Forks, Servicing, rebuilding, etc. Multiple Models

I struggle a bit in this department too. I did manage to set the sag on the 87 and it made a huge difference, now both ends are working together.

There's two easy adjustments on the 40mm forks-the oil viscosity and the oil volume. As stated before, thicker oil will increase damping. More oil will decrease the air volume and increase the spring action. and bottoming resistance. Big Bill's comment about pushing down on the footpeg is a good idea for basic setup. If both ends compress equally the suspension is at least balanced. you can feel the same thing if you sit on the bike where you normally sit and bounce up and down. if one end is softer, you know where to start to even them up.

Well set up suspension is very valuable for a trail rider. Too much weight on the front and the front end washes out, the steering angle is sharpened.
Too little weight, you can't turn. I had a 2000 KTM 300 I raced hare scrambles with. Upside down cartridge forks. It deflected off everything. I hit the ground constantly. the suspension was balanced but the damping was too harsh for Eastern woods and rocks. Never did fix it well enough to trust it. When I bought my Husky TE250 I had it valved for eastern woods- what a difference! Even with the cartridge forks different oil weight and volume make a difference.

of critical importance with the husky is the reassembly. its important to bottom the slider to centralise the damping cone before doing up the bolt at the bottom. ive never pulled a set apart that havent had the damper cones "shaved" by the fork tube cos some bunny has just done them up with the forks extended. they can and will go off centre and cause issues..tight feeling, harsh on small bumps etc.

secondly, making sure the fork sliders are parallel after doing up the front wheel /axle assembly. lots of punters pinch them in at the bottom by tightening the axle nut before tightening the fork grabs. measure and check they are equal distance apart at the seals and the axle. this also can cause an unhappy rider.

Good point Suprize. I check for parallel and the same fork height and then tighten the triple clamps. Then I bounce the front end up and down a few times, then tighten the axle. Forks are very harsh if they are tweaked.

Now that I have some springs to match my F.A. any thoughts for a starting point on oil?

synthetic atf works well for me. can raise or lower the volume to adjust some. try 450ml first...after filling, cycle the fork to work the air out. without the spring, measure the height from the top of the oil to the top of the tube so you will have a baseline if you want to add some oil in increments.
i find the atf stays fresh a long time, and is readily available.

ATF is about a 10 wt oil. Common use in older 70's suspension. I use 15 wt fork oil- Bel-ray or Spectro. for my Husky forks. As Justintendo said, no springs when adding oil. To measure the oil height you remove the air bubbles, then compress the tube. I use a wire or rod and a light to measure down to the oil height. Then I remove and measure the rod. Once I know the measurement I use a syringe with a tube to remove oil as necessary.
I preset the level I want with a zip tie on the tube at the correct length. Of course if you don't want to be that precise, dump in 450cc and go.
With springs matched y to your weight you should be fine.

Your about 4" from the top of the triple tree with the fork oil level? No springs?

something like that...but you need to get a base measurement on a dry fork with a known amount you have measured and put in. 20ml added or taken away makes a difference..to me anyway.

I think it's 4" from the top with no springs and the lower tubes up all the way. Just to clarify.

I was taught by a local bike guru to stand on a milk crate and push down on the left peg and watch how the front and rear suspension compresses. It should compress even.

as far as the oil quantity goes, you just need to ride it. see how the damping works. 4 inches wont work for everyone, the amount can be tailored to adjust damping some.

4 inches from top of fork to oil with forks compressed full and with springs out is alot of oil.

Believe normal is between 430 and 450ml there is easy access to fill and empty so no biggy to change things on the trail.

4" initially seems like a lot, but then again, there's a lot of fork leg volume filling the lower cavity, so it makes sense when I suspend disbelief and think about it for a bit.

On the trail you just add/remove fluid/oil until you get the feel you want, and then measure with a flashlight/stick back at the shop when you're happy. Got it.

Now I've gotta' decide between ATF and oil. Both make some sense. Oil is an easier viscosity swap if my fat rear end needs heavier dampening to avoid bottoming. I'm guessing that if I use ATF, not much to do to change the viscosity, and I'd have to pull the whole thing apart and clean it to move to oil. A little tempting to do oil in one bike and ATF in the other, for comparison sake, but that sort-of results in adjusting more than one thing at a time, and begs for me to accidentally mix fluids. I might just buck up and go with oil to start. It's the safer move.

Been doing some reading in the book. So far it's adding credibility and dimension to a lot that I already sort-of knew.

ATF too light for me. the husky fork is not designed and setup like a traditional fork for its rebound and compression flow. Likes heavier weight oil 12.5 at minimum. The later EVO 40mm forks do not fall into this rule

Continued from Joe s comment on later 80s forks

Forks really depend on what holes you have in the damping rods. Do you know - husky themselves - drilled out the hole to match what race tech
recommends and added even more holes 87. Have not torn down an 86 yet.

With all drilled and race tech gold valve installed ( mid valve spring at just compressed. Small 2 inch spring on valve ) we are at 6 inches from w/ top 10 wt. Note running the 87 forks at this time. But have this also on early 81/82 with drilled rods. Works great also had HuskyJohn help find this setting at Unadilla
works great for his weight also. We removed oil. The lower check ball and spring is removed at bottom of damping rod. Also a odd in a cage damping ring deal
( thats technical) is in bottom of this later fork.

Do not use race tech forks springs recommended from there site its wrong - its a formula for modern bikes. At a 42 today. stock spring average is 37
John form vet age husky has removed inches form standard spring to achieve heavier wait. Can remember off hand .

Now Race Tech is a single rate spring. At times wish my forks would compress down for turning like variable rate spring.


Have no idea of why fonts are smaller ??

Note from race tech. All fork oil is not the same. The two that tested the best are Golden Spectro and Bel Rey

Other oils tested did not seem to match or have a consistent weight to their oils of all things.

6 to 6.5. is what makes me happy.

15 wt

I do have race tech springs based on the calculator on their site, but the springs I did pick up are for my bikes w/ 40mm forks ('85, '86), so if I'm reading your post correctly, that's OK. Sounds like I won't want to use their calculator for my '79 though.

As of now, I haven't gone for the gold valve upgrade. They make a good argument for the gold valve in their book. Adds a dynamic and tunable component to the damping that you just don't get when flow is only controlled by the size of an orifice and viscosity of the oil. At points, the book reads like a giant advertisement, but there is a lot of good information to be had in the book regardless of whether or not I upgrade to the gold valve.

Some of the wear parts (dust wiper, bushings, top-out washers, etc) add up pretty quickly on the Husqvarna-specific sites (at-least the US ones, web searches reveal some European sites that are a bit more cost effective, before shipping at-least) Any chance that any of these items are also sold by modern brand-independent suspension shops off-the-shelf based on dimension?