First Impressions TE250

[DLvid]

Hi all. Picked up my new TE250 from Dan at Motoxotica yesterday and took it out for 50 miles today in the rain around Mt Tamalpais in Marin just North of SF. Here are my first impressions:

First off it's form follows function. It really looks even better in person!

Height -wise I'm very happy. I'm 5'10" with a 32" inseam and I can get both feet on the ground no problem. It's easy to pick up and move around and the grab holes on the rear sub frame make easy grab points.

It starts easy and seems to have plenty of punch from the starter. It is cold blooded. She wants a few minutes to warm up. Even then the first mile or so is a little rough running. While riding I could feel it loosening up as I rode.

The clutch is so tight that even with the lever pulled all the way in it's just barely engaged so I had to keep the revs up a bit stopped at lights on my way out of town. Now I know why fitness stalled it on his first day riding. I expect this to loosen up or maybe it's a function of the lever adjustment, not sure.

The front brake is fantastic. Tons of stopping power and even on wet pavement I couldn't make it break loose. The rear brake is very touchy. It only takes a soft push and the rear wants to lock up. I'm going to look into that some. Is that normal for Huskies?

Shifting is very easy. Just a brush of the lever with my boot and the next gear was ready to go. Even neutral was not too hard to find.

A couple of things you might not know yet: It comes with an ignition key.

There is a steering lock on the neck.

There are adjustable fork stops.

Maybe our European friends can explain the removable panel on the left hand control pod. It looks like where an auxillary light switch might go. There was exactly the same style panel on my 1150GS Adventure.

Things that will probably break include the rear turn signals. They stick out way too far and probably won't last more than one good drop on the trail.

My airbox is already starting to melt as posted by many others here. Also I melted a good portion of my pants on the exposed portion of exhaust pipe. I wondered what that smell was...

After it was fully warmed up the power was very smooth. There were a couple of rpm ranges where it chugged a bit but I attribute that to the extreme newness of the motor. Literally it felt a bit different every few miles. It has enough torque that going up a fairly steep hill two gears up that it could chug up no problem. That was not in trail conditions but was still nice to know.

The cockpit is very roomy. The flat tank-seat interface is excellent. I could put my crotch way up over the fill cap and then slide back as far as my arms could reach with ease.

Another nice touch is that the bar clamps are non-symmetrical and reversible. So if you want a more forward bar position you just have to un-bolt and turn them around.

So after one ride on the street (well there was about a mile of unauthorized dirt road) lasting about two hours my overall impression is:

BIG

A big shout out to Dan at Motoxotica for the great prep of the bike and good discussions on the floor during pick up.

I have many good photos but it seems my account will not allow me to post them. Coffee can you help?

[NumberCruncher]

Thanks for the ride report. I hope to get a TE250 in March or April. I assume you rode with the stock super-muffler. I wonder how much the power up kit will wake the bike up? My 2007 is pretty good power wise so I don't need any more hp. But all the same I don't want to lose any either.

Greg

[coffee]

Hi all. Picked up my new TE250 from Dan at Motoxotica yesterday and took it out for 50 miles today in the rain around Mt Tamalpais in Marin just North of SF. Here are my first impressions:

First off it's form follows function. It really looks even better in person!

Height -wise I'm very happy. I'm 5'10" with a 32" inseam and I can get both feet on the ground no problem. It's easy to pick up and move around and the grab holes on the rear sub frame make easy grab points.

It starts easy and seems to have plenty of punch from the starter. It is cold blooded. She wants a few minutes to warm up. Even then the first mile or so is a little rough running. While riding I could feel it loosening up as I rode.

The clutch is so tight that even with the lever pulled all the way in it's just barely engaged so I had to keep the revs up a bit stopped at lights on my way out of town. Now I know why fitness stalled it on his first day riding. I expect this to loosen up or maybe it's a function of the lever adjustment, not sure. Try adjusting the knob on the clutch lever but yes they need to be broken in a bit

The front brake is fantastic. Tons of stopping power and even on wet pavement I couldn't make it break loose. The rear brake is very touchy. It only takes a soft push and the rear wants to lock up. I'm going to look into that some. Is that normal for Huskies? Yes - some have put a stronger spring lifting up the pedal

Shifting is very easy. Just a brush of the lever with my boot and the next gear was ready to go. Even neutral was not too hard to find.

A couple of things you might not know yet: It comes with an ignition key and there is a steering lock on the neck. There are adjustable fork stops. Nice.

Maybe our European friends can explain the removable panel on the left hand control pod. It looks like where an auxillary light switch might go. There was exactly the same style panel on my 1150GS Adventure. Sounds like you are taking about the lights on/off switch that has been replaced with a blank piece of plastic - it is a DOT thing I believe, there are other switches in the Important Info sticky if that bothers you

Things that will probably break include the rear turn signals. They stick out way too far and probably won't last more than one good drop on the trail. Check the Important info sticky for how I did it - works really well

My airbox is already starting to melt as posted by many others here. Also I melted a good portion of my pants on the exposed portion of exhaust pipe. I wondered what that smell was...

After it was fully warmed up the power was very smooth. There were a couple of rpm ranges where it chugged a bit but I attribute that to the extreme newness of the motor. Literally it felt a bit different every few miles. It has enough torque that going up a fairly steep hill two gears up that it could chug up no problem. That was not in trail conditions but was still nice to know.

The cockpit is very roomy. The flat tank-seat interface is excellent. I could put my crotch way up over the fill cap and then slide back as far as my arms could reach with ease.

Another nice touch is that the bar clamps are non-symmetrical and reversible. So if you want a more forward bar position you just have to un-bolt and turn them around.

So after one ride on the street (well there was about a mile of unauthorized dirt road) lasting about two hours my overall impression is:

BIG

A big shout out to Dan at Motoxotica for the great prep of the bike and good discussions on the floor during pick up.

I have many good photos but it seems my account will not allow me to post them. Coffee can you help?

How to post a picture:

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5182342&postcount=5

This may be your bike - I went there Thursday

[Ud_Luz]

HMy airbox is already starting to melt as posted by many others here. Also I melted a good portion of my pants on the exposed portion of exhaust pipe. I wondered what that smell was...

Would this stuff help? I haven't seen the bike yet.

http://www.rockymountainatv.com/productDetail.do?navType=type&webTypeId=51&navTitle=Exhaust&webCatId=18&prodFamilyId=12921

[raisrx251]

On people who get new bikes be sure to Brake Clean the rotors and use a clean piece of emory paper. Some dealers may not do this. My '06 TE had too touchy of a rear brake and I prefer a sloted/wave type rear rotor or if you are keeping the solid rear rotor some organic pads may be less grabby. Once you get used to the front it is pretty awesome, I wonder what they did diferent on the '08's front brake?

[kalla]

great

give us more plse:applause:

waiting for your first track report

i´m still not sure if i should buy a cheap wr 250f

or if i should wait and buy a fine looking husky

[huskyfrk]

george at uptite already has a fix for the airbox and is making patterns for new pipe guards as you read this. give him a call.

[weantright]

I wonder if this high heat from the pipe is due to the EPA leaning out the bike??? Would the power-up kit reduce the heat??? Keep us updated on the TE250, I am hoping to pick one up in April-May.

[BadMotoWeazal]

TE's are EFI.....Unless the mapping from the factory is ultra lean (which I doubt). I know the stock jetting on my SM 610 was very lean to pass EPA, I don't think the EFI would be setup like that. The pipe being close to the leg just as it enters the muffler is always going to be a hot spot.

[raisrx251]

I have not seen the '08 TE's but I did ride the TXC and there was no smell of melting plastic. It could have melted and did not notice but I think that plugged up exhaust is causing much more heat in the back of the exhaust. TXC has a open exhaust.

[Ride]

I am guessing the TE and SM models will be the only one effected by the hot muffler as these have catalytic converters in the front end of the muffler and get very hot. The TXC510 did not do this. I bet the power up kit without the cat will also eliminate this issue.

K

[jim08]

If you let the bike warm up at idle for 5 or 10 minutes before you take off it wont act up. I also heared (I don't know if its true) that riding or revving on a cold engine can crush the screens in the oil system. I do think that if you warm it up properly you'll have less trouble later.

[rancher1]

I was ordering some of that cool husky gear from motosportz and he said that the pipe guards would be ready to ship later this week!

[firebolter]

TE's are EFI.....Unless the mapping from the factory is ultra lean (which I doubt). I know the stock jetting on my SM 610 was very lean to pass EPA, I don't think the EFI would be setup like that.

Be it EFI or carb'd bikes, they still are lean in stock trim. My 04 Tuono was the same way as are all of the Aprilia's. They map it lean enough to keep the emissions down. I am sure someone will be coming out with some maps soon enough. Most EFI bikes are cold blooded, nature of the beast. The performance kit should fix alot of that. It removes the O2 sensor and switched it to another ignition curve from what I've read.

I haven't seen a DOT approved bike yet (EFI or carb'd) that doesn't benefit from some richening! Even my 2007 Ford F150 is so much better with a custom tune. It runs right now and doesn't hunt for the right gear in the middle rpm range.

EFI is good stuff, but just like carb's if the map or jets aren't right, it will run crappy.

[MotoXotica]

i have to say the little TE 250 really impressed me!acceleration was so smooth and they seem to run very nice right out of the box.i suspect we will be selling alot of these!i wish i had a carbed 250 here to compare it to the injected 250 as the power felt as good as i remember it to be.another point of interest,you could barely smell the exhuast coming out the pipe.i am sure the fuel economy will be excellent,probably making an oversized tank a non issue on the 250!dan

[DLvid]

Dan at Motoxotica told me at pickkup that he's already ordered a roll of pipe wrap and will be sending it out to new bike purchasers with the proper sized clamps to make it work out for us at his expense.

Also if George at uptite is reading this I'd love a heat shield asap.

The airbox fix we'll all have to wait and see.

[weantright]

i have to say the little TE 250 really impressed me!acceleration was so smooth and they seem to run very nice right out of the box.i suspect we will be selling alot of these!i wish i had a carbed 250 here to compare it to the injected 250 as the power felt as good as i remember it to be.another point of interest,you could barely smell the exhuast coming out the pipe.i am sure the fuel economy will be excellent,probably making an oversized tank a non issue on the 250!dan

It's not only with DOT approved bikes. EPA has all the off-road bikes lean with the exception of "Race only" versions. I have a CRF150 and needed to rejet because it was too lean and was giving me problems on starts and the pipe would become very hot is short time. Same goes with the CRF50's, raised the needle and it was like putting a pipe on.

Well if I can't get 150+ miles to a tank, tank is too small for a DS!

[DLvid]

great

give us more plse:applause:

waiting for your first track report

i´m still not sure if i should buy a cheap wr 250f

or if i should wait and buy a fine looking husky

I looked at that bike as an option. It may be a bit cheaper but it is much heavier and doesn't have the clearance I was looking for. I'd hold out and go for the best if it was me. I went from a 06 TE450 which was way too powerful for me to a Yamaha XT25 which is a fantastic little bike but too low. Now I'm on what I hope is the ideal bike for the single track style that I love. Good luck with your decision!

[DLvid]

Thanks, Coffee for the input. I looked at the sticky and your photo and at K&S but couldn't work out what model you had put on. Do you have specifics?

Regards,

David

[coffee]

Thanks, Coffee for the input. I looked at the sticky and your photo and at K&S but couldn't work out what model you had put on. Do you have specifics?

Regards,

David

If you mean the turn signals - any of the ones from cycle shops would work, pick some lower flush mounts. The part that is important to me is to get flexible material, plastic is what I used, to make a small flexible rectangle to mount the signals to. That way they will move when bumped. Some like that method and some don't.