• Husqvarna Motorcycles Made In Sweden - About 1988 and older

  • Hi everyone,

    As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.

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Raising Forks in Triple Clamps

BadMotoFo

BadMotoFo

Husqvarna
AA Class
I have a 1981 430CR. The suspension was set up by Drew Smith and I opted with less suspension configuration along the lines of a WR. I currently have the top of the fork tubes raised 5mm above the top triple clamp. The bike is still very stable. I'm curious if others with early 80's bikes have experimented with raising the forks further and if this has had much effect on making the bike turn better in single track.
 
You are limited to above 10mm max on the 81 82 frames and forks. Its a matter of your front tire hitting and bottoming on the front fender.

Now if you look at old photos the prior years 390s , well they really raised them in clamps. It was a different fork tube and bottom and you had the clearance
 
Sliding forks up in the clamps is 4th on the list of effectiveness at increasing turn in .
I run my 82 500 about an inch up for mx . And nearly 3 up currently for some flat track.
Increase the oil level is an easy way to prevent bottoming out
 
It must be based on the tire you use, at 1 inch I am rubbing and the bottom of fender. I also have my rubber fender mount cut in half and
compressed as much as possible. Also I am running the later 86 87 forks.
 
silverstreakNZ said:
Sliding forks up in the clamps is 4th on the list of effectiveness at increasing turn in .
I run my 82 500 about an inch up for mx . And nearly 3 up currently for some flat track.
Increase the oil level is an easy way to prevent bottoming out
Click to expand...

Ok. Now I'm curious to what 1 through 3 is on the list of effectiveness (??)
 
My 250 mag came with 12 inch shocks. I am using 13.5 inch. It steers better. Yes it has raised eyebrows because the gap between fender and tire, but it is vintage legal. Still 4 inches of tvl.
 
I second a longer shock or a bracket to raise the rear end. Riding with your balls on the tank helps in turns too.
Chodnicki has a custom seat that goes onto the tank.
 
Take out the fork springs.. completely collapse the forks until the front wheel hits on the guard.. the push the forks through until you have clearance for the front wheel..perfect.. you will never collapse the forks that far because of the... but that will give the max amount the forks can stick through..from memory on my 81 430 it was about 20mm
 
In answer to your question, it does improve turning. a slightly stiffer rear shock setting can also assist turn in, a softer tyre also helps. those models were aimed at the american desert market where straight line stability at speed was the key handling characteristic. the process of determining total allowable stick up should be undertaken and the forks set there and tested.
 
On tighter trails I definitely tend to sit most of the time as I'm able to push off the pegs and get my head further over the bars. I find it hard to stand and get far enough forward to allow for a good flowing rhythm. I suppose its just how they were designed at the time. It goes good when sitting. I just get that monkey-butt feeling sooner.
 
Turns out the answer was in the factory owner's manual... :rolleyes:

Max-fork-height.jpg
 
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