2012 TE250 Imploded

[rderflin]

Wanted to give everyone a update. The dealer talked to a Husky rep today and he stated that they have only had one other occurrence of this since
2010. Sounds like a quality control issue, so that makes me feel better about the situation. In the future I will stick to a more frequent oil change schedule to help in diagnosing issues earlier. I'll stick to the 8 hr schedule for oil/filter changes. Now how often should I check the valves to keep the gremlins away? Totally new to the dirt bike world so anything I can do to keep the bike trouble free is much appreciated.

 

[James Patton]

These bikes are really race bikes with a license plate. A KLX 250 is a,detuned heavy built motor with 18 HP on its best
day. Over at the KLR site I frequent (I have a KLR650) the KLX 250 has it issues. I would spend the money and time
To change oil and inspect all the bike every ride or two. I change the oil on my KLR every 2000 miles, on my TE511
Every 2 or 300 miles. They are different animals. If you are riding it in the dirt, I think you should be on the race
Schedule, your just racing slow...the time and money you save not doing these things, you will spend more later..
After 40 yrs. riding, I know grease is cheaper than parts! Hope your bike holds together once repaired. Take good
care of it, someone else will want it someday, maybe me. lOl

 

[Planepower]

Just curious, as I look up specs on this model, the stock rear sprocket is a 40 and you changed it to a 45 while maintaining 50mph? I would imagine that's very near redline. There is a possible cause in my opinion. I have the older generation 250 & 450 and the transmission ratios are so tight I'd be extremely concerned holding 10,000+rpm for long periods. These engines are designed for short burst, full power applications, and just like any high strung MX engine will quickly go boom.
You have done the power up mods so therefore your published maintenance schedule should follow the 'full power' table.
Replace oil each 8 hrs operation and check valves each 16 hrs.

 

[Kyle Tarry]

Husky's gonna have a hard time selling bikes to trail riders (most of the market, presumably), if you need to do an oil change every 120 miles or 8 hours. That would mean changing the oil on Saturday night far a 2-day dual sport ride. I don't think I've EVER seen someone do this, unless they took their bike for a swim. Heck, you can easily do 120 miles in a day if you're riding more dual sport (fire roads, etc).

I don't have an xlite, so take this with a grain of salt, but if you need to change the oil every 8 hours during trail riding, I'll never own one.

 

[DG Harv Serv]

Husky's gonna have a hard time selling bikes to trail riders (most of the market, presumably), if you need to do an oil change every 120 miles or 8 hours. That would mean changing the oil on Saturday night far a 2-day dual sport ride. I don't think I've EVER seen someone do this, unless they took their bike for a swim. Heck, you can easily do 120 miles in a day if you're riding more dual sport (fire roads, etc).

I don't have an xlite, so take this with a grain of salt, but if you need to change the oil every 8 hours during trail riding, I'll never own one.

Oil is a cheap insurance policy !

I change Oil at least ever 5 hours because the bike is a RACE bike with a MX based engine. Hence it holds a small amount of Oil.

KLX, XR, DRZ etc... are Trail bikes that have road based engines. They therefore hold far more Oil.

You cant compare the two ! If you want to Trail Ride and have long service intervals, I agree an X-Lite is not for you.

However if you race enduro and want a highly competative bike, you wont find better .

BUT expect to spend money maintaining it, as per any MX, Enduro Race Bike.

 

[wright184]

I think the points to gather from this thread are:

1) change the oil frequently if you can, to find telltale signs of internal damage as early as possible,
2) If you do a 2 day dual sport ride bring a small bottle of oil for top-ups,
3) if you need to ride at 10,000 RPM for extended periods then raise the gearing with sprocket changes, this website can help with that: www.gearingcommander.com

 

[Mike-AK]

Husky's gonna have a hard time selling bikes to trail riders (most of the market, presumably), if you need to do an oil change every 120 miles or 8 hours. That would mean changing the oil on Saturday night far a 2-day dual sport ride. I don't think I've EVER seen someone do this, unless they took their bike for a swim. Heck, you can easily do 120 miles in a day if you're riding more dual sport (fire roads, etc).

I don't have an xlite, so take this with a grain of salt, but if you need to change the oil every 8 hours during trail riding, I'll never own one.

Why? You change the oil on your WR with every tank of gas.

 

[Kyle Tarry]

Why? You change the oil on your WR with every tank of gas.

First of all, only halfway true. If I had to drain and fill my gearbox oil every tank of gas, I would sell the bike.

Second of all, it takes literally 10 seconds on a 2-stroke to "change the oil."

I don't have a problem with needing to change the oil every 8 hours on a race bike. The point I was making, which I think I stated pretty clearly, was that Husky was going to have trouble selling bikes to trail riders (which is probably the majority of the market) if you need to change the oil every ride. That's all.

 

[Mike-AK]

First of all, only halfway true. If I had to drain and fill my gearbox oil every tank of gas, I would sell the bike.

Second of all, it takes literally 10 seconds on a 2-stroke to "change the oil."

I don't have a problem with needing to change the oil every 8 hours on a race bike. The point I was making, which I think I stated pretty clearly, was that Husky was going to have trouble selling bikes to trail riders (which is probably the majority of the market) if you need to change the oil every ride. That's all.

I don't mind the idea of riding it all weekend, doing the maintenance during the week, then taking it out the following weekend and doing it all over again. I actually enjoy tinkering with my bike almost as much as riding.

 

[R_Little]

I agree, filings and chips stay in the sump when they get there, they dont recirculate.

I believe these bearing failures are bad bearings or improper assembly where the bearings are damaged somehow: bad torque, bad pressing on, etc.

Yup. Yup Yup!

No way a casual trial rider should see these bearing disintegrate like that.
Either they starve for oil in this design which I doubt cause the cam chain slings oil all over the place in there, or they are bad bearings and/or incorrect installation. I vote #2.

I've been feeling my banjo bolt for vibration or noise and so far it seems okay.

I even had that bearing out when I had my head off. Seemed tight and smooth to me.

 

[vintageveloce]

Wanted to give everyone a update. The dealer talked to a Husky rep today and he stated that they have only had one other occurrence of this since
2010.

Maybe they only had one other occurrence they paid for, but there have been a number of these. At least 5 or 6 discussed on cafehusky alone. I'll never buy another BMW...

 

[Motosportz]

IMHO this is a semi known bearing issue and the latest bike has this area upgraded with a second bearing. While 600 mile oil change is slightly on the high side I don't think that had anything to do with it. It was up to the right level and should not have been broken down or dirty to the point of failure especially for trail riding.

 

[henson802]

Maybe they only had one other occurrence they paid for, but there have been a number of these. At least 5 or 6 discussed on cafehusky alone. I'll never by another BMW...

Yeah. I had an 10 TE250 that blew up. Granted, I was changing oil every 600-800 miles so guess I deserve it, but I'm also a very casual rider limiting the rpms to around 6000-7000rpms for road travel and do only mediocre trails where I'm never really pinning the throttle for more then 3 seconds. Obviously I shoulda been changing oil much more frequent. Even though it was in power up mode, I never was riding it hard so figured 600-800 mile oil changes would be fine (every 15 or so hours since it was mostly road ridden and easy trails). I learned my lesson the hard way. Never knew the exact cause, but I think possibly that the oil pump clogged with shrapnel and hence starved the rest of engine of oil. But I always looked through that glass and it was always at least half full -- too full and it gets sucked through.

Any how, I'm picking up a DRZ 400e this weekend and very pumped, heard those engines are rock solid and good enough power.

X-Lite engines are definitely maintenence heavy machines. I like my TE 250, handles like a dream. But for the amount of power to maintenence ratio - just not for me, not to mention the price of it to begin with. I'm not a racer, a trail rider that likes to have extra ponies at my disposal.

 

[Motosportz]

Yeah. I had an 10 TE250 that blew up. Granted, I was changing oil every 600-800 miles so guess I deserve it, but I'm also a very casual rider limiting the rpms to around 6000-7000rpms for road travel and do only mediocre trails where I'm never really pinning the throttle for more then 3 seconds. Obviously I shoulda been changing oil much more frequent. Even though it was in power up mode, I never was riding it hard so figured 600-800 mile oil changes would be fine (every 15 or so hours since it was mostly road ridden and easy trails). I learned my lesson the hard way. Never knew the exact cause, but I think possibly that the oil pump clogged with shrapnel and hence starved the rest of engine of oil. But I always looked through that glass and it was always at least half full -- too full and it gets sucked through.

Any how, I'm picking up a DRZ 400e this weekend and very pumped, heard those engines are rock solid and good enough power.

X-Lite engines are definitely maintenence heavy machines. I like my TE 250, handles like a dream. But for the amount of power to maintenence ratio - just not for me, not to mention the price of it to begin with. I'm not a racer, a trail rider that likes to have extra ponies at my disposal.

Probably a better bike for street and light trail. Not near the performance but much more built for lots of miles. the X-lights are race bikes with a plate.

 

[vintageveloce]

While the x-lites have a somewhat exotic engine... these bearing failures aren't related to that. I think running the top timing gear is a fairly unstressed job. Either its a bad batch of bearing (which BMW Motorrad SHOULD have covered under warranty/recall) or its a bad design. My bike and some of the others that failed had meticulous oil changes, and no sign of overheating/oil problems on the bearings. I'd encourage those with problems to consider going to the sticky timing gear thread and noting there story, just so we can build a record.
http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/2010-te-250-timing-gear-issue.27292/

 

[henson802]

I think the plateable feature of the smaller bore TE's can be good and bad. Obviously nice to connect trail to trail (if you are racing??), but people who aren't diligent on their maintenance could cause premature blowup! Almost impossible to sustain 50mph without higher rpms - which will rattle the engine parts more and potential for loose things go boom. It's hard to know how much abuse the engine can take. Mine seems to be doing pretty good now, but I change oil after every other ride - and I'm not pinning it ever nor racing.

DRZ packs plenty power.. The 'kick' only version is listed as 249 lbs dry and cranks 49 horsepower (around 33 feet of torque). And honestly, it didn't feel much heavier then my TE - a couple inches shorter. The suspension isn't setup for races (that can always be modified)- but the engine is plenty capable in my opinion. And brand new, they used to go for 5,300 vs 7,500+ for huskies.

It'll be interesting to hear about the longevity of the 310R engines..

 

[glangston]

Just curious, as I look up specs on this model, the stock rear sprocket is a 40 and you changed it to a 45 while maintaining 50mph? I would imagine that's very near redline. There is a possible cause in my opinion. I have the older generation 250 & 450 and the transmission ratios are so tight I'd be extremely concerned holding 10,000+rpm for long periods. These engines are designed for short burst, full power applications, and just like any high strung MX engine will quickly go boom.
You have done the power up mods so therefore your published maintenance schedule should follow the 'full power' table.
Replace oil each 8 hrs operation and check valves each 16 hrs.

Are you sure about that redline figure.

My '12 TE310 had the 40 which I changed to a 45. 50 mph was 5-6000 range.

 

[henson802]

Are you sure about that redline figure.

My '12 TE310 had the 40 which I changed to a 45. 50 mph was 5-6000 range.

Ya that seems a bit extreme, I don't weight much, have a 50 rear on my TE 250 (powered up) and need to sustain 6500-7000rpms for 50mph -rarely do though cause even that makes me nervous from past experiences.

The only thing that is a little disappointing is the fact that these TE 310 or 250's need to be maintained like a racer even if you aren't racing them. I guess that's where some mis-conception is and will be. At least for me, I figured if I rode it like the avg. joe trail hopper, that maybe the maintenance intervals could be more lenient. Either I was wrong or unlucky with a malfunctioning part. But I do think we'll see much more of this unfortunately.

 

[birdy]

Changing oil depends on how you ride, this has nothing to do with the xlite engine. Same is true when it comes to changing pistons and stuff. Just talked to a KTM mechanic last weekend and he said that they are changing pistons on their 250 4T KTM racing bikes every 20 h...

This is not an xlite issue. Small 4T engines revv like hell and when you're doing hard enduro races with a lot of clutch work you should change oil very often (every race or weekend). When you do easy stuff you can use your oil a lot longer, don't worry.

It's like changing the air filter. There is no clear guideline in terms of hours. If it's dirty, change it...

Coming back to the clutch. Most 4T engines (except some older KTM's and actual Honda's) use their oil for engine and gear box including clutch. Real enduro riding means a lot of clutch work and that is spoiling your oil. Ever changed Oil on a 2 stroke? Yes it is dirty and black like hell after some hours...

 

[bud7041]

Yeah a little bit concerned about having a x-lite after reading all that.