07' TE 450 advice

[joker]

I finally got the chance to ride my 07' TE450 today, I've only owned it a short time and before I went I serviced it with 15w50 motul 300v and renewed the coolant with engine ice, I was told this was the best coolant to use, anyway, it still overheated twice on the ride, no surprise it was on a hillclimb and when slowly motoring through singletrail, this is something I've rarely encountered with my previous bikes most would only start to cook when revving the crap out of them on a really long climb, but it was pushing steam out of the overflow bottle like a kettle. where do I start trying to rectify this problem, I've read about the "Y" piece and its possible its running lean, any advice or other suggestions??

I also found the front end very loose, it really had very little grip and felt really unsteady at low speed, I gave a few clicks softer on the rebound and for the rest of the ride felt better, are the service book standard clicker settings reliable?? I really want a good starting point to start my adjustments from not just where they were when I got the bike.

any common faults with the speedo? mine didn't work.

finally, it may be just me but do they have a ridiculous turning circle?? seemed like it did zig zagging around trees, it may just be the lack of confidence I had or is it something I will have to live with.


thanks joker

 

[Swampds]

Does your te have a fan? Mine is a euro model that came with a fan from the factory. Also check that crossover line for the radiators. I had mine blow when the bike got really hot when I lost my fan a few years ago. I replaced the line with some fuel injection hose and all is good.

My speedo has never been very good. You need to trace the electrical coming from the disc. You are either missing the little metal doodad on the disc or the line is frayed or broken at the top of the curve near the handlebars. I have had to do surgery on mine there.

Do you have you forks adjusted in the clamps. I like mine on the second line from flush. This should help the bike turn better but it will be twitchy at high speeds.

 

[Big and Husky]

You may be running too lean on your jets. You may have a kinked rad hose that is restricting the flow. You may have a damaged waterpump impeller. I have dualsported my bike with 15t front and 47t rear sprockets to get some speed on the road but with this setup I need to slip the clutch in the ugly off road stuff and that is where all the heat comes from. I installed a fan on the left rad and that gets turned on (manualy with a switch) before I get it too hot.
Some things for you to check and think about. Good luck.
Big

 

[K7MDL]

Here is what I did for a fan and thermal switch for my '06 TE450.

http://www.cafehusky.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14083

In my case I have the 3.9 Gallon IMS so I could not mount a fan behind the radiator, so I front mounted it. 190F thermal switch , never goes above 200F, perfect.

If you can rear mount it on the right side, I think the TE610 fan bracket, or the TE450 2009 year bracket works. Fans are SPAL, rear mount is a pull, front mount is a pusher. There are some threads on here talking about that solution.

 

[joker]

thanks for the tips everyone.
it doesn't have a fan so that might be something to look into, I have force radiator guards on it so maybe a rear mount?? its only got the standard tank on it & it looks like there's heaps of room on the back of the right radiator on the right side, left is a little tighter. need to have a look at the jetting, might be worth running a little richer than I currently am, while I'm at it I'm going to get a Y piece to help flow and have a look at the pump and hoses as well, its not something I can afford to happen to me regularly.

had a look at the suspension and found the forks way different to the standard clicker settings, really soft on the compression, pretty sure the previous owner was having trouble with his set up, I adjusted it on the side of the trail while I was waiting for it to cool, on our way back. it seemed much better so I'm going start from scratch and adjust from the manuals specs, at least I'll have something to go back to if I need to. its on the first line in the clamp so I'll see if moving to the second helps.

the speedo has the magnet on the brake disc but it is seems pretty loose?? is that normal?? seems odd to me, haven't had time to check the cable so it might be a damaged wire as well.
cant wait to pull things apart
thanks again, joker

 

[K7MDL]

...
had a look at the suspension and found the forks way different to the standard clicker settings, really soft on the compression, pretty sure the previous owner was having trouble with his set up, I adjusted it on the side of the trail while I was waiting for it to cool, on our way back. it seemed much better so I'm going start from scratch and adjust from the manuals specs, at least I'll have something to go back to if I need to. its on the first line in the clamp so I'll see if moving to the second helps.

The speedo has the magnet on the brake disc but it is seems pretty loose?? is that normal?? seems odd to me, haven't had time to check the cable so it might be a damaged wire as well.
cant wait to pull things apart
thanks again, joker

I started with the service manual's settings and have backed out about 3-4 clicks more over time on all settings to make it softer/compliant for my 180# weight. Still not as good as my LT racing tuned 610 suspension, but good enough that I will spend my farkle budget on other stuff first, like a steering damper; this thing is really loose in the rough stuff, I am spoiled by my TE610 with its damper and suspension.

The magnet can be somewhat loose as long as it cannot escape. You coudl try a bit of hi temp RTV if you do not like it rattling. It will have no impact to the performance (unless it falls out of course).

The turning radius is not that great, harder to go around 180 switchbacks. I rode TTR250 on the same trails and was much easier, though not very exciting otherwise :-). I have started entering the tightest turns a bit faster and counting on hitting the rear brake hard and intertmittantly to skid the rear around in a few quick steps. Takes some faith when heading downhill with a big drop off inches away. Up hill I end up driving up the uphill bank and flopping the front off back down to the trail. Takes some work. Going slower and leaning a lot will end up getting stuck on a root and digging in, not good on the trails.

You did not define how your speedo is not working. No display, no odo, no speed indication, ...? Assuming the odo is not advancing (much), and the speed says 0 all or most of the time, it is likely a broken wire in the sensor cable, probably very close to the connector up top where it gets the most flex and is weakest. That can be repaired (spliced).

 

[ghte]

Typically they are not prone to overheating. Check all your lines, maybe go back and flush the radiator for scale etc. The Y joint will help. While you are at it replace the stock tube that crosses over the frame near the steering head-its junk and can blow.
Try dropping the fork down one notch at a time (also check your body position-makes a huge difference-put the jewells up near the tank). It is a biggish bike and wont turn the same as a 250 but they are just as good in the bush as other quality 450's inho.

 

[columbia510]

Congrats on the new bike, hope you figure out what works for you soon. The bikes seem to be fairly bombproof just a small tweek here and there.

I had an 07 TE that worked fairly well in all conditions. When I came off a Japanese bike I first realized that this bike don't turn all the way. There were numerous situations when I would get to lock when I needed some more turning and wad up in the bush. I removed 1.5mm off each side of the steering stops with a dremmell and this worked for me without my forks touching my oversized tank.

I also payed close attention to the coil plug under the fuel tank near the down tube on the frame and adjust the wire. My coil/wire would rub ever so slightly against one of the radiator hoses and would loosen up after a 1000km or so. This will HURT if the coil wire unplugs at the worst possible moment.

It sounds like the speedo wire broke at the connector behind the headlight shell. The new 09/10 wires are the same and also break in the same spot. The trailtech speedo wire is a perfect match and cheaper.

Happy trails

 

[kashlak]

My 07 would overheat on any low speed singletrack when it was new. I rejetted with the JD jet kit and never had a problem with over heating again. Also change the top crossover radiator tube and the plastic T fitting NOW!!!

 

[joker]

thanks for the advice everyone, I've taken the radiators off and are fine, the radiator guards have worked well so all but a few fins are undamaged, I'm going to get a Y piece and crossover hose, seems like a few people have had trouble there, I guess it wouldn't hurt to check out the pump impeller, jetting and if all that fails a fan as well.
suspension is set to the service manual specs, I'll adjust from there.
I've thought about grinding down the steering stops, good to know someone has had success doing it, I feel more confident grinding it.
speedo wire has traces of previous repairs, any suggestions on finding where the break is? do I just replace it?
I'll have to check out the coil wire, might just save me some grief down the track.
thanks again for the help, joker