Mini- and Micro-projects for my 310

a few hints, mini- and micro-projects I did to my '14 TE310R; but not 310 specific I guess.

I consider these projects 5 minute quickies to 30 minute mini's. They're easy to do and (usually) don't take any special tools or parts. Let's begin:

Hose Clamps:
A lot of people like the Euro-style hose clamps. The biggest advantage I think is that you can use a phillips screwdriver, straight blade screwdriver or a 7mm socket (meh- a pain) to tighten 'em. Another purported advantage is that there are no exposed threads, so soft silicone radiator hoses don't get pushed through and possibly cut on the edges (I'm not so sure that this is a big problem). However, by switching to American hose clamps you get 2 3 advantages: the hose clamps themselves are wider, spreading the forces out some, [edit] the clamps have less of a tendency to loosen than the euro-style, and (here's the big one): you can use an 8mm nut driver to tighten 'em. Now, I've been using a nutdriver for all the 8mm bolts on my Husky (and that's 90% of 'em, including the cases- thank you Italians for not going with the KTM-esque 6mm heads) for a long time. It's way-way handier than a T-wrench, and the driver handle keeps you from going insane on the torque. Since I have an 8mm nutdriver in my hand, almost always when I'm around the bike- this mod makes maintenance even easier.





Skid Plate:
I have an EE aluminum skid plate.... waiting to be mounted. I can't use it until I re-route my oil return line (sheesh). In the meantime, I am on my 3rd stock skidplate ($11 each- NBFD); they work okay. A couple of problems show up though: the side protection is too flexible and eventually gets pushed into the bolts holding the oil filter cover on. I added a piece of an old skid plate to the new one with Gorilla Glue (I don't know if it's ABS or PE but it's holding either way).




The other problem is that some people have had the external oil line broken (presumably by a branch or something). I decided to add a 2" extension, cut from the other skid plates, to help deflect branches in the most critical area. 2 other things: note the bolt retainer holding the mounting bolt; also I drilled a small weep-hole under directly under the oil filter cover (hopefully I'll spot a leak sooner)




mounted view- not too bad (I'll paint the hardware black so it blends a bit). I'll come back for a longevity report:

...a few more-

Auxilary Power or Charge Cord:
I added the power cord adapter I had from an old battery charger to my battery (stock lead-acid). I installed a weather-proof 10amp fuse very-very close to the positive terminal. I made total length just long enough to come out the side panel breather-hole/hand-hold. I also put a vinyl tube over the exposed negative conductor of the power cord (don't want it touching anything hot). I got a cigarette socket with the power cord fitting on it (and a cig adapter with a 2 USB ports and 4 short USB-B adapters). In the same area, but unrelated, I covered the positive terminal of the battery with a vinyl cap just to be safe.




Brake Pedal Spring:
I have big feet and tend to ride the rear brake pedal a little; so I position it a little lower than most people but also put a heavier spring on it. On the Husky it is easy to remove the stock spring, and take it to a hardware store to compare it with another spring (eye-to-eye length, and tension). Actually, you want to make sure the new spring is not made of too thick of wire- it will not fit in the mount holes (and I'm not sure you want to drill these out much). You can take coils out, and with a vise and a stout pair of vise grip, bend it into the shape you need. I always wear safety glasses around springs- they scare the hell out of me.

In the last picture, notice that the spring is not quite coil-bound with the brake pedal adjustment all the way up- makes for easier mouting.

...more

Chain Adjustment:
Husky calls for 35mm of slack in the chain (30mm in some other sources- go with 35). My 27mm socket that I use on my axle is 36mm in diameter- close enough. I put it on the chain slider, butted up against the center rail and the side rail. works perfect.





Whistle in the Radiator Overflow Line:
This is probably the simplest and weirdest quick mod (30 seconds... if you can find the right whistle). Simply insert a small, bosun's-type whistle in the end of the overflow tube, where it rests inside the skidplate. I had one for months and it worked well- when I overheated (usually after stopping at the top of a long, slow hill climb) I would suddenly start hearing a shrill teapot type whistle... reminding me to let my bike cool a bit before continuing on. Note: my fan broke about a year and a half ago, and I really never noticed a need for it.
I ended up losing the whistle when I installed a super-small overflow tank and the overflow tube was re-routed and hanging down by the linkage.

...and we keep going-

The husky wire looms are kinda famous for being tight and just a hair too short- which leads to abrasion and rubbing. One of the most vulnerable areas is the fork stem pivot where all the wiring is coming together and is forced to rotate. The wire and hydraulic clutch line also can get cut on the sharp edge of the stock regulator, making the situation worse. Protect the clutch line by cutting a vinyl hose in a spiral and threading it onto the clutch line. In addition, radius the edge of the regulator with a file. As a final last step, add a strip of rubber (an old tube for example) to cushion the wire loom and clutch line during sharp turns and other movement.





To make maintenance easier (and especially repairs in the field) use bolt retainers to capture bolts on often-removed parts: side panels, tank panels, skid plate. Dropping or losing them in the dirt sucks.

...running low on the easy ones-

For some reason, the new tanks on the '13 and '14 TXCs and TEs had some clearance issues. A problem was that the inside back fuel pump bolt hit the outlet hose of the water pump, rubbing a hole in it. Switching to a button head socket screw (allen) helped (far right, in back... note the lack of clearance even now):

better view (upper middle)-->


The 2nd step is to buy 4 heavy duty 1/2" washers (1/8" or 3mm thick) and put 1 each on both back mounts and double up the last 2 on the front mount; this raises the tank enough to keep it from being a problem.

The stock FI hose has an inner core of Teflon, and outer covering of regular rubber fuel hose for protection only, and finally (!) a hard spiral wrap for more abrasion protection. (I believe that the inner line is teflon- lotsa places say nylon, but it has a vapor leak/porosity rating for air pollution. I'm thinking nylon would do poorly here. And it's very stiff, which causes the problem).

The quick-disconnects are made to be undone by hand... but it usually takes a tool. A hint is to push the disconnect in at the same time you're depressing the buttons; then pull it off.

The problem, I believe, is that you need to raise the tank to do this; and in doing so, the spiral wrap gets caught or snagged and when you pull up on the tank- something gives or breaks. It used to be the plastic fuel outlet on the tank, but in 2014 this was updated to an aluminum outlet... moving the problem to the next frail plastic piece: the quick-disconnect. Mine broke when it was 20° in my garage (umm, what? about -5 or -7°C?) which exacerbated the situation, I'm sure, by making the nylon fittings even more brittle.

At over $30 retail for a 10" hose, I decided to make one. I did not need or care about leaking milligrams of vapor every century (whatever) so I went with a good fuel hose (1/4" Gates, 250psi) and bought (2) 5/16" QD fittings (about $7). The 1/4" hose fits good on the 5/16" fittings, go with that. I also used heat-shrinking tubing (Teflon again) to act as hose clamps- this was more for aesthetics than anything else really. I made the new line about an inch longer. The QD retaining clips had to be modified a little so I could do 'em by hand (you cannot get the standard QD tool in there). 2+ years and 3000miles... no problems.

here are some pictures:



edit: if you do this, use the euro or asian quick disconnects instead of the 'merican ones (like Dorman brand shown above- which can be undone by hand, but which there is no clearance for). Actually, the hand-releasable chinese ones work better than the euro's. I have found them on ebay for $1.50-6.00 delivered. ymmv.

About a year ago, I noticed that my left fork guard was much, much closer to the fork than the right one was (see 1st pic). Upon closer inspection, I was very surprised to see that the guard was rubbing on the fork itself during hard impacts- so much so that the metal of the retainer for the dust scraper was almost worn through (wow! 2nd pic).

I rotated the retainer, and then loosened the guard, put a wedge behind it and tightened back up and let it set overnight. But it settled back into its old position pretty fast. I couldn't figure out if it was the brake line causing it to flex in during fork compression or what... so I looked at my original pictures I took when I pulled the bike out of the crate. The left guard was much closer- right out of the box. hmmm.

My next plan worked: I loosened the guard again, wedged it again, tightened again- but this time I got my heat gun and (carefully- very carefully) applied heat to the mount area to make it soft. Once there, I let it cool; and it turned out fine once it hardened. warning- there is an insanely fine line, when heating, of this stuff becoming "plastic" and it becoming "liquid" (and slumping)... be careful. This is the voice of experience speaking, from another project.

The wire retainer ring was about $4.75 (which I purchased but never replaced), and the the dust scraper was something like $50 (wtf!!) so I did not even bother.

A little while later I put CRF guards on (I like red- and honda stole the color and "CR" designation from husky 40 years ago) and a CRF fender too. BTW, Yamaha and Honda fork guards are bolt-on; you just need the aluminum brake line clamps (which are $pendy too; Husky & KTM's method is much better)

Did you use clamps on the fuel line to fitting or just the shrink wrap?

I guess those fittings just fit over the stock tank and throttle body like the stock parts?

yeah- plug 'n play... just like stock.

no clamps... only the shrink tubing. But the stock ones don't even have that- and they don't need it; that hose is insanely hard to get off the barb (lotsa heat in the form of boiling water helped).

Interesting!

At 40psi pressure I'd think you need some clamps.

Anyway i guess for that application you don't need submersible FI hose, you can use the cheaper stuff.

Thanks for posting!

Good tips for a 310 owner.
Thanks for posting!

well, I'll tell you- when you work with hose clamps day-in, day-out... you quickly learn that nut drivers are the tool to use. And I don't think there is anything else on the bike that uses a 7mm socket, which is pretty sucky- and is the biggest reason to switch the clamps. Your post was the one I was thinking about when I mentioned the open vs closed threads in regards to the radiator hose. [update: the intake manifold and air filter boot clamps are also 7mm- which I did not change]

..."WAS" leaking- it's been over a year ago since I took the image, which was of the leak; not the fuel pump screw. I fixed it last year, but thanks for the heads-up about the leak.

[and let me return the favor: on your old thread about silicone hoses, the left top radiator inlet hose clamp is hitting your rad fins and maybe the core too. or it could be the POV; because that looks like it would hole the radiator pretty fast]

And I just thought of another disadvantage of euro-clamps: they have a bigger tendency to loosen.

yeah, that's me (shovelhead85) posting on page 2 last year; I knew this issue was probably solved for 99.9% of the x-lites in the world.

My leak was really a drip drip drip. After riding in Flagstaff and Colorado I was about to ride in WY and noticed accumulated fluid on the lower hose. No dropped level in the rad. so found the offending clamps and they took 1/2 turn to snug. They were really stiff to begin with and the hose was widest where I spliced. The vendor says not to tighten the hoses too tight. Well... So they don't leak, I needed to snug them tight.This was my first trip with them. The few miles and the slow leak as high up as it was just never showed up for 2 rides. Now I know how tight is right for them. Nice thing is is using the ZT Evans fluid. Not enough pressure to lose more and have not added any since (still clear too).

The clamp is off the radiator. Just POV.I just rotated them to be as clear of the tank and wires as possible without potentially wearing on the rad., but still be accessible.

Poor pov..



better pov...

Here's a 3 min project that will make changing your TE or TXC's air filter just a hair bit easier. they have a battery in the air box which needs to hang on the side of the bike while you change filters, meaning there's not much room- especially with the TE's electrical components & extra wiring.
(note: I say "change" instead of "clean" because I got a couple of clean filters on standby).

the hint: taper the last 2mm of your air filter screw so it falls into the hole easier. Do not get carried away with this- with a clean, "fluffy" filter you don't have much screw thread length to play with. OTOH, once it bites, the screw goes in 8-10mm.



stock M6x70 screw is on the left, and has a slightly smaller taper than the M6X80 screw I "made"... ....but it turns out that the taper alone makes it easier to install (so I threw that other $1.71 project out). To taper, just lay the screw on the grinder's tool rest at about 20° to the side of the wheel and turn the screw smoothly without a whole lot of pressure. I did chase the threads afterwards.

here is the stock screw and my longer homemade one for reference





ZipTy Racing has a slick air filter bolt for $25 https://ziptyracing.com/collections/husqvarna/products/air-filter-cage-bolt-67mm:

Nice and simple idea for a pia filter swap. Besides the screw, the wiring and the space alone make me remove the battery completely and the sidepanels so I can see and use both hands/fingers to run around the sealing rim and verify seating on the TE.

Good stuff. Very good to have your vast knowledge so readily shared. Thank you.

yeah, you are forced to do that actually. well, maybe not... the weird factory approved method is to remove the battery and let it dangle off the side of the bike on the still-connected cables (a live battery, basically). I do this, but even having the terminals insulated like I do- it still makes me nervous. It seems pretty mickey mouse. (another hint: turn the dangling battery so the batt terminals are out & away from the frame. see the picture below)

with the side panels removed you can eyeball the metal flange on the surface that the filter sits on from both sides to see that it is installed evenly.