The bike fired up nicely after I installed the head, sounded amazing and throttle response felt really good (clean/crisp). So I took it for a ride yesterday.

Everything is snow covered here, anywhere from about 2-45cm (1-18″) depending on drifts. We run Mitas Trelleborg tires (or grip studs) for the winter. It wasn’t that cold yesterday, about -15° C (5° F) when we started. The bike fired up and idled instantly. There was clearly more smoke from the exhaust until it warmed up, then the smoking was minimal (I’m currently running Motul 710).

What I noticed was that the bike is much more luggable, like my prior TE300i. I see why TSP shows partial throttle readings on the dyno chart. Most of my riding is now achievable in the 1/4 throttle range with some transitions to 1/2 throttle. I only needed to go beyond 1/2 throttle on long steep hills. The bike felt much more controllable and seemed to have a lot more tractable power since I could run 1-2 gears higher at a lower rpm. Previously, low rpm riding involved a lot more clutch slipping/feathering and sometimes stalling.

While I can’t do high speed riding in the snow, I’m looking forward to seeing what the bike is like opened up. It hasn’t lost the quick revving feeling of a 250 (which is something I didn’t like about the 300).

Now the bike seems to perform like it should! I’m very impressed. Having ridden high compression/shaved heads on carbureted bikes, I wasn’t sure if I should expect more of a blast of power like an older 2T MX bike built for speed, not something as suitable for enduro. Clearly the TSP guys know what they are doing with the mapping.

Thank you for supplying the head/ecu flash and the fast turn around and shipping!

I’m sharing my positive experience with everyone