1984 WR 400

Hi Guys, thought i would throw some pics and details of my current build job.

i have put a couple of pics up in the my bikes section T started but here is some more detail!
in 1984, i purchased a spanking new 240 wr. ol mate had picked up dealership and to get a few on the ground, he gave me good deal. Having owned PE"s and KDX's at the time, the husky was a bit wierd but i got the hang of it. the water pump became a serious issue within 12 months and i eventually sold it to someone "over the phone" while travelling around Aus.

Fast forward to 2012 and Vinduro's have hit the scene, great idea, best get another Husky! Within a fortnight, there on ebay is a 240 watercooled twin shock! ideal!


Send a mate round to look and he reports that its ratty but the bushes bearings etc all look tight, rims and spokes ok. "the water pump i urged, check the water pump..." it seems ok was the report, "the system is half full of coolant" (Hmmm i thought where is the other half??). Anyhow, purchased, transport organised and it arrives.

Half full or half empty? Your mate must be an optimist, lets hope he's right !

He was an keen and enthusiastic "air cooled" husky owner many years ago. i will not be asking him to assess another watercooled bike! more to come on that topic. I enjoyed reading your rebuild story so much, im putting mine up in a similar fashion.
Although ive ripped into it over the last few weeks, i will spin the story out with the pics i took along the way so i can see where i stuffed up! cheers ps like the blue coolant hoses! wait till you see the candy apple red cylinder head on the 400 !

Interestingly I notice you still have the "ISDE Replica" decal on the radiator cover. They are rare as hens teeth and it would pay to carefully salvage it with a hairdryer and then scan it and get some reproductions made up.

it fell straight off but i do have it. interestingly, i think i still have the ones off my 84 model in the back of a book somewhere.... i wonder where?

on we go.. Looking at the bike i was struck by two things.. 1. the size of the back tyre, it was a 5.60! a huuuge tyre for a 240. 2nd was the barrel, looked awfull big to me. The local husky man assured me the numbers ere for 240? something was not right.

i got it home and realised that the plan to get it running then steadily do it up was out the door and plan b was enacted.

All the rubber mounts were torn, every thing held on with zip ties and wire. the shock bushings and wheel bearings and swing arm pivots were all solid and the chain and sprockets looked good. No leaking fork seals and shocks. The tank was sitting on the bike but no mounts and the there was no airfilter.

A full strip down and rebuild was commenced.

i ripped into the basics, plastics off, wheels out forks out and triple clamps removed. Shocks off, swingarm out, pipe off and radiators out. All but one of the upper mount brackets were broken

I slipped the tape measure into the exhaust port and hmmm this is bigger than it should be. Ripped the head off and an 83.5 mm pistons tells the story. A 400?, you ripper!

As with all good news, a bucket of cr*p soon arrives to spoil your day and on removing the front sprocket, i was greeted with the missing coolant! what a bummer, i didnt plan on a motor teardown!

Out it came, stripped all the electrics and finished off the swingarm by tearing off the chain guide, and roller.

Pulled the water pump down and what a mess. ripped the clutch cover off and sent it in to get waterblasted to assess damage.

The side stand bracket had been torn off at some time so the area was ground smooth for a new item to be welded on.

Ripped the front tyre off the rim and what great sight, original rim tape, clean as a whistle spokes and check out that drum, just like new one. Didnt even bother painting the hub.

forks were mix of good and bad. one was perfect, clean as a whistle inside while the second one was full of rusty poo and sludgy oil. the damping washer had failed and the spring was rusty.

sent the shox for repair and the springs to the powdercoaters

Whipped a heap of old bolts into the threads on the frame and sent it and a whole lot of alloy bits to the powder coaters and all the bolts, allen heads and bits and pieces to the platers for zinc plating.

Time to start purchasing parts and cleaning the cleanable. I used Nifti, a real old school cleaner thats good on plastics and stuff, got rid of the grime nicely. time to wrap up for now.

Judging by the corrosion behind the impellor I would guess you had green engine oil when you drained, Where the other half of the coolant went!

My 400WRX had the same although I at least had remnants of the bearing pocket to work with. I cleaned the corrosion bright then replaced missing with JB Weld. I had a machine shop plane the impelllor floor then left a hole in the JB Weld to allow the shaft to be backloaded to indicate to locate the seal pocket. My case is magnesium and looked perfect until I removed the water pump. If it was welded and cobby looking like most of the clutch covers I have, I would have replaced it

I just sold the L/C clutch case that was fitted to my A/C on ebay and it went for £2.87 !! And now I need it cos the new one don't fit over the 6 spring clutch that has been fitted at some time! Is it the one piece basket and 6 spring job in your motor?

yep, she is a 1 piece and six springs, will post some pics later, ive just reassembled it

Idler gear and kickstart gear pic would be really useful to me if you can. Not quite sure that all is good in my drive train although the 6 spring seems to fit.

Apologies, its a 5 spring (im dyslexic) and i brought the wrong cord home to dload the latest picks! bug*er
Ive also bolted it all together. I didnt disassemble the kickstart, i left it in the clutch case. I pulled one apart years ago and i never ever ever want to do that again! i remember hours of wrestling that spring to almost the right spot and "sproing" Back to step 1. i believe there is a short cut. ive never learnt it. i might have a pick as i took one of the inside of the water pump repair.

Its a labor of love.... great keep up the posts!

Heres the cover as i kept it during the repair on the pump, apologies if this doubles up as i had a glitch just as it was up loading. cheers

the water pump came up great, machined off the araldite on the face, had some issues with the "o"ring channel, nxt time ad for anyother, make sure you keep the araldite out, its bloody hard to shift. bored the seal out (note 18mm end mills are hard to find!) and had to hand mill out the bearing boss as some araldite had got past the plug. but a simple fix (lets hope it works!)
cheers

Thats some good work with the araldite, wonderful stuff. 18mm end mills are only hard to find when you need one otherwise you got a box with 20 of them...!!

Sent the engine off for a strip down. Took the barrel round to ol mate and got him to clean up the ports and match the cases. inventoried required parts and sent of an order to Husky parts. Got the powdercoated frame and other parts back and fitted new bearings to the headstem and assembled the triple clamps. I gave the fork legs a good linishing with 1500# paper and smoothed off a couple of stone pings out.

Cleaned up the brake hubs, found the back shoes looked brand new. Grooved them, 200#'d the drum linings and greased the pivots. Cleaned the rims and duct taped them heavily, ripped a new tyre onto the front and selected a half reasonable rear tyre at a more respectable 110 size.

missed few pics so here they are.

Where were we? right. got the motor away for reassembly and purchased new engine bearings from the local bearing service. pulled the clutch apart and cleaned all the steel plates with wet and dry and gave the fibres a good scuffing up to get rid of the coolant all over them.

whipped the airbox and back guard (purchased from Bendigo Dirt Bikes, Micks a real early (and late ) Husky freak who has helped me with all sorts of advice and bits and pieces). reassembled the forks and fitted them, put the front wheel assembly in and assembled the swingarm whic hhad returned from the powdercoaters. got the motor back and fitted up the cylinder head, the stator and flywheel and sorted out the cut and joined wiring loom with some white heat shrink. making progress. have sat the motor in the frame and will fit the swingarm up and finalise the wiring. Anyone got a wiring diagram for one of these? ive got a headlight wire and a tailight wire... Obviously there was more! i plan to put it on vintage club reg $100/year so i can flog it around the bush on selected rides. got some steak to cook and beer to drink!

Just spotted the Bendigo. Stopped for a pie and a beer there on my Honeymoon last year! Got married in Melbourne, good a place as any. I loved the sign down the coast where the Great Ocean road goes over the hills through the forest which reads 'sharp bends for 65km', what a road for a supermoto and all I had was a Holden Vectra hire car. Discovered if you can push a dent out then polishing a white car with lots of toothpaste will save your deposit. Oh for a country with roads like that, enjoy the beer.

Just organising a Mt Bulla to Dargo ( google earth it) ride accross the victorian alps. Great riding for 2 days!