Newbie and Introductions

Hi Guys. I found this forum while searching for information about my Husky 1977 250CR. Since then I’ve read practically every entry in the Vintage/Left Kickers area. I’m simply amazed at the knowledge/expertise of you all. From time to time I will be asking a question or two about my baby and any help I could receive would be greatly appreciated.
I bought my 1977.5 250CR brand new when I was 19 years old with the intention of racing it and trail riding behind my parent’s house. It was supposedly a rare bike with each Husky dealer getting a limited supply of the 250/390 that year. Grant you this could have been a long line of BS but I believed them at the time. I got my husky and it was simply the best bike I had ever ridden. The long suspension worked beautifully and the motor was unbelievable. It pulled like nothing I ever had before…granted the previous bike I owned was a 1974 Suzuki RM125 Hahaha. Anyhoo, I mostly trail rode with it but did race a couple of moto’s in the novice class in my local area. I would start in 2nd gear since I was 140 pounds soaking wet. While everyone else shifted into second I was gone. What a thrill!!!
One day while riding about on some trails I had an accident involving some kid riding the trail the wrong way. I was able to mostly miss him but it did mash the lower end of the exhaust. I put the bike into the garage as I didn’t have the cash to fix and soon I had moved on to other life experiences. Career, wife, kids, you know the whole 9 yards. At one point I took the pipe off to see about getting it fixed but some more unexpected family expenses hit and the bike again went into the garage. Years went by. Every so often I would think about her. Usually on a lawn mower where one has plenty of time to contemplate life but it never seemed to be the right time to bring her out into the world again.
…fast forward to today. You know where this is headed. I’m 52 and 215 pounds now. The kids are grown and I’m in a decent place financially. I dug my baby out and was amazed how great she still looked. Sure there is a little bit of rust and the old Girling shocks look like the shafts are pitted but overall she’s in fantastic shape I think. Except OMG…there’s no exhaust. When I took it off I never put it back on and I must have left it at one of my previous houses. Oooo, the humanity Plus the engine is seized…maybe from not having the pipe on and allowing humidity to enter the head?
Ok, I have rambled enough. I have a question or two. I believe I’m going to rebuild her and would like to get another stock exhaust if possible so if anyone has one please let me know…I’m sure we could come to an agreement. I’ve looked at the different posts here concerning after markets pipes and have came up with several companies that could make them. Pro-Form, DynoPort, Jemco, Circle F but I’d like the stock pipe if possible. One stupid question though, is a 1977 250CR the same bike as a 1977 250 GP. I figure GP stands for Grand Prix and therefore the same bike but I wouldn’t want to get the wrong pipe.

Sorry about the long rant. Old people do this sometimes. Hahaha. I’ll post a couple of pictures of her if you all are interested.

Marty

Congrat's Marty, welcome back into the vintage world. Your post really got me going as I race a '77 250 in cross country and some moto... fun bike with decent wheel travel. Post a pic of it!

Marty,
Hells bells you got to post up some photos. All will be thrilled to see it.
Rick

Welcome Marty,
To answer your question, Yes same bike. "GP" was usually referred to the 75 models with the new GP style frame. I might have a stock pipe but not sure if it's for a 77 or 78 but will check and see. Post up some pictures.

Ok a couple pics. Just dug out of the garage and before it's first wash in over 30 years. Frame # ML20279 Engine # 2059 1135

1st time posting pictures so here goes...

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I've got some work to do. Hahaha

Forks

What a great story! That Fox decal on the front forks has me curious as I have a 72 CR 250 with the same decal. I haven't torn them down as that bike is a year or two away on the list. Just curious what the Fox mods were?

That was one of the two mods I made on the bike with the other being a 4.5" X 18" Metzler rear tire. The front forks kit was called a Fox Forx kit and it consisted of lighter springs and air valve fork caps. I don't think the kit changed the dampers because I would still have them...I still have the original fork springs too. With the air caps I could add or remove air to adjust the front forks. Plus the stickers were cooool too.

I dug out that pipe I have and it must be from a 1978 as it has a small bracket welded to the bottom side of the pipe a few inches back from where the stinger bolts up to it, just like what is showned in the 78 parts book.

Circle F made mine, it works well and is lighter(vs. stock) and less money($200~ vs $250++) than the others. I've heard a few produce more power but a good pipe for the money.
Are you doing the rebuild yourself?

Tom - I compared the the '78 to the '77 stock pipe and indeed it does look to mount differently. The pipe itself looks really close. Hmmm, I wonder if I couldn't get someone to weld a bracket to it and make it work. Hmmm.

Trailrider - I'm planning on doing everything I can possibly do myself. Never split cases on a bike before (not sure I have to at this point) but I'm gamer if I have the right tools. Thinking about getting a cheap sandblaster to assist in the cleanup portion of the effort.

The only difference I see is the rear mounting bracket. My 77 390CR pipe has the same tab welded to it and mounts up just like the 78 250CR. It should be the same frame as the 250 so I think it would be a direct fit. I might even have a 78 frame laying around somewhere that I could compare the two frames and pipes to see if it would work.

Tom - Sent you a PM

Harbor Freight has cheap blasters - I use soda or pecan shells, works good.
Looking forward to a photo upon completion!

Marty,
I got your PM. I went and checked the bracket out 100% and realized it is a 77. The 78 parts book shows the tab on the pipe and the 77 does not show it because it is crossways. I have the complete rear bracket but not the front bracket. You should be able to pick up the front bracket on Ebay as they were used on many models. I will take some pics of the pipe sometime this week and send them to you.
Tom

Pic's of the 77 pipe.

Tom - Your grass is a lot greener than mine in Ohio. It's been a hot dry one this summer.

The pipe looks pretty good to me. I've got the front bracket so this will work perfectly.

We just got some rain the other day so it is looking a little greener than it was.

Welcome aboard Marty,

I can't say enough about the guys on the forum as I would not have been able to rebuild my '85 500 without their support.

Stu