Riding Impression: 2017 Husqvarna TX300 Build

Is This Even Legal?

Story and Photos by Trevor Hunter

It’s not often we get the call to ride a freshly prepped bike, built with every trick part you can think of, and get to just show up and ride. Truthfully, we like building bikes ourselves, getting a feel for everything we touch and seeing what works and what doesn’t. That aspect of the testing process is intriguing, informative, and allows us to make gains in performance and/or durability rather than slapping on aftermarket products for the fun of it. 

However, when Jay Clark called asking us to try out his newly refurbished 2017 Husqvarna TX300 dual sport, and after going over some of the parts list, we were excited to throw a leg over the bike. You can check out some of our past Jay Clark test rides like this 2017 KTM 300XC and this YZ250 Rebuild.

What exactly made this bike so intriguing for us? There were a few bits and pieces that sparked our interest – some that we had had negative experiences with in the past, and some that we had zero experience with. The biggest change Jay made to this bike, whom we might add was the original and now fifth owner, is the Lectron carburetor feeding fuel and air to the 300cc power plant equipped with fresh Wiseco parts. I personally have had one experience with a bike running a Lectron carb and I couldn’t get off of it fast enough. The KTM 250, known for a smooth and rather torquey bottom-mid range, made less power than a 125cc two-stroke down low and putting all that power into the top-end and overrev. The powerband was extremely narrow, hard to ride, and just flat out not fun to ride. 

Knowing a Lectron can be set up in so many different ways, I was hopeful that Jay’s tuning would be everything but what I had ridden. And it’s safe to say it is night and day better with the right tune. Jay’s TX300 was ultra smooth down low, pumping out tons of torque with a smooth power delivery that gradually pulled into the mid-range before signing off high in the top-end, much like a well tuned 300cc two-stroke should. Having some experience with Mikuni carbureted two-strokes, they can be difficult to jet perfectly, especially when being ridden gently and maintaining low RPMs. The Lectron never skipped a beat, always providing plenty of power and maintaining a crisp throttle response at every crack of the throttle.

Moving onto the suspension, this was another aspect of the build that intrigued me and my test rider. Ditching the AER48 air spring, Jay and Race Tech installed the single spring conversion kit that replaces the air spring with a traditional coil spring in the one fork leg. This is the budget-friendly spring conversion for air forks, and something I hadn’t had a chance to try yet. After a solid day of riding through varied and typical off-road/dual sport terrain, we were quite happy with the performance of the revalved and coil sprung forks, along with the revalved shock. 

From small bumps and square edges, to flowing singletrack, to bigger sand whoops, we rode it all and felt very comfortable with the overall balance and performance of the bike. Everything worked in unison, felt balanced from front to back, and soaked up all the harshness that we’d typically feel in a setting like this. The spring fork conversion felt a tad heavier and slower steering than air forks, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. We prefer that over the lighter, more nimble air fork as its more planted and stable. Another benefit of the conversion is not needing to check and adjust fork air pressure, which can get tricky on multi-day rides or days with varying temperatures. 

The final item of interest with this build was the use of a Dunlop AT81EX gummy rear tire. We’ve put a minimal amount of time on a gummy tire on an Endurocross track, but never in a real world trail setting until today. We were quite impressed with its performance in typical dirt including hard pack and sand. We knew in rocks and logs, it’s like cheating. The gummy makes you 10, 15, even 20% better rider in the hard stuff as it sticks and makes traction where you’d typically be floundering around as the rear wheel spins out of control. In the dirt, it hooks up just as well, sometimes even too well, and in the right setting where you aren’t going to put in a million miles or if you’re riding a lot of rocks and roots, this could be a game changer and something that makes that ride that much more enjoyable.

The FMF system sounded soooo good while helping put down smooth and tractable power.
The Moto Seat used today was less than ideal as a dual-sport seat, but we would be fine with it as a race seat. We’d opt for one of Moto Seat’s softer seat foam for a bike like this where long days are inevitable.
The cockpit comprised of ODI components felt very neutral and offer good comfort on the trail.

Per usual, the rest of the bike is well built with a lot of bling, but also a lot of protective pieces that can and do save the bike from abuse. Products from companies like ™ Designworks, Bullet Proof Designs, Pro Moto Billet, and more all do their job in critical places and will keep the bike moving through rugged terrain.

Overall, this bike is very easy to ride, balanced, and comfortable. It’s got more pep in its step than the newer generation TPi bikes which creates excitement and “feels” faster while you’re riding it. It’s still easy to ride with a smooth yet exciting power band and if you’re an 80-90% dirt kind of dual sport rider, a bike like this will be a blast to ride. Is this complete parts list necessary for everyone out there? The answer is no. But, they all add some value to the bike, it’s up to you to decide what’s of value to you.

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Wiseco Performance Products                 

www.wiseco.com

CV4 High Temp Radiator Cap

CV4 Radiator Hoses

Top-End Piston kit

 

Pro X Racing Parts  

www.pro-x.com

Rear Steel Sprocket

Front Sprocket

Gold X-Ring Chain

Steering bearing kit

Connecting Rod kit

Brake Pads

 

FMF Racing

www.fmfracing.com

Fatty Pipe

Ersberg Factory 2.1 silencer

 

TMR          

www.tommorganracing1.com

Head Mod

 

MotoTassinari   

www.mototassinari.com

V-Force Reed Cage

 

UFO Plastic          

www.ufoplasticusa.com

Full Flo Plastic kit

Mud Flap

Frame Guards

Rear Chain Guide

 

Lectron Fuel System 

www.lectronfuelsystems.com

New 38mm Billetron Carburetor

 

P3 Carbon            

www.p3carbon.com

FMF Pipe carbon guard

Carbon Skid plate

 

IMS                                                    

www.imsproducts.com

Coolant Catch Can

Large Fuel tank

 

DeCal Works                                     

www.decalmx.com

 

Semi-Custom Graphics kit

Pre printed number plates backgrounds

 

Works Connection              

www.worksconnection.com

Factory II  Stand

Front & Rears brake caps

Rotating bar clamp

Steering stem nut

Rear Chain adjuster blocks

 

Dunlop Tire

www.dunlopmotorcycle.com

AT81 Front  80/100-21

AT81EX Gummy Rear  110/100-18

 

Uni Filter

www.unifilter.com

Two-Stage Air Filter

 

Scar                                                                   

www.scar-racingusa.com

Titanium Footpegs

 

TM Designs 

www.tmdesignworks.com

Rear Chain Guide

Rear disc/caliper guard

 

Rekluse            

www.rekluse.com

 

Core Manual Torque Drive

Clutch Cover

 

ICW   

www.icwbikestands.com

Radiator straightening and bracing

 

Moto Seat                                 

www.motoseat.com

Custom Cool seat cover

 

Trail Tech 

www.trailtech.net

Radiator Fan

 

ODI 

odigrips.com

MX V2 Lock On Grips

Handle Bars

 

Bullet Proof designs            

www.bulletproofdesigns.com

Rear Swing arm guard

 

Fastway Pro Moto billet

www.fastway.zone

 

Linkage with guard

Kick Stand

 

Faster USA          

www.fasterusa.com

Complete Wheel Set

 

Tusk Off road      

www.tuskoffroad.com

Oversized Rotor/Adaptor Bracket

Rear Rotor

Sprocket Bolts

Rotor Bolts

Lithium Battery

Rear Rotor Guard

 

Race Tech            

www.racetech.com

Suspension Re-Valve and set-up with Spring Conversion

 

Klotz Synthetic Lubricants               

www.klotzlube.com

 

R-50 Two-Stroke Pre-Mix

 

Fasst Co 

www.fasstco.com

Rear Brake Return Spring

 

Enduro Engineering 

www.enduroeng.com

Clutch Cylinder Guard

Wrap around Hand guards

 

Slavens Racing   

www.slavensracing.com

Exhaust flange guard

 

Baja Designs  

www.bajadesigns.com

Head Light

 

Moto Minded 

www.motominded.com

Super Mount
Head light custom bracket/set up

Light Switch holder

Lisince Plate holder

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