New Project - 1986 WR400

heres a dual shock unit..http://www.ebay.com/itm/HUSQVARNA-W...7b7117e&pid=100034&rk=3&rkt=8&sd=291280473493

Guy on another forum was a tyre maker and said he could use majic stuff [ sticking bits on sand tyres apparently ] to fix these. Never got my manifold back.

Hva factory, makes these also and come with v force reeds too.

those do look sweet..just depends on how much you want to invest!

When I bought the bike, the owner passed on the notebook and receipts from the original owner. The guy I bought it from did not keep any additional records. Some interesting stuff to share:

The bike was purchased on 1/7/86 for $3380.15 OTD. The receipt does not say where the bike was purchased though I am pretty sure it was a SF/Bay Area dealer, possible South City Cycles as that is where the majority of service was done. The owner, Mr. C., lived in Cupertino, CA.

4/86 – He had the forks “reworked”. The note at bottom of receipt says “Forks do not completely rebound because stock springs have sagged”. Not sure what they did (spacer?). Fork oil 10W – 8” from the top.

He also had the carb re-jetted. Q-8 needle jet, 6DH2 needle, 45 pilot, and a 420 main. (The 45 pilot and 420 main are still in there. I didn’t see a number on the needle jet and haven’t checked the needle yet). I believe stock is: Q-6 needle jet, 6DH3 needle, 35 pilot, and a 400 main. (Can anybody verify this?)

He also purchased a Hi-Flite seat foam and cover (still on the bike).

9/86 – He had, what he called, the ’87 fork kit installed. The receipt shows $23.95 for a ‘factory fork kit’. I’m not sure what exactly was done.

10/86 – 425cc of 5W fork oil

12/86 – New ring installed. 1st over, stoned to .010 ‘+’. (losing me at the stoned part)

3/87 – Replaced fork oil – 5W

5/87 – Corroded side cover replaced by Husky. Another note says ‘aluminum side case’

6/87 – 350cc 10W in forks

11/87 – 375cc 10W in forks (including 70cc 5W)

3/88 – Bike was sold for $1800

Mr. C. noted every ride he did. The last entry is total hours at 124 ½.

It seems his biggest issue was the front forks as over the time he owned it the same amount/weight of fork oil twice.

I thought it was pretty cool that this information survived for 30 years.

nice records to have..
when it says "stoned" they mean it was ground to the next oversize. i have had good performance for myself running synthetic atf in the forks about 480-500cc.

It's awesome to have that history of the bike. I've changed the oil in my forks so many times with varying weight & amounts of oil that I'm sure I've had it close to perfect & lost it a few times.

yeah but he's looking for a single shock one, they seem a little tougher to find

a little, just have to be on the ball or talk a fellow husky junky into sharing their hoard, lol

I rode an 84 with 15wt oil and was impressed. I usually use 10 - 7.5. I will try 15 wt soon to see if they are good of those

These are great bikes. I still have my 86 400. Bought it in 1988 from the original owner who bought it from South City Cycles.

recalled you should check to see if the bushings in the rear of the cases where the swingarm bolt passes through; more loctite.

And; put new rings in the forks; or get the forks freshened- when they wear and get loose it is scary. I ended up with kx 125 forks on my 400- worked very well

What year KX125 forks did you go with?

I used '99 KX250 forks on my '87 WR430.

I got the bike fired-up today and there is nothing like the satisfied feeling when hearing it run for the first time. It sounded pretty good – although a bit louder than I had hoped. A muffler repack will be in order. A couple of other questions…

What is the recommended brake fluid for the front? I would imagine 4.0 but I’d like to be sure. I’ve already been miffed by the floating front brake.


As I mentioned previously, I would like to get a street plate for this bike. It turns out that the ignition is a Motoplat (after reading some other posts I thought I would find a SEM ignition but this is not the case – is the Motoplat stock or a replacement?). I called up Baja Designs and they said their kits are made to order. They just need to know the specs on the ignition. I’ve looked around and haven’t found a resource for specs on the ignition. I’m hoping someone out there might have some information on this or how to obtain. I’m fortunate because the bike is not in the DMV system so no back fees and I just need to have the bike verified to get it registered. If I bring the bike with the DS kit on it I should be able to register it as a street bike. Fingers crossed.

Good work getting it fired up! On my current project the first time I fired it I had everything, including the expansion chamber off. Loud was an understatement!

I found a thread here that may be helpful:
http://forum.ozvmx.com/index.php?topic=24219.0

Although I have yet to go there... Up here in Washington, to get off-road bikes titled as street legal, it is required to have a battery that can run the lights. My thought for when i get that point is to use a solid state relay as an on/off switch (triggered by my lighting circuit) for the battery to power everything. I didn't find a clear answer on the specs for the motoplat, but I can tell you that before the motoplat on my '86 died, the amount of light that would come out of the headlight/taillight varied greatly based on the engine RPM. Doing some searching, I did find it listed at 6 volts, with varying wattages based on the number/color of the leads.

I suggest that you check out Powerdynamo for your ignition/lighting needs. Go to their website and have a look. I just installed their a/c system on my 430; took about an hour. Easy starter/ lights bright with a halogen h4 bulb up front. I'm dual sporting my bike with antique plates!
http://www.powerdynamo.biz/eng/sitemap.htm
Click on the British flag for English. They have both a/c and d/c kits. I suggest the a/c kit if you can get by without a battery. Just remember that you will want an a/c horn (typically from a moped). My a/c kit, with flywheel puller was $313 all up shipped from Germany to the US.

Sounds like their prices are coming down!
I paid over $500 a few years back (went through Penton USA).

The 30+ year old Motoplat ignitions failing (as in my '86) is not all-together uncommon. If you're going to spec your electronics to an ignition, one that's modern and somewhat easily replaced is a good way to go! That's also part of my thought on the relay method (for my '85 which still has a motoplat, small clarification), If/when the Motoplat goes, I don't have to redo the whole system to match a new ignition. Granted, if you're not required to have a battery that can handle the lights (like we are in Washington), then power straight from your stator saves a bit of headache.

there are guys that sort the motosplats out so they should be able to tell you the specs. I have seen their name on here but no idea where.. the lights arnt bright...