1987 Husqvarna WR 430/Suzuki 1996 RM fork swap

[Bigbill]

R u looking for a lighter / softer fork setup?(125?)

To me being a big man the stock husky forks are fine. My '98 husqvarna 250wr was useless for me off road. I changed springs and oil and still had the sledge hammer up swing on the neck when I hit bumps even little bumps. The stock milk truck forks was perfect. Even the late '70's forks were ok. Maybe these older husky were built for big 6'6" Swedes. On the late 70's bikes I did use the progressive 17" & 15" shocks with the strongest springs they offered on the rear.

 

[Torben45]

I went with the 125 because these are motocross forks and I ride off road so thats why the 125 stuff. I still have the stock forks too and will hang onto them as the 87 ones are supposedly one of the best. I plan to ride modern enduros and also ride with a bunch of fast guys so I thought I would try this. Shoot it was cheap for the parts so why not...

 

[visiteur1948]

 

[oldbikedude]

Thats a real nice looking set up Torben45. I didn't realize how deep you are into that bike, nice work.

 

[Torben45]

Thanks! Yeah i'm completely going through it. New bottom end, top end bigger radiators etc....

 

[suprize]

having uprated the forks why no disc brake? if you want an old hooosk to keep up with the fast guys, you just need brakes, the rest is not too bad

 

[Bigbill]

To me disc brakes is a must if you want to go fast then stop quick and turn or just slow down. We all know these bikes are quick and can keep up with the pack if the bike has a good pilot. The bike can do it.

 

[Torben45]

Agreed! I've got the RM front brake on mine which is much better than the stock husky one. We ride with a guy that pulls out his 86' 430 Auto and keeps up with everyone no problem. Thats part of why I wanted to build this one.

 

[oldbikedude]

Cool, who makes the water pump guard? You?

 

[justintendo]

ive had good luck with the gpi rad hoses....have em on 2 bikes, they fit really well on the 88 250.

 

[Torben45]

Oldbikedude......the water pump guard came with the bike. it doesn't look to hard to fab one up like that. justintendo glad to hear you have had good luck with them. I haven't used the hoses but this is the 3rd set of GPI radiators i've installed on different bikes and those have been great. I did have to trim my hoses a bit but nothing major.

 

[justintendo]

i believe the trimming is intentional, that way they fit well and can be trimmed to fit. also accomodates 250-500 height differences

 

[usedtobefast]

What bearing work was needed? Did you get Husky bearings on the RM triple clamp?

 

[Torben45]

No the husky bearings don't work. I just ordered by the size I needed at bearing house. Everything else bolted up

 

[Huskerdoo]

I put 1987 yz 43mm conventionals on mine for a while. Used the yz clamps and had sleeves machined to accommodate the Husky stem. The forks and disc worked awesome. But the YZ clamps had an increase to the offset that adversely effected the handling. Turned a rock steady freight train into a twitch machine

 

[Torben45]

Well I got it together tonight. It's looking pretty good

 

[adam6402]

Nice looking bike, maybe some day you could get the rims re-anodized so they match, although to be honest I hardly noticed. Really like the forks and the disc guard in yellow matches very nicely!

 

[Torben45]

Yeah that is coming in a month or 2.....going to lace up black sun rims to match. The RM fork and guards match great

 

[oldbikedude]

I never thought a yellow disc guard would look good but it does. The whole bike looks great.

 

[troy deck]

damn