petem
Husqvarna
A Class
I've just fitted the full titanium exhaust & ECU (Husky "special part" 8000H1250) to my '09 TE450, so here's a review in case anyone else is considering one. It had to be shipped from Italy to here in the UK but was in stock at the factory so it took less than a week. I trail ride rather than racing, the bike had been powered-up for some time, it has a G2 throttle cam (200X) fitted, and it's on standard gearing.
First impression: W. O. W.
My little Husky now runs like a bike should, and there's much more drive throughout the rev range. I can often run a gear higher than before with it trickling along almost on tickover and it still pulls nicely if I need a burst of power (no fluffing/stuttering/hesitation). The mid range is stronger and the power goes on longer if you want to hang on to a gear. It picks up the front wheel much more easily when you want to.
It also starts more easily, but I did have a bad water temp sensor which was replaced at the same time so the starting hadn't been too good the week before. Still, it's at least as good now as it has ever been so the new ECU doesn't make it any harder to live with.
Best of all the throttle response seems very linear, the power coming in without any sudden steps but just getting stronger the more you twist. Which sounds like what every bike should be doing I know, but on the stock exhaust it would sometimes bog down a little at low revs and take a while to build up and it doesn't do that any more unless you're revving so low it's on the verge of stalling. Also in mid to upper revs it would get to a point where opening the throttle any more wouldn't make much difference to the acceleration, whereas now it does do for as far as I've dared to take it! Rapid top gear roll-ons from closed throttle at 50mph or so resulted in it taking off like a rat out of an aqueduct and showing no signs of letting up before I chickened out.
Before I got it I wondered if the extra power might make it tricky to control, but it's so progressive that it was no harder to ride than before even in slow, twisty going. The burst of get-up-and-go when you do wind it on is truly addictive though, so I can see me getting into trouble from enjoying that too much.
The original exhaust may have been due a repack, but the new one is certainly a little quieter as the pulses seem to have a softer edge. Difficult for me to judge how it would be against a newly repacked standard exhaust, but the engineer at Husky Sport said it sounded quieter than the standard one to him (without me even mentioning it). On a long ride on Sunday the sound seemed slightly less tiring, and I think it's safe to say that at the least it's no louder than stock.
I didn't get a chance to weigh the new system before it went on, but I'm sure there's a reasonable chunk of weight saving. The bike did seem a little easier to flick about between trees but that could just be my imagination.
Downsides I can think of:
1. Probably easier to damage in a crash than ali/steel.
2. Not sure how easy it would be to manage on the standard throttle (without the G2), but I'd expect any experienced rider to be fine as I'm hardly Taddy's more skilled brother.
3. If it's fitted, the UK-style rear indicator will just touch the carbon fibre end cone so needs either removing or padding to prevent chafing damage.
4. None of the stepped sections in my exhaust bung fit it properly so the bung tends to fall out and will need to be modified. Drat.
5. Cost!
Overall verdict: 11.5 out of 10. Highly Recommended.
First impression: W. O. W.
My little Husky now runs like a bike should, and there's much more drive throughout the rev range. I can often run a gear higher than before with it trickling along almost on tickover and it still pulls nicely if I need a burst of power (no fluffing/stuttering/hesitation). The mid range is stronger and the power goes on longer if you want to hang on to a gear. It picks up the front wheel much more easily when you want to.
It also starts more easily, but I did have a bad water temp sensor which was replaced at the same time so the starting hadn't been too good the week before. Still, it's at least as good now as it has ever been so the new ECU doesn't make it any harder to live with.
Best of all the throttle response seems very linear, the power coming in without any sudden steps but just getting stronger the more you twist. Which sounds like what every bike should be doing I know, but on the stock exhaust it would sometimes bog down a little at low revs and take a while to build up and it doesn't do that any more unless you're revving so low it's on the verge of stalling. Also in mid to upper revs it would get to a point where opening the throttle any more wouldn't make much difference to the acceleration, whereas now it does do for as far as I've dared to take it! Rapid top gear roll-ons from closed throttle at 50mph or so resulted in it taking off like a rat out of an aqueduct and showing no signs of letting up before I chickened out.
Before I got it I wondered if the extra power might make it tricky to control, but it's so progressive that it was no harder to ride than before even in slow, twisty going. The burst of get-up-and-go when you do wind it on is truly addictive though, so I can see me getting into trouble from enjoying that too much.
The original exhaust may have been due a repack, but the new one is certainly a little quieter as the pulses seem to have a softer edge. Difficult for me to judge how it would be against a newly repacked standard exhaust, but the engineer at Husky Sport said it sounded quieter than the standard one to him (without me even mentioning it). On a long ride on Sunday the sound seemed slightly less tiring, and I think it's safe to say that at the least it's no louder than stock.
I didn't get a chance to weigh the new system before it went on, but I'm sure there's a reasonable chunk of weight saving. The bike did seem a little easier to flick about between trees but that could just be my imagination.
Downsides I can think of:
1. Probably easier to damage in a crash than ali/steel.
2. Not sure how easy it would be to manage on the standard throttle (without the G2), but I'd expect any experienced rider to be fine as I'm hardly Taddy's more skilled brother.
3. If it's fitted, the UK-style rear indicator will just touch the carbon fibre end cone so needs either removing or padding to prevent chafing damage.
4. None of the stepped sections in my exhaust bung fit it properly so the bung tends to fall out and will need to be modified. Drat.
5. Cost!
Overall verdict: 11.5 out of 10. Highly Recommended.
Great pics. I haven't actually met Taddy as such, but I've been close enough to touch him (and catch his roost!) as he shot by through the trees at last year's "Tough One" in Wales (he was ill and didn't make it this year), plus I went to the indoor enduro round in Sheffield a while back which he won. He's just amazing to watch. I was close to the huge rock section at Sheffield and there were a few such as him and DK who just seemed to float over it as though the rocks weren't there while some very good pro riders were really struggling to get over them at all. I put it down to witchcraft. 
I don't know whether they have any more in stock at the moment but I did see one being mailed out to a customer when I was there another time so they don't seem to have a problem getting them. If there's no sign of any turning up in the US for a while you could always get them to send you one from here if you can bear the shipping costs. I'd be curious to know why a dealer can't get them in the US though... 
