EZ front end upgrade for older huskys

Many of you might know this but I was amazed how EZ this was. surfer1100 clued me into a front end sale for my 86 WR400 i desperately wanted to upgrade. THANK YOU. I bought an entire front end off a 99 WR250, zoke 45's, wheel, brakes etc. for $100 of craigslist!!! Anyway Motosportz Mike tells me it will bolt right up. No way I thought but he seems to know everything. Well I mounted it up and WOW, bolts right on, same bearings, stem etc. even the stops woks perfect. Amazing.

So now my front end is not floppy, horribly damped and i have real brakes. I really liked this bike stock but hated the front end and brakes. This mod makes the bike turn WAY better and stop WAY better and feels WAY more planted. Had a few hours to test it and found out 3 buddies with new KTM's can't seem to keep up with a 24yo Husky

BTW if you do this mod you really need to run tall bar risers so you can move the forks up a lot on the triples as the stock bike only has a little over 10 inches of travel. I figured this out after a few miles and was amazed how nimble and planted a 24yo bike can be. BTW the motor is a grunting short shifting rocket in the slick stuff. FUN.

Next on the list is the ergonomics, tall flatter seat, custom wide pegs and this machine will be ready to rock.

So i have two rides on this beast since the front end swap. One was semi slick clay based terrain. Yesterday was a very technical area, in the rain, I mean nasty rain all day. This bike works WAY better than it should. Turns great, stops great etc. The kicker is the narrow bars (running mini high bars), crazy tight turning radius and low bike equal EZ to do nasty down hill switchbacks and off caber stuff. I am as fast on this bike as any. The motor other than somewhat excessive vibrations is a joy to use in the very slick stuff as you can short shift it and get traction anywhere. It also has more top end than i first thought. I really liked the motor right away and it is and main reason i spent the time to upgrade the front end. I'm glad i did, this bike will get ridden a good amount. It also makes me realize for the type of riding i do a low bike is kinda cool. I'm really having fun on this bike. My buddy with the 07 WR250 rode it and concurs, that bike works WAY better than it should and he loved it too. Proclaimed it the ultimate lazy guy bike as you can put it in third and ride all day never touching the clutch. It is nearly impossible to stall. Hill climbs are silly EZ, tons of bottom end power and a low long bike just goes up the hill. Amazing.

Thats a real good looking bike.

More simple but VERY rewarding updates to the old beast. Been riding this bike a lot. Works great in the slop. That said the stock bent and sagging footpegs about killed me several times. It wants to spit you off when you try to stand, not good. Thought about several methods and then out of desperation going for a ride the next day and wanting to take "the beast" I bent some flat stock steel in a U shape, welded it to the stock pegs regardless of their saggy position (put the new ones flat obviously), and then took the grinder to them to make teeth. Was the best half hour I ever spent on a bike mod. Makes the bike 100% Ezer to stand and control the beast. I also did the brake peddle too as I had to contort my foot inwards to get to it and it was to low. Now the bike is a joy to sand on, the pegs are huge and grippy and the brake is EZ to use. Huge improvement in control and comfort.

You can see saggy bent back footepeg inside the ones I welded up...

Clay grease on glass covered in leaf snot is fun to ride in. The beast loves it. Those trails take you to these trails...