1st ride - 510 SMR, thoughts and revelations

[craigs449]

I picked up a used 2008 Husky 510 SMR a few weeks back. Bike has 1000 miles, Arrow exhaust with dealer installed power up kit (PO said the dealer got it to be at 100%), other than some cosmetic stuff, it's stock ...Got it home, then packed up and went on vacation for a few weeks. Finally got around to getting state inspection and tags from the MVA. Today was the 1st real time I could get her out and flog her around. A few things crossed my mind on the maiden voyage...

-HOLY MOTHER OF GOD****************************************! THIS THING HAS BALLS****************************************!
-I can clearly see how a steering damper could help this bike!
-The handling is much different than my DRZ sm, this bike really likes to turn in quick.
-I have never been on a FI bike before, and It's gonna take some getting used to with throttle and low speed cornering.
-Compared to my DRZ with FCR 39 carb, this bike really idles down super quick.....I have to stop blipping the throttle when it does because it seems like it would stall...but it doesn't.
-The stock gearing(14/42) with a six speed gearbox would seem like it's short, however you have to give a good amount of throttle to get off the stoplight. I ran 15/44 gearing on my DRZ but that was a 5 speed.
-This bike really heats up! I don't think I have ever seen the rad fan even kick on on my DRZ, but this one runs like mad!
-The brakes on this bike are incredible!
-The headlight isn't as bad as what I had heard, but tthe high beam does suck!
-The kickstand is the absolute worst design I have ever seen! Feels like the bike is gonna tip over, and it's a real chore to get the stand up if you are not on the bike!....ON top of it all, your left heel heits it when your ride! It just plain sux!

Now here's the bad.......I think I know what everyone has been talking about regarding the low fuel light and fule pump slipping! What a pain in the ass! My round trip to work is 55 miles...At about the 45 mile mark, the Husky started popping on decel, then it just cut off...For the next 1-2 miles, I had to keep pulling over when it would stall, turn the ignition off to reset the fuel pump, then restart the bike. I would ride as far as I could before it would stall again. After about 10 of these instances, I arrived (popping and wheezing) at the Exxon! I put 1.5 gallons in and she fired right up like nothing ever happened.
Funny thing is, the PO told me the low fuel light stopped working at around 300 miles. I did notice that the stupid low fuel light would come on when I was trying to get her started after all the stalls though

I guess I need to get it apart and fix the fuel pump and low fule wire this weekend.

All in all, It is a very powerful, non-forgiving bike that absolutely rips!

 

[Coffee]

So.... are you going to get a big bore kit for it?

 

[craigs449]

Haha......This thing is like a slap in the face compared to the other one! I had bought the DRZ sm bone stock, and modded little by little (FCR carb, MRD/SSW exhaust, E-Cams). So the bike got more powerful after each mod. This unholy beast is just a bastard right off the start!

"Hang on" is what I was told by some friends on Husky's

 

[jlk_250]

Cool report. For sure, fix the fuel pump. I added about 3/4 to 1" to the length of the side stand and it is much better. Also, my fan almost never comes on. Coolant level okay? Is it really hot when the fan comes on or is the fan coming on too soon?

 

[cbreakin]

Good report. I think you'll be happy to find there is probably nothing wrong with the fuel light. When the pump "slipped" it created a condition where the bike would stall due to lack of fuel prior to the actual fuel level in the tank being down enough to trigger the light

 

[ray_ray]

Husky has dominated supermoto racing n EU since 05 ... Not sure what exact models, but they can't be far off from what we ride here and they have several world championships in the current time frame ...

Good luck on UR bike and post up some pics ...

 

[craigs449]

Cool report. For sure, fix the fuel pump. I added about 3/4 to 1" to the length of the side stand and it is much better. Also, my fan almost never comes on. Coolant level okay? Is it really hot when the fan comes on or is the fan coming on too soon?

To tell you the truth, I haven't checked the coolant level yet. This was the 1st decent ride I had on it so far. The PO was pretty meticulous about the bike so I don't think it's been touched. He went and bought a case of the Husky recommended AGIP 10W-60 oil which also came with my purchase. I have to drain nthe antifreeze from the bike anyways and put water + water wetter in there for the track. I will do that this weekend when I pull the tank to fix the fule pump isuue.

 

[SilverTT]

Craig -

Looks like you and I got our bikes right about the same time. I picked up a 2008 510SMR in Sept and have only had a chance to ride it a few times so far. Has the power up kit + Arrow exhaust. All else stock.

Agree about how incredible this bike is to ride. I was pulling down a side street in NYC yesterday and felt the steering go light under throttle...didn't even realize it at first but the front tire was just lightly hovering above the ground the whole time...and this was at just a bit past 1/2 throttle. Gotta love that. The craziest thing to me is how flickable the bike is compared to the Hypermotard I had before and other bikes I've ridden.

Having same two issues as you: 1) fuel pump / low fuel light and ran out of gas on first ride ever, 2) kickstand totally sucks. Looking for a good modification / aftermarket part there too.

Yesterday I was getting a ton of popping and a few backfires on deceleration. Starts, idles, and runs pretty much perfectly but gets really rough around mid throttle or when on/off throttle. I'm hoping that is either the fuel pump slipping or could be a bad spark plug which I'll change. Valves also need to get checked again soon.