Orange to Red - Noob TE610 Owner need your advice

[Rapid Dog]

2008 Husky TE610 8400 miles - bone stock

Just got this bike from an inmate after coming off of a KTM 950 Adventure. Decided to downsize and get something more manageable weight-wise.
The original owner bought it new. Only thing aside from a few farkles is some holes drilled in the airbox and it's been de-smogged. Still has the cat plug though.

On the way home from picking it up Saturday I stopped by Trail Tricks and had them throw on a new set of Mefo's. There was some question whether to put on the 140 rear or a 130. After consulting the manual we decided to go with the spec 140 Super Explorer.

Yesterday I took it for an 85 mile ride on freeway, canyons, sweepers, off road, powerline roads, the whole gamut. Here's my impression and questions that maybe you Husky dudes can help me with a few things...

The Suspenders
I'm real pleased with how well the suspension works. It's going to save me some $$$ knowing I don't have to have Trail Tricks give it the treatment....maybe later:evil. It's not as plush as the 950 with Javier's magic but pretty darn good as is.
TOO TALL! I'm tippy toeing even with the boots on. TT lowered the 950 an inch and it was perfect.
So whattya think? Will a Kouba Link help?

The Motor
Feels like a tool. Like most thumpers I've ridden, doesn't have the soul of a twin. Understood.
I am pleased it can cruise at 70+mph easily enough.
But it's kinda doggie. From reading the TE610 thread I expected more from a big 600cc single. You guys that claim you can wheelie down the freeway, well, I'm just not seeing it.
So I wonder, what's up?

Pin the throttle and the bike just kinda bogs and then pics up speed. I can hear the airbox honkin' and there's sort of a delay before it spins up.
In the dirt I'm use to steering with the rear end on the 950. The Husky sort of thumps a few times then grabs and spins.

Would gearing make a diff?
Would the Power-Up kit help? If so, do I need a pipe?

I would prefer the exhaust to be quieter, but I doubt there's a better performing exhaust that's any quieter than the stock one...I'm all ears...:ear:ear:ear

The Manual

Weird info in here...not sure about the green light, top left. Manual sez "1- GREEN warning light "Lights"; :huh so that light tells you that the lights are on...yes? Is there a European light switch available?

Oil change - Reading about the oil change, it says to drain the oil, clean the magnetized core and put the plugs back in. Then fill with oil and 'slowly turn the engine for some minutes'...then run the engine and check the site glass level.
I can dig that. But then it talks about changing the oil filter and 'bag filters'.
Don't you clean all the filters with an oil change?

So, one other thing. Looking at the site glass it's just kinda murky looking, like maybe it's got too much oil or it's fogged over.
Any ideas there?

One other thing, what's the deal with the non-matching levers? The brake lever is great.
The clutch lever sucks.

But so far, I like it! :norton

 

[Muddy Waters]

2008 Husky TE610 8400 miles - bone stock

.....Looking at the site glass it's just kinda murky looking, like maybe it's got too much oil or it's fogged over.
Any ideas there?

First; writing a question in yellow --> bad idea, some of us are color blind ya'know?
Second; not sure what is going on with your oil sight glass but just for reference, this is how it should look

 

[Motosportz]

The 610 is an old school long stoke motor. Lazy reving, but makes great usable power just not very exciting. I have the epitome of the single cam motor in the 02 TE570, was said to be the beast of that motor sans the high end special order SM versions. I also had a 06 TE610. The 02 570 would SMOKE the 610 and was WAY fast. would wheelie well but not at highway speeds. The 02 610 was hard to get to wheelie, they just rev so slow it is hard to get the front end to snap up.

i would change your oil every 200 miles for a few changes and see if that clears up. if it stays like that you might want to check the waterpump seal or head gasket. Should not be milky and look like the above pic for the first 100 miles or so. It is also over filled which can and will zap power.

The "bag" filters are the screens. These need cleaned very little in my experience. After a bike has a few hundred on it you will not find anything in those unless something is going wrong. I usually do them about every 3-5 oil filter change just to make sure.

Great DS bike, enjoy.

 

[jerbear610]

I have a feeling that you've got way too much oil in there. Try leaning the bike as far as you can to the right and see if you can see a line.
In regard to the power I would get a Leo Vince slip-on muffler and do the power up kit. I went with a 14 c/s sprocket on my 06' and wheelie's are
no problem although I don't know about wheeling down the freeway.
As mentioned the screens never have anything in them so check them maybe every 3-5 changes. I put in new filter every change.

 

[Phoenix]

Our 610 was a bit cantankerous at first. It came with a LeoVince slip on, so that was the starting point. We went on to play with the jetting until it was finally right...a JD jet kit helped, but the recommended settings didn't cut it. Unfortunately, I don't have the bike anymore or I would post what the needles/positions were. We also went with a 14 countershaft sprocket to try to even out the gearing...that helped a lot.

As for the other stuff...

Foggy sight glass. We had that happen one time too. I had a panic attack when I saw it and dumped the oil right away. After the oil was drained, the fogginess remained...apparently it was some condensation on the inside of the glass. Not sure how it got there, but the oil that came out looked like normal used oil.
Clutch lever. It does suck. All of our other bikes were hydraulic and that made the 610 clutch feel like crap. They also have a tendency to fray, so you might do a search on that. I don't remember them being different...perhaps the previous owner replaced one?
As for the too tall thing...I am 5'6" and didn't have too difficult of a time. Ours was a SM, though, so I imagine it sat a little lower. If you're not heading through any gnarly stuff, then maybe a kouba link wouldn't make too much difference in the handling. That wide aftermarket seat might be making a difference too...but I wouldn't swap that back. The stocker is rather uncomfortable.

 

[jerbear610]

That seat actually looks nice and probably has lessened the height a little from stock. My Gutz seat actually made mine taller. It was already on the bike
when I bought it but it appears to be taller. I've got the JD Jets as well and would be happy to post specs but I believe he's got FI so ........
That's funny because I got the foggy sight glass as well and thought for sure that it was cracked but it went away and hasn't occurred since. I'm mean foggy
as in looked like condensation as you (Phoenix) had. The OP's sight glass looks like too much oil or possibly no oil but I'm thinking the former.

 

[Rapid Dog]

Thanks ya'll.
Speaking of seats, are you guys familiar with Seat Concepts? They make a great product that's very affordable.
Bundy did my 950 seat and it was way comfy. This bike has a Renazco and the stocker which I'll send out to him soon.

I have a 1.5" Kouba link ordered. Figure it's cheaper than a suspension redo right now.

Back to power - Have any of you used a Power Commander on your FI bikes? Any feedback on that would be great.
Reading up on pipes it looks like the FMF Q4 id the quietest which is what I'm looking for.
The LeoV seems to be real close in DB's. Most owners seem to think that's the go to pipe. $299 from the local dealer...

I'm going with the Power Up kit for sure. Going to drain all the oil and do all the filters for practice and see what's up.
My bet is it's over-filled.

 

[Rapid Dog]

...Oh, and ditto about the yellow writing, I'm color blind too....I'm use to the darkness of ADVRider...force of habit, sorry.

 

[Rapid Dog]

Just ordered the LeoV and Power Up form Dan at MotoXotica.
Looks like I'm goin' down that road again...

 

[Coffee]

...Oh, and ditto about the yellow writing, I'm color blind too....I'm use to the darkness of ADVRider...force of habit, sorry.

I can tell

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