Mike Kay
Husqvarna
AA Class
I have an '08 TE 610.
First i put on a free flow exhaust--it happened to be an Uptite unit, but really all free flow exhausts are going to have similar effects to performance. And what a difference it had! It was VERY noticable. Huge WOW factor. At the same time i unplugged the o2 sensor, removed it, and i put in a brass bung in the mid pipe where it had been. I got around 50mpg this way. Did about 1000 miles. It ran well at sea level in the desert. There was a blinking light on the dash, indicating the bike was thinking something was wrong, but no big deal.
After a couple months i added the 2.2k ohm resistor (that some might call a 'chip' - although its not really a chip in the common sense of the word). It plugged right into the wires where the o2 sensor had plugged in before. George made some up, and i got mine from Kelley who also sells them.
By doing this the bikes FI delivery system was 'told' to switch from the stock, lean, corked up, injector 'map', -- to a much richer, 'race' injector map that performs VERY well with the opened up exhaust. I did this for more performance gains, not because the bike wasnt running well (it was running good without the chip, and with an opened up exhaust using the stock FI settings, with only minor backfires on rare occasion).
With the 2.2k ohm resistor (chip) in place, the bike again had a big increase in performance. About the same increase (again) as it gained when i put on the free flow exhaust. However, fuel economy is now down a bit, and it would be nice to have the option of riding the bike with either 'race mode' or 'economy mode' - for example on the pavement i dont need to be in race mode.
So imho the 'power up' kit gains about half its increase from the 'chip' and about half from an open exhaust. Its a BIG difference. Like a whole new bike. It is now faster than my XR650. Its a fast bike! It still gets decent milage, over 35 mpg when i am 'on it', but i would love to be able to get 50mpg when i'm on the highway.
Hope that helps guys thinking of opening up their bikes.
First i put on a free flow exhaust--it happened to be an Uptite unit, but really all free flow exhausts are going to have similar effects to performance. And what a difference it had! It was VERY noticable. Huge WOW factor. At the same time i unplugged the o2 sensor, removed it, and i put in a brass bung in the mid pipe where it had been. I got around 50mpg this way. Did about 1000 miles. It ran well at sea level in the desert. There was a blinking light on the dash, indicating the bike was thinking something was wrong, but no big deal.
After a couple months i added the 2.2k ohm resistor (that some might call a 'chip' - although its not really a chip in the common sense of the word). It plugged right into the wires where the o2 sensor had plugged in before. George made some up, and i got mine from Kelley who also sells them.
By doing this the bikes FI delivery system was 'told' to switch from the stock, lean, corked up, injector 'map', -- to a much richer, 'race' injector map that performs VERY well with the opened up exhaust. I did this for more performance gains, not because the bike wasnt running well (it was running good without the chip, and with an opened up exhaust using the stock FI settings, with only minor backfires on rare occasion).
With the 2.2k ohm resistor (chip) in place, the bike again had a big increase in performance. About the same increase (again) as it gained when i put on the free flow exhaust. However, fuel economy is now down a bit, and it would be nice to have the option of riding the bike with either 'race mode' or 'economy mode' - for example on the pavement i dont need to be in race mode.
So imho the 'power up' kit gains about half its increase from the 'chip' and about half from an open exhaust. Its a BIG difference. Like a whole new bike. It is now faster than my XR650. Its a fast bike! It still gets decent milage, over 35 mpg when i am 'on it', but i would love to be able to get 50mpg when i'm on the highway.
Hope that helps guys thinking of opening up their bikes.