1982 420 ae should i ride it or not

i always liked the older huskys with the aluminum tank . a few years ago i bought this bike not running but in descent shape for the age of coarse it needed a lot of repairs and i never owned an older husky or an auto .so to make a long story short i finally have the bike running good and im not afraid to start it . that was a project at on time . now after a lot of reading im like should i ride it or not im paranoid about braking the clutch springs or something and not being able to get the parts

I have several of the automatics 360, 390 and 420's. I ride them all the time.

Motowmo, never bought a 3 speed auto ( 430-500AE) ?

I ride them all the time as well but it is true spares are not necessarily the easiest things to find and unfortunately some people use this to try and price very high.

Just ride it ! No good sat in the workshop. If you are worried about breaking springs, just make and fit a spring saver guard for the first gear clutch. Michel has a nice post on this a while ago. Use the search function.
I am biased, but they are the best bike in the world !

The spring cover for 430 ae LC is in that thread:
http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/automatic-springs-breaking.25520/

The 420 first gear springs do not seem to break like the 430 ones that do not have a loop so to speak on the end that attaches to the center. The Bronze shoes are better than the later 500 and 430 ones in my opinion. I have had more problems with the one way device to start it. Probably winter conditions are more suitable for extended use and maximum benefit. Try and let the tire spin as opposed to letting the clutch slip.

I think the auto bikes are more dangerous you might want to factor that into the equation.

Hi Michel,
Yes I have a 85 430AE but it is currently all apart and waiting to restore it. Ran and shifted great. It was just starting to look ugly. So I took it all apart and boxed it up and will restore it this coming winter. Just to busy riding now that the weather is getting warm here in North eastern Oregon and the snow is melting back in the mountains.
Marty

Just a few rides with all my autos, but the 4 speed seems to be good or better than the 3 speed.
The gears change more often on the 4 speed so I think it is better.

I restored husqvarnas and rode them all. I found out I liked the 78/79 390cr and the '86 400 WRX the best. The 430 had tractor like torque. On my bad health days it was still the 250. My point is ride them. Remember the speed is in the twistie.

ill be the devils advocate i guess..try finding some parts first... if the auto parts situation is something you can deal with then proceed and have fun.
me personally i would sell the engine to an auto guy and easily swap to a normal setup or sell the bike. i would love to play with autos but i have enough fun finding parts for huskies as it is.
as for riding a nice shape husky..yes they are meant to be ridden..i bought a NOS bike years ago and still have it, love riding it.