will not get u too far n the woods It could be a new reason to stop ur bike on the trail though but packing oil in and out on your trip may not be too much fun ...

PS -- both those oils will be a ~10 weight in cold conditions and then thicken up to the upper number as the motor heats up ... you would want to drop the first number (the Winter rating) to help in the cold when the oil is the thickest ... I think the winter(10w) rating is at the freezing temp (32 degrees) so anything above that, you should be OK but I have read many places at startup is where damage happens and getting oil to all components quickly is needed... SS filters excel here as they flow oil quickly from jump street... 5wt would flow even quicker but might break down quicker also as it would probably have more VIIs 2 break.

Before the bikes got here I must have studied this stuff for months between the 3 (TC/TXC/TE). It is a tough decision but they all 3 are great bikes, I think you will be happy with any of them. I figured if Husky was going to sell a light weight bike I wanted mine to be as light as possible. I still thought at the time I was making a mistake as I was assembling the TXC.

I went with the TXC for a few reasons and this was before any reports on how they started. I looked at all the things that made the TC lighter than the TXC and the only stuff I could not remove were the starter and the battery. I installed a turn-tech 2.5 which took 4 pounds of top heavy weight off. The starter on the TXC is tiny and low. To further the weight loss I also installed a Yamaha Ti spring, tubliss system, removed the fan as it never really has come on much for me, Ti foot pegs (again from Yamaha), and now a titanium silencer from Leo Vince. There are a few extra wires, fly wheel and switches but I can't really do anything about that and I ride only off road.

Since the diet I have added some weight as well with CRD radiator braces, headlight/low profile tail light and a P3 skid plate. I ran into trouble with the Yamaha Titanium Spring as well. It seems that the Ti Spring has a thicker coil and it touches the back side of the motor. I did not want to take a chance of it either the spring breaking or rubbing the case. So I am back to a Sachs Spring. So let this be a warning to people to check the clearance if you go Ti on the rear shock. This was for a Yamaha O.E.M. spring and not sure on other brands.

As far as noise all the '10 TC 250's I have heard are fairly quiet. The TXC/TE are very loud with the SA out, not bad IMO with it in. The new Leo Vince with SA out is a in between the two with the SA out. With the Leo's metal tube insert the bike is stealth mode, like your air box makes more noise.

If you decide on getting one you can always go visit the Honda at the dealership when you pick up a oil filter for the TC/TXC/TE (since they share that same part).

Its good to see so many good comments made about the racer models! My style has always been to buy a leftover bike or a bike a few years after it has been released to save $ and I can see maybe owning one of these down the road