1987 CR250 Rebuild

Hi, I finally got the bike to the stage where I could go for a proper ride. This little bike goes like a rocket, easily keeping up with a modern Honda CR 250 and power wheelying through 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears with ease I love the powerband and adrenalin rush that goes with it. It is right what other people say, these bikes are so well balanced and straight line stability is awesome!

The one thing that is not quite right is the bikes rear suspension travel, the bike can bottom out when landing a jump. Looking at the Husqvarna parts catalogues, you would think the '86 & '87 frames were identical? I fear this is not the case, the top shock mounting bracket on the 1986 bike must be lower down on frame rail than the '87 bike. The reason I say this is when you look at the height of the rear wheel when raised off the ground it does look fully extended (lowered), but the shock HAS fully extended and stopped! But the swing arm remains parallel with the bottom frame tube, making the rear end of the bike sit much lower than factory designed position.

I have put maximum preload on the spring and tried different settings on the compression & rebound hoping to get the rear fender to ' sit up' away from the tyre, but this seems useless.

Am I missing something obvious!!!

My bike has the 1985/86 CR shock, linkage and swinging arm coupled to the later '87 frame. The current shock has been rebuilt with genuine ohlins parts, but surely this wouldn't reduce it's travel / extension, would it?

I have located a 1987 WR250 parts bike which is for sale and has the complete full rear suspension(shock,link,arm).
Would the WR swing arm fit correctly and would I be able to use my existing CR250 front and rear chain guides with it? The parts numbers differ slightly (15 11 496 - 01 for the CR250 swingarm , and 15 11 496 - 02 for WR250 swingarm (1987 parts catalogue)) ?

If YES I am going to swap them over, the existing swing is slightly damaged anyway and I definitely want the full travel!

This is my first project so any help would be appreciated

Thanks for such a great site

Chris

Nice bike. There is one on ebay in the UK at the moment, and the pictures are quite clear showing the ride height etc. Here is the link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/husqvarna...5512929?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item2c5fc823e1

If I had a spare grand or so I would be tempted to get this one, it looks pretty original and not a bad price I'd say.

Hi Murph,

Yeah thats how I was expecting mine to look like. If it goes as well as my CR thats a good price too, you could easily embarrass other riders on much newer machinery

I kind of skimmed through the whole thread after reading post 22 it appears to me you have the 87-88 plastic and tank. Because of how the tank attaches I would say you have the 87-88 frame as well. The 87-88 rear suspention is not what I see in the picutres, I see the linkage and shock of an 85-86. I never paid any attention to vertical position of the top shock mount but there (I am virtually positive without checking) is a different horizontal offset from center. I kind of think there is a horizontal offset difference on the linkage attachment point low on the frame but won't promise. The wr and ae versions sat lower to the ground than the cr and xc. The 85-86 has a hemi joint at the bottom of the shock for 87-88 that hemi joint is in a linkage piece and a fork assembly is on the bottom of the shock. Is it possible you have a shorter wr shock on there?

If the front brake has a piston on each side of the rotor and the rotor is kind of loosely attached you have what I call the 85-86 front end. The next version has a casting in the lower fork leg which I don't see. I don't have any 87 stuff but am under the impression it is virtually the same as my 88 stuff.

Hopefully I didn't make any errors, you can study the parts sheets and decide for yourself. I kind of doubt if what you have was put together at the factory with shrinking parts pools in 1987 as there were sufficient left over 1988 models to severely cut the price to move them.

Fran

Thanks Fran great info

I think you are spot on there.

Seems with the first generation of piggy back gas shock there were three different lengths from hemi - hemi joint.

The Motocross bikes got 350mm (13.8") total travel; '86 Enduro's got 330mm (13.0") and Auto Enduro's got as little as 310mm (12.12"). I thought they were the same!

Judging by my images I may have copped for an auto shock advertised as a 1986 cr 250 shock!!

Oh well I'll get her sorted.

Thanks

The current shock is stamped with HA250 V448 and is 17.25" eye to eye.

Hi Chris, I raced one of these in the late 80`s and found the power valve only worked when it wanted to.
When it did, the power off the bottom to mid range was super silk. I wish i had it doday. In the end I locked the power valve, either
open or shut. One would give too much bottom and no mid or the other a rip at the top end and would have you hanging on.
Handling was neutral, but suspension needed tweeking to get the best.
Hope you get yours sorted with the rear end. My last bike was a Honda, a bike hard to beat.

regards
andy
Bucks

Andy,

thanks for the comments. I found a DBR magazine scan on the internet dating from 1987 reviewing the Husky CR250 bike. It stated the bike was still a contender for trophies back then, but only with the best riders on board! The bike was described as lacking in just about all areas against the Honda 250 of the time, complaining how Husqvarna should switch to rears disc brakes and sort out the 'soft' suspension issues, go for a plated bore lining and so on. In the end the DBR team changed the shock spring to the stiffest they could find, changed out the fork springs and oil of the WP's to match the rear, and the bike started to become impressive.

How did your bike compare to the jap stuff of that era? With the mad husky rake at the front end you must have had to be a good rider to be quick through the corners?

I like the way you locked the power valve in differing positions, mine is locked fully open too! The power band is great, I just slip the clutch a little trying keep it on the boil through the twisties! It's a fun bike

The solenoid assembly that controls the powervalve flap is too weak, anyone can see it wasn't designed to last, but I think husky had the right idea.

I have just brought and '87 WR250 and I am going to swap the swing arm and shock over, so the bike should look a lot better and bottoming out shouldn't be an issue anymore. hope it fits!

Cheers

Chris

This swing arm came of a bike with just 5000 kilometres on it, as you can see it is shot and has three cracks on it all the way through the pivot point. I cannot TIG aluminium and have had to send it off for repair. The guy said he would weld up the cracks, but it wouldn't last long and suggested replacing both pivot points for £120. I have had to settle on the latter as i don't think I would like the thing to snap off mid air... could have done without it though

Just got my swing arm back. Only one pivot point has been replaced as the other seemed to be okay. I am pleased with the work and hope it will last some time to come. Any Brits looking in, this is Gav's website www.giaengineering.co.uk he is based in Nottingham... highly recommended...

Great work.... nice photo/narrative to follow along

Looks nice, I ride a 88wr 250, I bought new, as my main trail bike. My first bike was a 85 250cr I bought new. Stay with long stroke motor it has a whole lot less vibration and a bigger better clutch.

Thanks Jim,

I am going to stay with the 70.8 stroke motor as others 250 engines can be hard to find as complete units! The CR lost all compression at the weekend and is awaiting a rebuild! Hoping it is not going to cost too much

In regards to your WP fork question on your other thread try contacting dirtaddict23 or photoguy_43420 as they are familiar with that fork set up.

Cheers

Chris

Sweet ,that pipe should give you an interesting power delivery .
You can change the left fork leg and caliper for an American 87 twin spot setup and it would be an 87 model still.
Getting hard to find now but the improvement in stopping is well worth it.

Just went out and checked my 86 WR/240.
With 17" eye to eye and this much pre load

I get 39" from ground to the back of the seat.

As you can see it appears to have a lot more travel than yours.

Hi Dukkman

Nice bike, and a 240 too! My CR's motor is totally stripped down to the bottom end at the moment, my piston is stamped 65.44mm which means mine is also a 240... The CR has run the 1st factory piston for 24 years! This is good as it will need an oversized piston and rebore to bring it back to life and the sleeve is really good and thick.

Beware of the water pump impeller on these bikes! Mine came away from it shaft due to a circlip failure during use, the fins from the impeller were ground to nothing by the housing resulting in a failed pumped coolant system. A minor seizure occured and the piston skirt broke away and was ingested by the crank assy The main bearings will have to be overhauled as well possibly a new con rod, which are quite pricey ( £250>)

Chris

I have a 87/250 motor here I'me working on Chris and it's got a 65.something mm piston.
The 240's have a 67mm piston [ about ]
The trick is the stroke ,the 250's have a 5mm longer stroke than the 240's at about 70mm.
It's obvious when you put the barrels side by side.

Hi Mate

This is really interesting, as I am not an engine whiz kid, I tend to let the Pro's deal with engine strip down / rebuilds etc. To be honest, I just reference the parts manual and ask Husky people to get the information I am after. I had previousky been told by
a very well known vintage husky parts supplier from here in th UK, that the difference between the 240 / 250 was bore diameter alone! This is the first time I have heard of the variation in stroke distance!
I presumed my bike displacement was around 240cc mark as I thought my piston was # 16 16 355 -01
So there is a difference in cylinder height and two differing con rod lengths?

Chris is that the original/factory plastic? If so how did you get it so white? When I was starting my 86 Auto rebuild I wanted to up grade to the 87 plastic and was going to use a spare 87 frame that I had but when tried to put the 86 swing arm and linkage on the 87 frame the "Y" link would not line up to the frame properly. The 87 frame bracket was more centered than the 86 so I cute the fuel tank brackets off the 87 and welded them to the 86 frame. Just wondering if your linkage is not binding some how.