JD POWER SURGE FOR THE HUSKY TX300: PRODUCT REVIEW

PRODUCT: JD Jetting made its name in the heyday of two-stroke tuning by doing extensive in-house testing and offering jetting solutions that included brass and custom-made needles for most popular models. They still do that, but now they also offer tuning methods for the latest EFI motorcycles, including the recent KTMs and Husqvarna two-strokes with throttle-body injection. The Power Surge is a piggyback EFI tuner that is manufactured for JD by Dobeck Performance. Piggyback tuners modify the fuel delivery in fuel-injected motors by hijacking the signal between the CPU and the injectors. They can make the mixture richer or leaner by changing the time between fuel pulses. Several companies sell what appears to be the same product, but JD does its own testing and provides proprietary programming. You can also cook up your own recipe by making the mixture richer or leaner in six different zones.

OUR TAKE: We love the new Husqvarna TX300 two-stroke, but we’re also a little afraid of it. It has two maps available through a handlebar switch—too much and not enough. The aggressive curve is pretty good for motocross, but it hits hard and fast. For off-road applications in rocks or mud, it’s a handful. The mild map is dramatically different. It has a soft power delivery that’s pretty good for trail riding, but what you really want is something halfway between the two. With the JD Power Surge, you can get there. Installing it is super easy. The unit can be attached to the steering head where it’s well protected and the wiring has connectors that are perfect matches for the OE wiring. Going in, we knew that JD’s proprietary map was very different off the bottom. The difference was easy to notice. The TX gained power in the lower midrange of both maps. In the mild map, the power increase was just enough to make us happy for off-road riding and racing. In the aggressive map, however, it made the big hit even bigger. It was a little too much off-road.

That’s where the tunability of the Power Surge plays a crucial role. We leaned it out just a little down low in a matter of seconds and found an in-between setting that made the aggressive map more usable without sacrificing any real power. There are limitations to the adjustability. This product is strictly for fuel mixture. It doesn’t affect spark advance. It doesn’t affect power-valve timing, either—that’s a parameter that was never a component of mapping in the past. With this bike, it’s theoretically possible, although there currently aren’t any ways available to the end user. Eventually, there will be.

BOTTOM LINE: We consider this an essential tool for dialing in the new throttle-body-injected two-strokes. Without it, you’re locked in place with the settings that someone in Austria liked. That might or might not work for you and the kind of riding you like.

PRICE: $251.95

CONTACT: www.jdjetting.com