Living with a 2010 Husky TE 510!

So I just got rid of my trusty, old BRP and picked up a 2010 Husky TE510.


So I went from this:


to this:



I will chronicle my life with this new bike and let you know both the good and the bad.

The reason for the switch was that one the BRP was getting a bit tired and I was getting tired of no e-star, two, and more significantly, was that I picked up a KTM 950 SE at the beginning of the 2009 riding season. With the SE in the stable I found that it could do 80-90% of what the BRP could, so there was too much overlap between the two bikes. I found that I needed a smaller more trail worthy bike that would be more suitable for technical terrain, but still be street legal. The TE fit the bill and on top of this was EFIed so i would not have to fool around w/ jetting given the typical 6000ft/2000meter elevation changes encountered here in Colorado on an average ride.

Since I picked up the bike we have had an arctic cold front here in Colorado that has prevented me from actually riding the bike. The only thing I have been able to do is put a few breaking miles around town and de-smog/power up the bike.

Initial impressions: The husky seems very well make, with great components and a good fit and finish. Initially it seems much vibe-er than mu old XR which was butter smooth. I hoping that it gets better once the engine has had a chance to break in. The stock Brembo brakes are phenomenal. Great stopping power and feel. I love how the bike was made to run in race mode. All the additional stuff was designed to be easily removed. Even the OEM exhaust, a top of the line Arrow is a great piece of gear that will not need to be replaced w/ an aftermarket exhaust.

Now this just needs to go away so I can actually ride the thing:



More to follow...

PROS:[/B]
- I love the look of the bike
- Fit and finish seems great
- Comes w/ quality components
- Incredible brakes
- Easy to work on, seems like Husky tried to use the same size bolts as much as possible
- Easy to de-smog/power up
- Shop manual comes w/ the bike on a USB key

CONS:[/B]
- Small tank (1.9 gal), the only aftermarket tanks a 3 gal IMS which with an average off-road MPG of 40-45 miles netts a range of 120-135 miles.
- So far the bike is a bit vibe-er that the BRP, but that could get better once the bike is broken in.
- Exhaust is extremely hot where it enters the muffler. Needs to be wrapped w/ header wrap to keep from burning pants and melting air-box.
- Gear shifter lever is ridiculously short (1.5 inches shorter than you average one)
- Foot-pegs are small and look like they are a cheap cast material prone to shattering
- OEM Arrow exhaust is way too loud for trail riding
- OEM radiators are very exposed and vulnerable. Not factory protection what so ever.

Planned Up-Grades:

- Uptite skid plate
- Cycra Handguards
- Heated Grips
- Pro Grip Rally grips
- IMS 3 gallon Tank
- Motosportz rear disk guard
- Zip Ty Gear shifter lever
- Zip Ty case saver
- Fastway foot pegs
- Taller gearing (will start w/ 14/47 or 15/47. Stock is 13/47)
- TE610 rear rack subframe
- PMB rear rack
- OFG racing radiator guards
- Husky dB killer insert
- Power Commander w/ Autotune

Initial Set Up:

The Husky comes from the factory w/ ever thing you need to get it running right. The so called Husky power-up kit comes with a plug for the O2 mid pipe sensor (remember the bike has EFI), a resistor plug for the EFI that switches the mapping to race mode, a free flowing air filter basket, and a removable catalytic converter situated in the mid pipe.


Husky Power-Up:

1- Remove air filter restrict or and replace w/ open basket.

This is what the Husky comes w/ from the factory. It's amazing the bike is even able to run w/ such low air flow. This must be how they manage to be 50 state street legal, pass CARB and Euro-3 restrictions.








So you get rid of that nonsense and put this in:



Ahhh! Much better!


I opted to keep the flash-back screen in the air-box for now. I need to see how the bike runs first.



2- Remove the exhaust end piece and slide out the cat converter:



This is where it sits in the mid pipe:



3- The Husky had this strange octopus attacking it so I whacked it off w/ a hammer and threw it away:



Gotta make sure you plug this thingy up (yes that is a technical term):






4- Take out the O2 sensor and plug the hole:





5- Once the O2 sensor is taken care of the spot where it was plugged into the EFI system needs to be taken car of. Husky provides this nifty plug w/ a built in resistor that tells the system the O2 sensor is no longer there and to get on w/ race mode.





Thats it now you are ready to roll.



I did a initial oil change at 35 miles. The oil looked pretty rough for such short mileage and there were a few metal flakes in the oil screens, plus a chunk of head gasket came out of the oil pan.

Oil changes are super easy:

- Remove drain plug
- Clean magnetic drain plug
- Remove 2 screws that hold oil screen #1 on left side of bike
- Remove Allen head plug that hold oil screen #2 on left side of bike
- Remove oil filter on right side of bike
- Close all holes
- Add oil (1700 ml for oil & filter change) and go

Wow that was an awsome detailed write up with pics great job! I don't own the 2010 TE510 but I am sure guys with it will find your report very helpfull. Thanks for taking the time to help others, very cool.

Oh yeah Congrats on your new bike!

You'll probably need to make some adjustments to the ECU CO values to make it run great. Most of the bikes so far have been lean with the factory set CO values at 100%.

Get rid of the lame vacuum plug, get a intake back fire it will blow off then have air leak. Use 5X10 .80 threaded bolt red loctite it in. Just so you know once plugging in the jumper for the ECU and ran it you killed the warrenty puts a code in it that can not be erased. Later George

Thanks

Doh!


Gotta pay to play.

They don't seriously expenct anyone to actually ride the bike all choked up like that?!?!?!

This should be just about right at 6000FT!

Congrats on the new bike. Nice intro write up and pictures. this will help future owners as well. However I'm not quite sure what George was referring to, so I got a bit lost there.

Ride well.
DW

What George meant was that the moment you un cork the bike and plug in the race mode adaptor it send a signal to the ECU telling it you put it in race mode and this voids the 6 month unlimited mileage warranty.

They expect you to break the bike in a little slower than most people want. Usually says for at least the first 4 hours right on the rear fender somewhere. You did well to take the oil out that soon. Part of what you paid for the bike IS the 6 mo. warranty. I'm not sure I went 6 mos. before powerup but I did go 600 mi. 20 or so hours.

Top report-excellent pictures. Guess you had to play with the toy since you are house bound. Not too many of us have had warranty claims so don't sweat it. Finally, a hearty welcome to the fold.

Does anyone know if the TE510 will kick over w/ a dead battery?

Someone mentioned that because the EFI primes only via the battery and not the magneto that it would not start if there was no juice in the battery.

This has troubled me to. If the battery was dead and not taking a charge, would the kick starter really not get it running. If so, would a capicator in the circuit be possible?

I didn't see a clutch slave cylinder quad/X ring in your to do list. Or a Zip Ty slave and 7602 piston.

Nice choice of a bike.

Not a big thing, but check out Kelly's (MotoSportz) billet rack. The PMB is nice, but, imo, the Motosportz is a better fit, lower profile and well made.

Enjoy.

I BELIEVE that Husky's EFI works off batt. power and not off the magneto so if the battery is REALLY dead I'd doubt you'd get it started by kicking it. Make a habit of carrying an extra small set of jumper cables with your ridin tools..

I agree, but it has been out of stock since the beginning of Nov and there is no restock date.

I would also do fuel pump mod while your on down time.