TE449 - My Experience

So I picked up my 2011 TE449 a year ago now, paid 5,000 AU and she had 1700km on the clock, had never been taken offroad except for once or twice, and basically looked fresh off the showroom floor.

I haven't made any modifications except suspension setup and some wrapping for the ridiculously hot header, I also jumped her into Race Map II, the richer map has definitely cooled her down and made her less bucky whilst chugging in low rpm, also gave me more top end grunt. I cannot say how great this simple mod was, and I have recommended it to just about everyone I've met who has the same bike and for some strange reason don't know about it. Stock gearing is a little short for highway use though, I have purchased a second rear wheel with a 50t sprocket which has made times where I need to travel some distance bearable.

I've clocked her up to 7000km with some pretty hard offroad riding, I'm just a weekend warrior but the bike has been tested on some long 200km rides in the NT heat / humidity and has not failed me once. Loves to start hot, and loves the sand. Bit of a bitch to pick up but I'm imagining most bigger bore 4 strokes are (I have come from a KTM 250SX.. a bit lighter). Valve clearances were checked today and they haven't moved, I expect longevity out of this motor which is something I think many people were hesitant about when these things came out, thus the bargain price tag.

She pulls hard, tracks well, is flickable and reliable as all heck. I love this thing and can't see myself selling it tbh, I don't think we will see a bike this sexy any time soon (subjective I know, but the styling is amazing imo)

Here are some shots, first pic is after I spent the day detailing her back to showroom standard before she enjoys the coming dry season!

Looks great do you have any oil issue ie oil spewing out of the air filter box

I do. I've been putting in 1200ml when doing a filter change, and it comes back out.

Mate also has one and just fills with 1 litre. Doesn't have a problem. Will try that one next time.