1973 400 CR

Life happened! Kids went to college, bank accounts became thirsty, and a '73 CR400 was wheeled into the corner and allowed to get dusty. Happy to say, I started working on it again and it's actually very close to a test fire. When a project sits like this for a while, it takes a good couple hours to go back through it and see what was and was not yet finalized. Heck, I had to re-read my own thread just to see what I'd done! So, let's get back at it...

Got the Motoplat installed and timed. I set it at 2.0mm BTDC which is a little less advance than stock. We don't have the same mid-upper 90's octane here in Kalifornia as we did in 1973, so we'll start and tune from there. I "think-but-dont-know" that the original coil would have been a red wire, but I couldn't find it. This is actually a KTM coil but there's a pretty healthy spark so we'll see how that goes.

Great to see.

We have been holding our breath you. It about time Lol

Awesome job so far.

I never laced rims yet. I tightened spokes and straightened out how they can wee to one side.

Worked on the intake today. Every Husky I've ever purchased has been pig-rich out of the crate, but I got all stock jets and rebuilt the Bing Type 54 exactly as it was originally. Air bell had a pretty nice olive drab coating so gonna go with it. It's a little worn but I'll run it by my powder coater and see what he can do. Do not know who made this air bell mount but it's a well-designed aluminum plate. Uni filter hiding in there.


So, I got a little excited and threw a ?77 tank on there with the foam to see how she proportions. This is the tank I'll probably race with. John at Vintage Husky did his frame mod to the seat triangle, and I really like the seat/tank alignment now.







I need to figure out how to route a right side brake cable. Never owned one before. If you have pics of route or parts please post. Also, none as in NOT ONE of my super expensive OE silver cables are even close to the right length or freeplay. Used to be that the local corner cycle store would make cables. Haven't seen that in forever. This, I will have to look into...

I've learned a lot on this build. It's a little out of my time period, being an MK, but doing the reading and figuring out the right parts has not been the hard part. And doing new stuff is fun. Right? Yes. Figuring out the correct assembly of a CR400 has been the fun part. The hard part has been the darn nuts and bolts. Bleepin' stinkin' nuts and bolts. I wish I had a better plan for this going in. The originals on my rebuilder included a lot of the original Bufo's, but in bad need of reconditioning. Being here in Kalifornia, finding a reasonable plating option just didn't happen. So, I've ended up with a poorly planned mix of hardware store steel and mail order stainless. It's really bugging me. I keep telling myself it's a racer, and I can do a real "restoration" on the next bike. This one is gonna have any plating ridden right off of it... just the way a Husky motocrosser should be.

OK CR400 experts. Why does my float bowl nut hit the cases? There's actually a pretty deep gouge worn into the cases. The carb is pretty solidly mounted to the cast intake flange, so essentially no adjustment is possible. And, it lines up perfectly with the air box when it's installed. Any ideas? I checked with Bing and there is no shallower bowl nut. There is a bowl without a nut and a flat bottom, but the guy thought that what I had was original. Wrong intake flange is hard to believe because I have another 400 core that has the same one at the same angle.

I was also happy to see that I still have the original backing plate to the air filter box.



A little beat up, but... what do you know... it's made in the USA and has a part number! I'll just order up a new Wear-Ever 2844 and be good, right?


Luckily, a Wear-EVER 2844 is ready for immediate shipment. But, now my hobby is in conflict. Restore Husky's or bake apple pies. Both very satisfying. I'll call this a win-win.

On a more serious note, I need some help with alignment of the rear fender and inner piece. If you have some good shots please post them.

apple pies?? that's a gold pan

why don't you just adjust the thickness of that carb nut with the Makita....

Gold pan? I should have known that... I am in gold rush territory. As for The Makita Treatment, the nut is hollow. I don't have enough material to remove before I turn it into a bowl vent/case washer. So, I'm still at the "why" does it rub phase.

hollow nuts ...squirrels lament...I shouldhaveknown that!!!

Have about a dozen bings at home right now , measured some float bowls from the gasket surface to the bottom of the bowl . So far all are measuring about 46 mms , this is with and without the drain plug on the bottom . The drain plug and washer is just over 10 mms . What is the number of the carb , can't read it . I believe that is an older Bing due to the location of the I'd stamping from what I've been told and not sure of when changes were made or what the changes are . If you post the id number someone may be able to verify if it's the correct carb . I'm not an expert on brings unfortunately . But do work on them for my friends bikes .

Sorry about the multiple pictures .

I've had good luck finding metric nuts, bolts, washers, cap screws and nylock nuts at Fastenal, in various grades of SS, zinc plated, galvanized and hardened steel. We even have a walk-in Fastenal store in my town. They'll special order anything you want. You might need to by a minimum quantity, but there is never any shipping charge and who doesn't need a few extra nuts around once in a while?

did you hear about the mental institution inmate who escaped?? raped two ladies doing their washing at the Laundromat then ran for the hills.

headlines read "nut screws washers and bolts"...

sorry, resume normal progrmming

LOVE that air bell bracket!!!

Ya, it's cool. I do have a machinist friend who is looking for side jobs if you or anyone would like to have some parts made.

Thanks. It's 1/36/114

Looking at Husky Newsletter issue #34 it looks like a 73 CR400 came with a 1/36/106.



A 114 should not matter though, as long as it is configured for your motor, as the Bing 54 external dimensions (for the most part) are the same.

I had to replace my intake as it was so worn that the carb was a bit wobbly. Really tightening the mounting clamp would not secure it. Even so there was no contact with the case. Could it be that the custom air bell bracket is pushing the carb down a bit? Do you have the OEM brackets to see if there is any difference?

Bit like hitman Archie the strangler being paid to kill a mans wife ..description mid fourties dressed entirely in brown be at the local supermarket on tanner street between 10 and 11 am.
Sure enough Archie finds his victim on quue and dispatches with her in the usual manner but on his way out sees another woman dressed entirely in brown fitting the description so does away with her aswell.
1 month later he gets caught by the police and confesses all.


Headline:"tanner street markets Archie chokes two for the price of one"