• Husqvarna Motorcycles Made In Sweden - About 1988 and older

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Steering head angle modification

Husq.fleet

Husq.fleet

Husqvarna
AA Class
My 84 WR250 corners like its on rails and have read about what they did to improve the steering in 84. My 82 CR250 steers horrible compared to the 84. 82 is washy and I have ran the same tire, pressure, fork weight oil etc. in both. My question is has anyone changed a 82 steering head angle to the later to improve steering? Have my 82-500 project to the bare frame and it would be a good time to do any mods. Thanks Scott
 
similiar before different

Scott,

You have to remember your WR has less travel then the CR, so the
trail distance is less. I'd bet you have 16" c-c shock on the WR vs
17" c-c on the 82, do you have the forks at the same height in
the upper triple clamps on both bikes?

Try pulling the 82's forks up a 1/2" in the upper triple,should get
rid of that washy feeling :D.


Husky John
 
Jon is right,the WR has lesss suspension but not be cause of the shocks. The WR swing-arm is diffrent from the CR/XC, so where the mounts is the diffrence in travel. The CR/XC shocks have a 1/4 spacer you can remove during a rebuilt but it doesn't add up to much travel. I feel aslo the WR handles much better tith it's 10.5 inchs of travel then the CR/XC 11/13 inches. For vintage mx 10.5/11 is enough and when it settles into turns better it's a huge plus.
 
John, I have them at 1/2", tried even higher but 1/2" like you said was the best. WR is 1/2" also. I dont need the travel as I'm not too aggressive of rider. I'm heavy though at 270lbs. I tried ATF in the forks to get some more "squish" cornering thus reducing trail also. I looked at some pics of the WR cornering in berm and its compressed alot. My 82 430XC is a little better than the CR250 but has different front tire so isnt fair comparison. Daughter timed me on both bikes at the track and I was faster on the gutless WR because of the cornering. I'll check the shock lengths also.
 
Huskydoggg;86156 said:
The '82 250CR had a steering head angle of 30 degrees. I think 1984 was the first year Husky moved to 28.5 degrees on many of the bikes. Your '84 WR may have the 28.5 steering head and shorter suspension, both contributing to easier cornering.
Rather than trying to modify a frame it might be easier to find a '84 frame.
Steve
Click to expand...

I have a "spare" 84 WR but can't get used to the width of the 83 up twinshocks. Love my 84 WR for a woods bike, in fact it replaced a 06 CRF250X but on the motocross track the width is "uncomfortable" Partly my fault wearing size 13's, boot tops catch on side panels and rub top of shocks causing my bad knees to bow! Thats the main reason my 83 500XC is going into a 82 chassis.
 
Looks like my WR has the long lower tube front forks. Rear shocks are ITC's at 18.5" CC. Checked CC on my 84 WR500 and 83 500XC ITC's and they are the same. Frog, that would make sense with the internal travel limiter. Here are some pics of both.
 

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Improvement!

Got the 82 and 84 side by side and compared. Bars are different and the 82 bars were more turned up on ends. Rotated bars back a little untill the grips were more horizontal. Made a world of difference in the handling, fortunate to have ORV park less than 15 minutes from house to test. More comfortable, less arm pump and alot more stable in corners, funny that stuff never bothered me when I was under 30 yrs. old?
 
I have a 84 WR500 with the 10" travel forks, shorter rear suspension( not sure exactly what), and the 28.5 degree frame. It does corner better than the 82 and earlier Huskys........but I prefer my 83's ( 250XC and 500CR with the full travel and a frame cut and angled to 28 degrees.

The 83 250XC corners like magic, but no power, no way. Tried hop-up tricks, Husky factory bulletin, etc. At best it runs like a big 125.

The 500CR runs very strong, but with the extra weight and power is noticeably slower responding than the 250.

In 1983,I quit riding Huskies because of the shock bulge. Bought a 83 480CR Honda and the shock locked with 3 hrs on it and broke my hip...

Went back to Husky in 85 with the 500XC single shock and rode Huskies till they quit making them. Went to KTM in 1990, been riding them ever since.

The 83-84 chassis wasn't my favorite, but it has the most potential for EVO class racing.
 
Thanks for the reply, Scoot. I was suppose to meet Scott-"HR" @ your place a couple of weekends ago but he had a family emergency and cancelled. Will make it down the "creek" soon and will bring that pipe for you to compare. A luck would have it I just found a Asch pipe for a 430, It would've been easier to modify. Scott W.
 
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