1980 WR 390 Rescue...

Great, awesome, save, another 390 saved. My favorite bike.

Now tips from my experience. Not knowing how long the engine was flooded. My 390cr was so badly flooded I did the same thing you did. But while she ran awesome after firing her up she soon sucked in the base gasket. My cost to rebuild the engine. The orginal base gasket was mushy. I think over time the gas ate it. She ran fine after the refresh. I would suggest changing the base gasket. But maybe while she's apart do the crankbearings and seals if the piston and bore is ok. I swear gallons of gas came out of my 390 when I flipped it upside down. Now I go through every engine upfront.

The

That 390 will pull my 300lb butt anywhere by just wicking it and hang on. She's the smaller bore of the 390/420/430 series but she still pulls.

Well, the frame/swingarm and other parts are in the hands of my powder coater as of this afternoon... Time to turn my attention to the engine, exhaust and wheels.

Thanks for your insights Bigbill!
I am just getting into the engine/trans and will take your advice into consideration!

It sucks when it runs then the base gasket sucks in or blows out. The fun first few rides end. Just when I was enjoying the power. I admit once I rode the 390cr my 250's stayed home. As my interest grew in riding the 390 I purchased more 390's. The 43hp at the rear wheel isn't playing around. In the open trails all I seen was the rear tire ripping, then where I shifted, then rip again etc. you could follow the 390 by the ripping. I never seen a bike rip up turf like the 390.

Oh, I'm impressed! First bike I ever owned that I didn't need to give the bars a little tug to get the front wheel up. I can have fun with this just cruising up and down the field and cracking the throttle!
When I first got it a buddy of mine's first comment on FB was "Trench Digger"...
Even my 800GS doesn't pull like this! But to be fair it weighs twice as much!

Trench digger is right. She's a ripper for sure. The front wheel is always up. I was flying in sixth gear and wick it wot and up comes the front wheel. This bike isn't for a beginner trust me. If a beginner buys a 390 he must go slow for a while.

My 1200 bandit and the 390cr are pretty close in front wheel lofting pleasure. Two similar sized bikes.

calm down boys, its an old husky 390....

Reminds me of some of the stories I tell about my '86 WR400. I went from a 106 4-cycle vintage Gilera that my dad used to let me ride around the woods on to my '86 400 when I was about 14, and the bike wasn't yet considered vintage. From vintage road tires, tired mice and nearly no suspension to knobs, horses and plenty of travel. I had threading the wheels down a trail, and coasting over the seat as the bike bounced around on the bigger bumps down to art, but no clue what to do with my weight and all of that power. Until I skilled up at managing where my weight was on the bike, the front end would pop-up seemingly at random. Like Bill says, you can spot the shift points on a fresh track, and trench pretty darn well.

One time I headed down the road to show off my husky to a buddy, and when I took off from his place towards home, weight forward, belt-buckle to the fill spout, basically looking down at the top of the front fender, I rolled the throttle back, the tire caught solidly on the pavement and the bike went up. I looked over at him, eyes as big as saucers, let off, and poured the power back on a little bit more conservatively as soon as the front wheel touched the pavement, and was home in a flash. One of the few times I ever got to 50%+ revs in 6th gear, scary as hell experience to be completely honest.

...that is soon-to-be refreshed...

throttle response wheelies in 6th huh? hahahaha

with one hand behind your back?

with a 9 tooth sprocket on a full moon

its the big fish story all over again. me and the FONZ jumped 14 garbage cans out in front of Arnolds on our 20" Mongooses !!! LOL

Fishy? Ever ride a 390cr? I can't remember if the front sprocket was a 14t but it was large. I tried a 12t but it was like over reving way too soon.

In my experience the 1980 390 cr that I rode was a fair bit slower than a late model 250 2 stroke. Not sure how tired the engine was but rest of bike was in very good condition. The power felt nice though, the heavy flywheel effect gave a predictable surge that kept building.

the 390 is a great runner...but pulling the tire off the ground in 6th gear, especially with a big front sprocket is utterly ridiculous.

Utters ? You have been on the computer too long buddy...

Well I can see this thread has gone to trash... I'm out!

I had high hopes for this forum due to the strict moderation but I guess I was wrong.

Hey SnoDrt I was enjoying your thread. Gave me motivation to keep moving forward.
Give it another chance. People can change/adapt/ fuck up once in a while.