TR650 Terra Peformance

[FlyingfoxHusky]

Can somebody tell me how to get some decent performance out of one of these 650 Rotax Engines without having to ring its neck all the time?

My mate owns one and I rode it for a few hours over varied terrain yesterday. I ride a TE610ie and found the Terra quite sluggish by comparison. It feels like the engine is being strangled by a lack of fuelling or air or both??? Emission control gear perhaps, double cat ?? I don't know and am not technically minded enough to know but I reckon something just ain't right.

The 5 speed box is a blow but my mate has to live with that - what can be down to get this thing going? I shouldn't imply it won't go but I find I have to ride it in the 7k rev range and 3rd sometimes 4th gear off-road to get any level of acceptable performance out of it. Its great on the highway especially that 5th gear overdrive its like once you have wound it up it just runs fine at 120klms and very fuel efficient. It's a real disappointment to me as an off-roader. Perhaps I'm expecting too much.

Alright enough of an assassination of the Terra by me - any Engine performance upgrades most welcome.

 

 

 

[jwdub1]

Sounds like your friends bike has the restricter on the throttle body which limits the travel of the butterfly.   Check posts on the TR650 Cafe Husky forum.

[FlyingfoxHusky]

Sounds like your friends bike has the restricter on the throttle body which limits the travel of the butterfly.   Check posts on the TR650 Cafe Husky forum.

Nope its been de-restricted. He now has an issue with the air box it keeps filling up with dirt??? We are working on a pretty serious modification to seal it from dust but I can't believe where BMW put the darn thing. Not cleaver!

I suppose to Terra lovers my comments would sound provocative but you must admit it's performance fails to excite. I have come to understand how to ride it by keeping the revs up in 3rd gear off-road but compared to my TE 610ie it "FAILS TO EXCITE" the Rotax engine is buzzy on the highway and simply lacks punch off-road.

I recently rode a TE 630ie and apart from the noticeable extra weight it outperformed the TR by a considerable margin. IMHO BMW missed the mark with the TR. I thought it was the upspec 650 GS motor but its actually the Cerato 650 single Rotax they used - what a disappointment. Horses for courses, its neither a dirt bike or a very good Enduro and as for its claims to be an adventure bike - "you are kidding BMW"!

[jwdub1]

If your friend's bike has been ingesting dirt, it wouldn't surprise me if the rings are toast and it's low on compression.    My Strada is almost as strong as the Honda XR650R I sold last year.  You might want to check out the Husky Terra thread on Advrider.com --- if you haven't already.   There is extensive information on various problems and ways to correct the lack of sealing in the airbox.  Look for the index on the first page of the thread.

[pasomonte]

I've got a Terra with 4000 miles almost all on dirt tracks. I agree the power isnt there. I put up my problem at Husky cafe and everybody said it was maybe restricted. I checked and it wasn't. My air box was pretty clean so I just used a bit of RTV on the filter install. I also have a BMW Sertao with almost the same engine and it has way more useful power. I also dislike how the compression or defueling causes the rear tire to slide almost every time I chop the throttle in dirt. I've been connected to the computer twice so far with little if any change.  ????

[ac717]

Something is wrong with that bike. I have a 13 strada and ride a lot of twisty back roads with sportbikes. I can hang with them all day. Granted-bikes has to be revved. It is a single cylinder 650. Best mods for this bike are a better air filter,better flowing exhaust and a power commander. If riding in dusty conditions a consider a pre-filter over the air filter. The stock cams aren't bad but there are some aftermarket cams I found that could give more top end. I have around 3000 miles on mine. The injector is maxed out for this bike on top end supposedly. I have yet to find an injector that will flow more fuel. Its a great bike for what it is though. If you need more power Issuggest a KTM 1190 or the new vstrom 1000. Huge weight penalty comes with the bigger bikes. The rotax can make up to 70hp,but its too much work to get more power out of this bike other than the some bolt on mods. Sounds like that bike could use rebus if it ingested dirt.

[pasomonte]

Honestly,since the first ride it has felt like it was being held back. Specifically it feels like a potato in the tailpipe. I thought that perhaps its was just a very tight new engine but at 4000 miles it should be at its best. I will admit that I'm not accustomed to riding it at high REVs. I bought the bike to be a more enduro-like adventure bike and I usually don't ride terrain well suited to gassing it. Also, because the rear wheel slides on throttle chop. I suspect with a slipper clutch this bike would be a lot more fun. 

[V8Astro]

Most of these problems stem from the dangerously lean fuel map.  The low idle to mid range power.  The rear tire sliding when the throttle is chopped.

 

I bought EJK tuner p/n 9110013.  It's for a BMW but it works on this application.  Right now I'm using settings 5.5 - 3 - .5 - 1 - 4 - 4.5 and it runs great.  No stalling.  No hunting or rough idle.  With a 15T front sprocket it'll lift the front wheel easy in 3rd.