• Husqvarna Motorcycles Made In Sweden - About 1988 and older

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82 250CR Rear Brake - floating or not?

Viper32

Viper32

Husqvarna
Hi guys, I was wondering if someone can confirm if all 82 250CR's came out with the fully floating rear brake configuration? I purchased mine last year and noted that it had what I thought was an XC swingarm and rear brake. Then I checked out a fellow racers 82 250CR at a recent meeting and his had the exact same setup. Both bikes definitely have CR frame numbers complete with the mountings for the brake stay arm. Did Husky just lump leftover XC/WR bits onto some CR frames? Any ideas would be welcome. steve
 
I am not aware that they did that. However, the CR's floating rear brake chattered HORRIBLY as soon as it developed any play in the ends of the floating arm or in the hub bearing that allows the backing plate to float. Also, the WR/XC non-floating set-up came with a slightly wider brake shoe, and was (IMO) a stronger and much better overall system. It certainly was simpler! It was not uncommon to swap the CR's over to the WR/XC non-floater. Personally? I think you should consider yourself lucky!
 
My 83 250, 80 390, 82 430 , & 84 500.. all CR's , have the floating rear brakes, but Husky surely could have just use the parts they have to build
the bikes, they were a small company remember. To tell the truth when i MX raced my 250XC, i couldn't tell the difference between the floating and non floating rear brakes, maybe i just don't haul the wood fast enough.. I sure do love the Ohlins suspension :thumbsup: though.
Husky John
 
The CRs all came stock with the floating brake, but it was not that good, and because the bushing wears out there are very few of them in good shape second hand. XC/WR rear brake assemblies are dime a dozen, in addition to working better, so lots of CRs got converted.
 
We converted my brother's '85 CR500 monoshock to a non-floater out of necessity (since the brake drum it came with was total toast and we couldn't find a floater to replace it with). Other than the fact that we're using narrower shoes than stock, we were able to get it to work but not the best I've seen by a long shot. Also, because of the monoshock swingarm geometry, you need to set the brake cable adjustment loose (just as you do the chain) until you sit on her and the suspension sags as intended. Gotta set it as you do the chain tension, with the shock compressed to where the swingarm is parallel to the ground. If not, about the time you make a nice hard landing you risk the brakes locking up. Hey, automatic brakes...such a deal!
 
The floating anchor arm on the floating brake mounts to the frame with a very long arm, the non-floating brake anchor mounts to the bottom of the swing arm with a much shorter arm.
 
No, the backing plate is different because on the floating brake it pivots on the axle, which is what a floating brake is, and the non-floating is locked into position and does not pivot on the axle.
 
Here's a shot of the non-floating brake we put on the CR. Had to make a stay arm to mount to the swingarm instead of to the frame. It works, but really should be able to float as the swingarm moves up under compression in order to prevent the brake actuating cable from increasing it's tension and braking the wheel when you don't want it to (because, of course, the brake cable is mounted to the frame at the pedal end...no different than the chain getting tighter as the swing arm moves toward horizontal). So we just adjust the brake loosely with no weight on the bike, and it's fine once the shock squats as you sit on it. Not perfect, not ideal, but there you go!
DSC00712.JPG
 
Old Geezer said:
Here's a shot of the non-floating brake we put on the CR. Had to make a stay arm to mount to the swingarm instead of to the frame. It works, but really should be able to float as the swingarm moves up under compression in order to prevent the brake actuating cable from increasing it's tension and braking the wheel when you don't want it to (because, of course, the brake cable is mounted to the frame at the pedal end...no different than the chain getting tighter as the swing arm moves toward horizontal). So we just adjust the brake loosely with no weight on the bike, and it's fine once the shock squats as you sit on it. Not perfect, not ideal, but there you go!
View attachment 27395
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I am confused again. On this picture the brake plate has a decending tang where the stay is attached. In the other thread the plate doesn't have the tang.
 
James, that link that Ruwfo provided (thanks Ruwfo, excellent post!) shows variations for CR, WR, and XC. You might be looking at the XC and WR photos.
I actually think that extended casting for the mounting point was a huge Husky mistake. Guess what breaks off when you hit a rock?

The key with a floater is that it connects via the stay arm to the frame and through a bearing; the bearing allowing the arm to move vertically - and the plate rotates freely - every time the swing arm moves. It keeps the geometry of the brake plate mounting from changing as the shock is compressed, and keeps the brake pedal adjustment constant.

I'm no expert on these, but just looking at the design tells me that's how it's supposed to work. The rest of you guys correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the floating design more on the bikes with huge swingarm travel (like our CR)? My XC twin shocker isn't a floater 'cause I don't think it gets near the swingarm motion, but I don't know.....

Not so with a non-floater and stay arm mounted to the swingarm as we have done on our CR with huge suspension range. The swingarm goes up, and it tightens the brake cable - as well as the drive chain - as one would expect.

Again, I aint no expert....just observations.
 
The CR and XC of any given year have exactly the same rear suspension travel. The brake pedals are also mounted differently for the floating/non-floating setup. The reason your converted CR floating setup has to be adjusted like that is because the brake pedal pivot is well behind and below the swing arm pivot, where the XC/WR pedal pivot is very close to the swing arm pivot. The closer the brake pivot is to the swing arm pivot, the less effect the travel of the wheel has on brake adjustment. The XC/WR is so close to the swing arm pivot its essentially unnoticeable, where the CR is far enough that without the floating rear backing plate, the arch of the wheel has an effect on brake tension.
 
I don't know if you can mix the parts like that at least not expect it to work as designed, I will address the 87-88 models here, the biggest difference to the 85-86 is the spacers as the swingarm width changed, my guess is they might have aimed at disc at this point
the XC, WR was designed to do a different function and shows, the brake cable has a quick release the rear wheel removes and installs quite quickly, good for an endure or cross country event, the CR has a floating link to isolate the braking from the suspension movement as a way to slow wheel hop, the brake swept area is greater on the CR as it is accelerating and braking sooner due to tighter courses, the pedal and arm linkage is quite different
about the comment on the XC being closer to center, on the 87's I am looking at the CR is closer to being in the center of travel and pivot.
as I recall you can feel the suspension more in the braking on the XC-WR than the CR, the reason I remember was one time my brother and I traded bikes while riding and he pointed this out
 
Never had one or even seen many 85+ single shock bikes. When I said that about the XC/WR pedal I was speaking of the twin shock bikes.
 
Kartwheel68 said:
Never had one or even seen many 85+ single shock bikes. When I said that about the XC/WR pedal I was speaking of the twin shock bikes.
Click to expand...

nothing meant by it just commenting on a comment
speaking of that, what exactly does it look like, some friends have but never looked
a picture of twin shock brakes would be handy
 
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