stormpetrel
Gold Member
It finally got here! A very pretty machine, somehow much smaller than I imagined; it hardly looks as big as the 445!
I switched the sprocket (I will be running 3/8 50 ga. chain) and did some judicious drilling out of the muffler (ahem). Ground and sanded everything smooth, painted the muffler w/high heat paint, put the screen back on, re-mounted the muffler, and fired her up!!
Modifying the muffler was fast and easy, and the hardest part about switching the sprocket (Aside from the clutch removal tool not fitting) was removing the spark plug: someone at the factory torqued that puppy GOOD!! For anyone who may be interested, I have the 20" Husqvarna bar new in the box and the OEM chain...
She SCRRREAMS with the modified muffler!!! I also checked for warm start issues, and found none; she started right up w/one pull. Nice. All that remains is to mount the new 18" Sugi Hara bar and some chain when it gets here tomorrow (I hope), and hope the rain goes away. I'll report back then.
But I do hear that break-in takes around 10 tanks....any thoughts on this from those who run the 550?
BTW the photo that shows the muffler on is already modified; I was able to open a pretty big 2nd port, AND still get the screen back on!
I switched the sprocket (I will be running 3/8 50 ga. chain) and did some judicious drilling out of the muffler (ahem). Ground and sanded everything smooth, painted the muffler w/high heat paint, put the screen back on, re-mounted the muffler, and fired her up!!
Modifying the muffler was fast and easy, and the hardest part about switching the sprocket (Aside from the clutch removal tool not fitting) was removing the spark plug: someone at the factory torqued that puppy GOOD!! For anyone who may be interested, I have the 20" Husqvarna bar new in the box and the OEM chain...
She SCRRREAMS with the modified muffler!!! I also checked for warm start issues, and found none; she started right up w/one pull. Nice. All that remains is to mount the new 18" Sugi Hara bar and some chain when it gets here tomorrow (I hope), and hope the rain goes away. I'll report back then.
But I do hear that break-in takes around 10 tanks....any thoughts on this from those who run the 550?
BTW the photo that shows the muffler on is already modified; I was able to open a pretty big 2nd port, AND still get the screen back on!