TE310 owners weigh in...

[supercharlie64]

Hey Husky folks,

Been looking at hard-core dirt-oriented dual sports for a long time and I've found a new 2011 TE310 for a good price. Through lots of forum reading I'm pretty familiar with the bike and various issues people have had with them (gearing, FI setup, e-start, seat, etc). There's lots of good options in the 400 & under category but KTM's have a high buy-in and Beta's aren't really supported up here (Okanagan). I do like the insurance rates for a sub-400 bike versus a 450 and I sold my last dirt bike in 1987 so the Husky should be more than fast enough once it's all set up.

So, TE310 owners, are you happy with your bikes? Any thoughts you can pass along would be appreciated.

Thanks...

 

[tomcycle]

weigh in? Im not sure if I like where this is going, do my pants make me look fat?

weigh in? Im not sure if I like where this is going, do my pants make me look fat?

I now have over 6000 kms on my 2011 te 310

mostly off road and single track, check this thread out http://www.dualsportbc.com/forums/showthread.php?9314-Tomcycles-New-2011-Husqvarna-TE-310

Unlike my Orange Buddies, no rebuilds yet, in fact the valves are within spec from day one and it does not burn any oil. If you do some surfing around here you will see I am not easy on the bike.

Biggest shortfall on the bike is the small tank

Tom

 

[Ti welder]

I rode that bike a few weeks ago. For a smaller street legal bike that thing flys. Loads of power and real nimble

 

[drifter dave]

There's an issue with the bog off idle. The JD tuner apparently helps. On my 510, the header pipe liked to burn my pants: +100 for an exhaust guard. Gearing is really short so don't plan on long highway trips.

 

[kenf]

I have around 6k on my 2011, totally happy with it. Main issues are the bog off idle and the ridiculously high standover height.

I ran mine box-stock (not even the factory powerup bits) for the first year, and when I finally did all the powerup mods and added the JD tuner, the difference was amazing. It now feels a lot like my old RMZ250, but with e-start and a plate. I cut several inches of foam out of the seat so I can just touch on tippy-toes (I'm 5'10"), but that just motivates me never to put my feet down. It does make for a very, very firm seat tho.

The short gearing is easily addressed with the factory 40T sprocket, the real issues is how narrow the gear ratios are. Put the 40T on and 1st is tall for trails, put the 50T on and 6th is short for the highway. But that hasn't stopped me from doing an 800km weekend up to the okanagan and back by dirt. Just avoid long slab sections (Coquihalla is possible, but miserable). With the 40T it will cruise comfortably just over 100km/h, with the 50T you won't want to be above 80km/h for too long.

Almost 2 years on the bike and no regrets.

 

[kenf]

I should add that a lot of the hours on my 310 have been at Bear Creek and many FSR's around the Okanagan and for that area this bike is just about perfect, IMO.

 

[supercharlie64]

Thanks for all your feedback. I've been following your thread Tom, your bike seems to be pretty tough (you must be too!). Understood that the gearing and fueling will be issues to manage, it seems that the JD tuner is a silver bullet as well as the TXC injector and ECU ($$$ though). I've read some forum stories about e-start issues but the experiences here are encouraging. Standover will be a challenge too as I'm under 5' 9" but all 'real' dirt bikes are fairly tall these days. We'll see where this goes...

Cheers

 

[tomcycle]

Im 5 10 and 250 lbs (no gear)

Yup it can be a bit of a challenge to swing the ol leg over the bike when you have all your winter riding gear on and are soaking wet, but other that that its no problem. Make sure you by boots with hinges at the ankles so you can stretch your foot to the ground.

tom

 

[relic]

te 310

te 310

Im 5 10 and 250 lbs (no gear)

Yup it can be a bit of a challenge to swing the ol leg over the bike when you have all your winter riding gear on and are soaking wet, but other that that its no problem. Make sure you by boots with hinges at the ankles so you can stretch your foot to the ground.

tom

took the preload off the spring and added kouba link this made it rideable for a little guy like me 5 7 mine is a 2011 that I bought new this year but am reluctant to power up and loose warrenty with proplems with starters and clutch baskets scares me. would like to put the efi up grade kit on . but would there be a benifit of jd tuner on limited power stock te 310 thanks

 

[kenf]

I was also worried about warranty and ran mine box-stock for the first year or so before doing any powerup mods. After a few months I simply removed the throttle stop, which makes a pretty huge difference all by itself. Then I did the rest of the powerups a few months later. I think leaving all the power restrictions in place for a few months means that this bike had the most gentle break-in of any bike I've ever owned

At the end of the day, any mod -- "full power mode", JD tuner, even removing the throttle stop -- will give them an excuse for declining warranty work. But realistically if you really did have a problem, do you think the warranty is worth much these days, given the issues with Husky Canada? I did specifically ask the dealership if an aftermarket EFI tuner with bike not "powered up" would invalidate they warranty and they pretty much gave me the same answer. Maybe, maybe not, depends on what mods have been done and what actually breaks.

If the bike is broken in and trouble free, uncorking it completely and throwing on the JD tuner is unlikely to break anything, and neither one of those is likely to have much bearing on a clutch or starter warranty claim, even if you could figure out how to make a warranty claim.

Cheers!
KF

 

[relic]

kf

kf

I was also worried about warranty and ran mine box-stock for the first year or so before doing any powerup mods. After a few months I simply removed the throttle stop, which makes a pretty huge difference all by itself. Then I did the rest of the powerups a few months later. I think leaving all the power restrictions in place for a few months means that this bike had the most gentle break-in of any bike I've ever owned

At the end of the day, any mod -- "full power mode", JD tuner, even removing the throttle stop -- will give them an excuse for declining warranty work. But realistically if you really did have a problem, do you think the warranty is worth much these days, given the issues with Husky Canada? I did specifically ask the dealership if an aftermarket EFI tuner with bike not "powered up" would invalidate they warranty and they pretty much gave me the same answer. Maybe, maybe not, depends on what mods have been done and what actually breaks.

If the bike is broken in and trouble free, uncorking it completely and throwing on the JD tuner is unlikely to break anything, and neither one of those is likely to have much bearing on a clutch or starter warranty claim, even if you could figure out how to make a warranty claim.

Cheers!
KF

you got a good point. but one would like to have whishfull thinking that dealers would back there customers and give confidence that they are behind us but instead you get a bike that does not run properly until uncorked and up graded then the best answer I get anyway is warranty is a grey area. lets hope that the future of husky gets brighter. it's a brand that deserves too! 6000k with no major problems you give me hope . cheers!

 

[kenf]

Don't get me wrong, I'm as disappointed as anybody about the Husky Canada issues, but the bike has definitely been solid for me. Previously had an RMZ250 and and CRF250 and both required major engine work after far fewer hours than the TE.

Put another hour on the TE at Mcnutt last night, and it continues to make me grin every ride! But the guys I was with were both on KTM 500-EXC's and were equally happy. :hb:

 

[relic]

about a month ago did the power up and added the txc injector and ecu now i did two thinks at once but feel that the up grade kit was worth it i haven't had a lot of seat time on the bike . but it does every thing way better. it is still not as clean or un quirky as it should be . but now the bike can lug and zoom zoom much better!! it still could be improved with a tunner but i think its good enough for me. like i say if your on the fence about the up grade kit go for it cheers jeff