'77CR250 racer resto

my 400 had the spacer under the lower bearing...."had"...I forgot to put it back in

Got the bearing off, the only spacer is n L-shaped ring that appears to be the remnants of a seal, but either way it should work. In fact, I bet the new seal, which has a metal ring at the bottom, would provide enough clearance alone. On other fronts, the tapered bearing cups are in the mail from John L along with some shiny new ohlins. Ill post some pics and dimension of the cups when they arrive. Race tech front springs and piston bands arrive today as well. Ive done plenty of Japanese forks using either an impact wrench or home-made damping rod holders - anything from a threaded road with nut, to a broomstick. Ill try the impact wrench first, but if not, any home-made holders or description of what is in the fork that the holder interfaces with?

If you used Race Tech's calculated rate on their website to pick your spring rate they are going to be massively too stiff. The only trick different than a Japanese fork is at the bottom of the damper there is a cone that has to be centered in the upper tube (fork collapsed) before you torque down the bolt.

they will rattle off ok. I usually just wack an allen key with a mallet to undo the lower bolt. replace the nylon top out washers (if your forks have them) cos they will be munted and as kartwheel said, assemble everything then compress the tubes without the springs before tightening up the bolt.

Yes, found that out the hard way on other race tech stuff. I went two ticks lower, we shall see. They provide a very short spring with like a foot long PVC spacer.

So here is the info in the aftermarket cups for the tapered bearings. Here is a pic:

And here are the rough dimensions:

Wheels back from Buchanans. I took the time to carefully remove the old stainless spokes and Buchanans was able to polish them up and re-use.

New ohlins came in too, but the bushings need some sorting. The new shocks came with a very thin isolastic bushing on both ends and then metal bushings to sleeve down to a 10MM bolt. This is different than the original style ohlins that had a heim at the top and wide thick rubber bushing at the bottom, sleeved down to an 8MM bolt. I am using the original 8MM mounting holes and bolts. I also think the swingarm mounts are designed for the old wide and thick rubber bushings. Hopefully John L can sort this out for me.

Ok, need the gurus to chime in as John L's solution was that I should make bushings to further sleeve down the new ohlins. While I could do that, I am wondering about the lack of a heim at the top, and lack of a big rubber bush at the bottom. I'm thinking I sould track down these parts and use that set up. I see one of the vintage husky places has the original bushing set up. Thoughts?

When I rebuilt mine I replaced the lower eye to shorten the overall length, these also had the added bonus of accepting a heim joint there as well. My main issue with mine was the shock travel. It is not as long as the original Girlings. I ended up using a pair of Hagon's as they have nearly 5" of movement.

The bushings need to be 24mm wide, and as you say, have an 8mm hole.

wow this bike is going to be nice...
im no guru but if you can keep a heim i would. its only going to help suspension action, deleting them would seem counter-intuitive to having ohlins anyway.

You should not need the heim joint until the '81+ with the side post mounted shocks, but it wont hurt anything if you put them on your shocks.

I better get crackin'. Team Husky next season!!!

Mike I see a re-match at the Fair in the making!

Grouty, you are right, I overlooked that travel. I have the original girlings and they do have more shaft showing than the new ohlins. I'm hoping Ohlins has a better option.

AHRMA limits Historic class bikes to 9" of actual wheel travel so I would put the Ohlins on with the spring off and measure the actual travel. If it is 9" or less you are fine. The stock Girlings likely give more than 9" of travel.

Try this ...... ECMO Suspension Calculator

Thank you. It is nice to see John machines as well as I do. Very nice finish on those. It would be a sin to paint them, But I would paint my own just to keep them from rusting as I will make mine out of 4340 as I have enough to make 2 sets if I make the neck shorter and tack welding them to the neck of the frame. Are those made of aluminum?

No they are steel. Finish looks like a zinc with blue dichromate - basically the finish you would get on a hardware store bolt. I probably will paint as I'm doing the other hardware in a dull nickel sulfamate finish.

Dave, probably need the name of that plating company you use.