1986 WR 400 Disappointment

sweet! whats he running on the counter?

400/430 is the best most rideable motor ever.....

Heres my 1986 400XC

430 cylinder
Niles Ussery frame
WP 4054 forks
FlexBars
Trail Tech
Dan smith Valving

The 1986 400 XC we picked up in a box and put back together. It's on the left, the WR is on the right.

What is the difference between standard and a "Niles Ussery frame", please forgive my ignorance but I've never heard of it before.

Niles did all the Factory Husky stuff in the 80s for the likes of Smith, Ashcraft, Roeseler....

First the rear "loop"for rigidity
Second different pipe front and rear mounts
third skid plate welded on (so it doesn't vibrate off in Baja)
last Extra gussetts in the triangle under the tank

Makes me think about swapping in a 400/430 instead of the 250 in my 85 wrx...

Makes a huge difference.... My brother just did it to his 250xc and put a near new 400..... $750 and worth every penny

I guess a Baja 1000 would beat the hell out of a frame and everything attached. You don't want to DNF due to a frame or loose part problem.
racemx904, you have any pics of the 3rd skid plate and the pipe mounts? Is the 3rd skid plate just another frame bar underneath?

The 87 250 XC I'm rebuilding that George Erl ported and prepped for Baja, has additional rad bracing and wiring grounds. Does your 400 have any of those?
Just curious how the old pros set up their bikes. Thanks.

Yes it has all those also.... I will go to the garage and post pics later.....

It would be cool to start a thread showing all the Baja / desert racing enhancements made to the mid / late 80's bikes.

The Awesome "BIG" pegs..... lol



The Super trick skid plate...... that wont fall off


Even the smallest items matter..... washer welded on shifter so it doesn't smash flat

This pipe mount is for multiple reason..... First the big ole 500 vibrates even with the balanced crank.... so these are rubber mounted and stronger....

The 88 4054 forks.... valved with stiff springs and Dan Smith valving.... Also you can see the 83/84 headlight




Flex bars (added about 6-7 yrs ago) , Trail Tech, and the spare chain link



Custom made sliders and wheels (back when they were forever backordered).... oh and a 9.1 shock spring.....

Few other tid bits I thought of on this bike.... the 500 right radiator (bigger), 130 watt stator (custom RB wound)

This bike raced the Norra 1000 in 2012 with Chilly White and my uncle Ron Bishop.... Chilly insisted on "his" jetting and she blew up.....

nice, but i mean whats he running on the countershaft for a sprocket?

That's a 17... lol ya baby feel the power.... I just threw the 15 back on....

He's got a 14T and 53T and I've got a 13T and 52T

Thanks for the pictures, racemx904.
I like that skid plate. The extra exhaust support makes sense, I've had to replace rubber bushing parts on all my 430s.
And that washer in the shifter is trick. All my shifters are bent.
The bigger rad and stator makes sense too. The Baja 1000 isn't a 2 hour race in daylight !

Is that Ohlins spring really a 9.1 N/m ? Almost 2x as stiff as my 87 430 spring.
Maybe the 86 linkage being different than the 87 linkage needs a stiffer spring?

Its funny how just the smallest details in a race that brutal can make the difference in winning, finishing or being stuck in BFE.....

I never needed the bigger radiator in D37 desert racing but Baja why chance it....

I bent probably 20 shifters before I did this trick.... They ran a few different light combos... two 8" 55w stacked, 2 side by side, 1 8" and two 4" on top....

Yes.... The d37 way was light valving and heavy spring... My brother uses an 8.7 I preferred the biggest I could find lol