Husqvarna TE 250 thread!!

if you ride more road (fire road)/ pavement than single track buy the bigger bike. if you are a single track fiend then buy the 250.

just my opinion (i have a 2012TE250)

I just picked up a 2011 TE250 today. Got to ride it briefly in the dude's back yard in about 6" of snow. He knew suspension like no one else I have met (who wasn't employed as a tech) and he did the JD tuner to it, plus a bunch of other stuff. The bike feels amazing even in a short go. Of course, I haven't touched a modern dirt bike at all so I'm kinda talking outta my backside but I am stoked. I can't wait to ride and learn.


New to me TE250 by J_Hurricane_Y, on Flickr

Congrats, I like the looks of that bash plate.
Buying a dirtbike in the middle of winter sucks. You have to wait so long to ride it.

nice!
sweet ride man

looks like you have the right size sprockets on there already :)

Thanks gents. Yeah, I think the rear sprocket is a 53 if I remember what he told me. Bash plate is actually plastic which kind of surprised me but PO said it's tough. Still has the manufacturer's sticker on it but damned if I remember what it is. I'll try to look at it again and actually file it in my longer term memory.

I've got a small trailer to haul it trail-side since I can't really ride anywhere worth going from the house (that I know of yet ). The trailer is a bit of project so I'm now really motivated to get that done so I can get OUT there!

PS. The winter didn't stop the PO from riding his bikes. He takes old tires and puts snowmobile cleats and screws in 'em. Here he is railing with the snow machines (not on the Husky mind you)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECj9kh9wG0Y

would love to know the story behind that sled they are pulling out :huh

the way I ride and crash our NE rocky trails, that bash plate would not last...

I find alot of people give plastic a bum wrap. It can be extremely tough. I have had a number of instances where I have replaced plastic with aluminum parts, only to return back to the plastic parts. Plastic bends and gives where metal will crack or yield.

not giving it a bum rap, but I have seen rocks through plastic and into cases, which i am pretty sure would not have happened to the aluminum. I ride rocks all the time (New England terrain), and my skid plate is bent, looks like a complete mess, but I think it has saved the cases more than once.

I believe the sled got hit by a plow truck as they were riding some kind of utility (phone, I think he said) corridor and they had to get out there to perform maintenance. Big bummer no doubt for someone who thought they could just park it at the edge of what had been just a trail.

I asked the shop about the oil consuming, and they said there must be wrong somewhere in the motor, at first i didn't believe it because there was a puddle of oil in the airbox under the breather tube when i was cleaning up the air filter... but i took it there anyway and it turned out that the cylinder had one small scratch in it and the oil had been leaking from there, now it has new piston and cylinder as it had warranty but now the cam cover gasket is leaking ever so slightly from one corner , not enough to even see a difrence in the oil glass so i'll just leave it.

I suppose these things don't need much break-in, especially when it's just piston and cylinder getting changed and the piston is single-ring and cylinder nicasil coated?

As mentioned above replacing the seat would be a good investment. I went with Seat Concepts low. Supper fast turn around time, and much more comfortable

Damn that is a good looking machine. ^^^

Thanks for the shots of the Seat Concepts seat. I was thinking of going with Fisher Seats, but you may have just persuaded me. I've got a pneumatic stapler so I guess it'd be a pretty simple install.

Oh, the plastic skid plate on my new-to-me bike is from http://www.hyderacing.com. Looks like some quality engineering.

I recently picked up an '07 TE250. I've not ridden a ton of bikes but have sat on a few. The ones I rode a lot were an '04 WR250F, a '99 XR200R, and a 94 XR250R. They all seem like utter crap beside my TE250. Not surprising about the XR250 and 200, but I never gelled with that WR. The engine and powerband on my TE are perfect for my riding style. The suspension on the TE250 soaks up bumps without trying to toss me off (like that WR always did.) It is nimble in turns but stable at speed. Devours tight singletrack like Bond goes through women. Stayed right with the KTM200exc's I was riding with. You're going to love it.

The only thing not perfect about my TE is it tends to be a tad hard starting when hot. The hot-start choke works perfectly but I can't activate it when I'm holding the clutch lever. So I have to...

I'll stop whining now. Great bike. Good choice.

Death Valley just before a ride.



Video of ride up Lippencott:

http://vimeo.com/60058743

Video coming back down Lippentcott:

http://vimeo.com/60135188


Spent some time in Butte Valley as well:

http://vimeo.com/59581320

Thanks for looking!
W

I just picked up an 05 te250 that has dropped a valve.

Head is stuffed and the cylinder has some damage.

I think I'll get a 300cc kit for it, but what do you guys suggest for the head?

What other years fit it, and can you get stainless steel valves for it?

Nice videos prey4mojo. I really like the start of the third one with the snow in the desert. Hey what gearing (sprockets front/rear) are you running? The bike I bought came with a 53 rear and that'd be great if I had a rocky cliff in my backyard but most of my riding will be dirt roads I reckon. Wasn't sure if I should go all the way back to the stock 40 or something in between. I do know shifting 4 times just to get to 25 mph is amusing but quickly gets tiresome.

tHEtREV, you made me curious. I searched quite a bit and really didn't come up with anything. There's a well known Husqvarna shop in the US called Halls that was apparently at one time at least selling SS valves. I did find these guys in the UK as well http://www.hmracing.co.uk/index.php/hm-racing-products/hm-racing-engine-products Not much detail on their website. One last resource is an old thread on ThumperTalk http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/179308-stainless-valves/ Again, probably more questions than answers. As to the head, I find no info regarding an aftermarket option. It seems your best bet would be to find a shop in Australia that specializes in Husqvarna. As good as they are, this brand simply doesn't sell the volume that the Japanese brands do so the aftermarket is that much more limited; not telling you anything you don't know I'm sure. Good luck!

Beer_me, Thanks for checking the vids! I am running 13 (stock) in the front and 53 in the rear. Sounds like the setup you have. It does get old shifting from 2nd to 5th as fast as you can when you hit a dirt road or something, but I need the low gears for the steep stuff. When I bought the bike I switched from the stock TE 40 to the stock TC 50 and loved it, went up to the 53 to give me that really low 1st. Maybe try something in between the 40 and the 50? Guess it depends on how much road vs trail you do.

so new to this site, but ive had my 09 TE 250 for quite a while and i have recently got my motorbike liscence. now i hate wrecking my nobbies so im looking at getting a set of motard tires and rims with over sized front disc and all the works.
has anyone tried this before?
anyone know if it will work with smaller wheels (17") and a 43 or so tooth rear sprocket? would like to sit on 100 occasionally but would like the grunt down low

comments anyone?

I have thought about this with a couple of my bikes and never pulled the trigger. Wheels are quite expensive. But in theory, all you need is a set of wheels, tires, a sprocket, another chain, acouple of new discs and a caliper relocation bracket.
It isn't as easy as just swapping the wheels. To switch from sm to dirt would take about an hour of wrench time. I prefer to just get a new set of DOT tires every year

if I ever get bored of dirt riding I will buy myself a sm setup.

And yes 17" rims will work fine on the husky, just make sure the rim width and hub sizing is correct