Living with a 2010 Husky TE 510!

[HuskyDude]

I hope while you have a little spare time with all the snow outside. You will have a moment to read some of these threads.
There are other threads, but these will help you re-grease or check for grease in these important areas.

Rear suspension maintenance on a 2006 TE250

Greasing Bearings - DIY

The steering stem should be checked also.

 

[hoffa509]

I can't see the pictures in this thread. Is there a setting I need to change or is the image host site gone?

 

[missile]

Thanks for the detailed information and great photos, I just got a new te 450 and really like riding it and learning how to maintain it. All the best.

 

[danbartol]

Finally got out for a ride today. Did a nice street/dirt road loop covering approximately 120 miles. The bike averaged 41MPG, which is not too bad since I did a bit of spirited canyon carving.

Will be interesting to see what the MPG drops to in real dirt.

The bike runs great and has a nice smooth power-band. It reminds me a lot of my old XR650R. The biggest difference is in the vibrations. The Old BRP was electric smooth, while the Husky is pretty vibey. I can really feel it through the foot pegs and seat. I'm hoping it will smooth out a bit once the engine breaks in properly.

The power delivery is almost electric. Very linear, unlike the 525s and 530s I have ridden which have a bit more snap off the line.

The seat is atrocious and will be redone shortly.

The exhaust with the DB killer inserted sounds just right. On the other hand the intake snarl is really loud and can be heard through earplugs.

So far I love the bike. Lots of fun to ride! :clap

 

[john01]

The vibes on my 09 TXC 510 smoothed out very nicely.

 

[ghte]

Danbartol, the tank kinda grows on you. It looked pretty ordinary in the workshop. However, out in the field it is not too bad. Perhaps a couple of husky transfers/stickers will minimise its impact.
I agree the vibes will settle a bit. I noticed them a lot when mine was new and 2 things happen 1; they settle down a bit and 2; you get used to them. I think the vibes are ok when moving but more noticable when stationary.
Keep the good info coming as you and the girl get some miles under the belt.

 

[danbartol]

Thanks guys!

You Aussies need to put some fire on RV Aqualine's ass and get them to make us a proper Safari Tank.

We tried here w/ IMS, but all we got was this sorry little tank!

:-) Dan

 

[FatBuoy]

Hey, by the way, you mentioned " a Husky dB killer insert " Where did you order your's? and how much $$ ??

Thanks, cheers! Pete

I ordered one from my local dealer for $65. It doesn't fit my muffler and I have an 08 TE510 with Arrow exhaust. Let me know if you would like to buy it.

 

[life_in_sepia]

I'm a bit disappointed by the tank.

First I wish it were a bit bigger, somewhere in the 4 to 4.5 gallon range would be ideal.

Two I'm really pissed that it will not fit the OEM tank shrouds. They are what give the bike its look. W/out them the bike looks naked/unfinished.

This has probably been addressed before, but it appears to me that IMS has adopted the Clarke design, i.e., not dropping the tank down over the sides of the head. This up-n-out design appears to necessitate losing the shrouds. Having just punctured an IMS tank at the oil blow-off connection (on an 06 model), where there is only a small fraction of an inch of clearance, I can see the design benefits of keeping the tank up and away. While the shrouds look cool, sitting on the side of a remote road with your buddies looking at you and your disabled tank doesn't. Seems like IMS has figured that out on the new design.

 

[danbartol]

The new tank design is dictated by the EFI fuel pump which has to sit at the lowest part of the tank!

 

[life_in_sepia]

I see. Yes, that makes sense. Thanks.

 

[danbartol]

So I finally got to put some real off-road miles on the bike.

Me likes:

The bike is great and handles better than the XR. It feels more nimble and maneuverable, where as the BRP and that rock solid straight line speed, just what it was designed for in Baja, but was a bit of a brute in the tight stuff.

Power delivery on the EFI TE510 is nice an linear. At first it feels like it's laking a bit compared to the snap of a carbed bike, but once you get in the dirt the smooth, electric like power delivery is great. It really helps put the traction down.

On a side not the EOM Karoo-II's are awful. The rear is OK and does a decent job, but the font is abysmal and tends to wash out really badly. I plan on putting some real dirt rubber on there soon. I'm initially thinking of trying out the Maxxis IT Desert Tires. I'll put those on before I go to White Wash in March.

The vibes are still there, but you hardly notice them when riding off road and on terrain like this:

Suspension wise I'm digging the bike. The forks are still a bit stiff, but they are still not fully broken in. Even so they are working much better on the rocks than the professionally re-valved forks I had on the BRP. I wonder if this is due to the steel vs. aluminum frame of the two bikes. The BRP would just beat me up on the rocks, while the TE seems pretty smooth.

The only issue I had was the bike running a bit hot. Temps were around 60F and the fan stayed on most of the time. Granted it was rocky 1st and 2nd gear two track I was doing.

Here are a few more pics from the days ride:

 

[HuskyDude]

Hey Great pictures.

Are you sure that was Colorado cuz it sure looks a lot like Kamloops BC.

 

[Coffee]

I can't see the pictures in this thread. Is there a setting I need to change or is the image host site gone?

This check box should be checked, all accounts have that enabled by default, but you may have turned that off.
User CP -> Edit Options -> Visible Post Elements -> Show Images (including attached images and images in

 

[danbartol]

Finally took care of the 2x4 rock hard seat and had a local guy upgrade it w/ some memory foam and a wider seating area:

The OEM seat was about 4" wide right where I sat, now w/ the makeover that same spot is almost 8" wide.

More cush for the tush:

 

[danbartol]

While I was at it I added some Tugger Strapz front and rear:

While I was at it I also rear re-did the license plate mount/turn signal/mud flap thingy:

This works much better. The turn signal are more visible and it keeps the mud off the back.

 

[danbartol]

I did not like my original install of the PC-V and Autotune modules on the bikes side plate. The units did not stick to the panel well and were a pain to work w/ when the panel was opened. They had a tendency to dangle off the side of the bike by their wires.

Solution: cut a triangle out of Kydex that fits inside the bikes frame, zip tie it to the frame then zip tie the 2 modules and all the wiring to the panes.

Result: super strong mounting point that keeps the modules securely mounted and easily accessible.

 

[Coffee]

Very nice job

I've been putting the PC V & Autotune modules where the "H" is on the sticker above the battery. Yours looks well done

 

[danbartol]

Gotta work on cleaning up the wiring. The rats nest is driving me crazy!

 

[danbartol]

OK so I still have not been able to do any true off-road riding to give the bike a proper test, but I have decided that the Husky dB killer is way too restrictive, so I took advantage of the FMF sales deal and ordered an FMF Q4 exhaust.

I have a cheap Scosche dB meter so I decided to do some unscientific sound testing following the USFS standard ( open area, 20" from exhaust tip at a 45 degree angle) and the various configurations of the Arrow and the FMF exhaust.

Here are the pseudo scientific results It's hard to get a steady 6500 RPM since the bike gets in the power-band and takes off):

OEM Arrow uncorked

1- Idle 98dB
2- 6500 rpm 110dB
3- Peak 130dB


OEM Arrow w/ dB Killer

The holes on the end of this thing are 10mm in diameter, think dime size!

1- Idle 86dB
2- 6500 rpm 96dB
3- Peak 103dB


OEM Arrow w/ OEM spark arrestor

1- Idle 93dB
2- 6500 rpm 103dB
3- Peak 110dB


OEM FMF Q4 uncorked

1- Idle 95dB
2- 6500 rpm 104dB
3- Peak 113dB


OEM FMF Q4 w/ OEM spark arrestor

1- Idle 92dB
2- 6500 rpm 102dB
3- Peak 110dB

The bottom line is that the Husky is just a loud bike. It also make a significant amount of intake noise.

According to my highly calibrated butt dyno the open Arrow felt the fastest on the top, but was a bit less torquey on the bottom, the Husky dB killer was nice and relatively quiet, but significantly choked up the bike and the FMF Q4 w/ spark arrestor was the best compromise of sound muffling and performance. It also felt like it added a bit of torque to the bottom end, while loosing a bit of top end.

I'll add pictures and some video clips when I get a chance.

Here are the numbers side-by-side:

Note: even though the Arrow and the FMF have similar numbers w/ the spark arrestor in I personally think the FMF does not sound as loud since the tone of the muffler is a bit lower. The Arrow still has a bit of raspy, tinniness to it that makes it seem more offensive to the hear. I understand this is purely subjective though.