• 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.

    When he passed, I worked with his kids to gather the necessary credentials to keep this site running. Since then (and for however long they worked with Coffee), Woodschick and Dirtdame have been maintaining the site and covering the costs. Without their hard work and financial support, CafeHusky would have been lost.

    Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working to migrate the site to a free cloud compute instance so that Woodschick and Dirtdame no longer have to fund it. At the same time, I’ve updated the site to a current version of XenForo (the discussion software it runs on). The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.

    Unfortunately, the new software version doesn’t support importing the old site’s styles, so for now, you’ll see the XenForo default style. This may change over time.

    Coffee didn’t document the work he did on the site, so I’ve been digging through the old setup to understand how everything was running. There may still be things I’ve missed. One known issue is that email functionality is not yet working on the new site, but I hope to resolve this over time.

    Thanks for your patience and support!

Top Husqvarna "Best Woods Bike" From 1979-88

HardCoreHusky

HardCoreHusky

Husqvarna
AA Class
Just thought it would be interesting to see what some of ya'll think are the best Husky woods bikes from this era? I used to have a 79 390WR that was great in the tight stuff, still wonder wtf was I thinking when I sold it.....I know that any of the WR's with the shorter wheelbase would be the way to go. So I'm looking for another vintage bike. How are the mid/late 80's 430 autos in the tight stuff? Always been intrigued by the autos of this era, but wary due to the parts scarcity and work/maintenance involved. Anybody, feel free to weigh in with your thoughts on your favorite Husky for the woods.:)
 
Having ridden a 390 Auto in the woods ...... that get's my vote. Just make sure it has "woods" bars on it !
 
i have never rode an auto but i think any wr that has the shorter suspension is pretty good in the woods...it seems the cr and xc are really tall that at can cause a bit of instability in the tight stuff...and im 6 foot 2....i had a 79 wr that was really low and narrow...
 
"I used to have a 79 390WR that was great in the tight stuff, still wonder wtf was I thinking when I sold it....."

I had a 1979 390WR also, Michigan plated (street legal) with the bicycle mirrior and blub horn I bought for a couple of bucks in the bicycle department @ K-MART. The police would almost flip thier car turning around to get me, they would catch up and see the plate, I would tap the brake lite a couple of times, they would run the plate and I never got pulled over (In the big city)
"wtf was I thinking when I sold it also"
Dick Burlseson did well on one......

Team WR:
1979 250WR
1983 250WR
 
I guess it all depends on the woods, I have heard when the bikes had five inches of travel the ruts were five inches and now they are a foot deep so that vingage experience might not be what it once was.

If there is snow an automatic might be worthy on mention. In all honesty I think they are significantly more dangerous.

The mono shock bikes have incredible room for the ankles which I like. The 87-88 version has a better seat and more advanced suspention. If your woods have lots of small diameter trees and the like radiators and the hoses are a minus. I also think there are situations when the fact heat radiates off fins where mud would clog radiators or air flow through them especially in the years discussed is insufficient. Those generally aren't what I consider woods though. The white frame air cooled bikes have the best fit around the ankles for me and also the most advanced rear suspention and I can get cups and cones to go in the steering stem to mount today's forks if I care to.

fran
 
I agree with Fran the 87-88 WR 250-430 Are a great choice as are the ITC 83-85 WR Bikes if you are air cooled fan. I have rode both types through the woods many times they are great. I have also rode 75 WR and 79 not enough travel if you ask me. I think about what Dick Burleson said I like new bikes they are easier to live with. So I would say the newer the better. Unless you are riding vintage endures that is a whole other story.
 
I agree with Fran on the 87-88 430 as I have both an XC and a WR the stability of the WR is nice but overall not a deal breake
also about the most fun except big hills is my 87 CR250 easy to throw around without the gyroscopic effect of the 400-430 engine
now the power of the 430 is flat as a pancake so easy to ride in the tight stuff because of minimal shifting due to the torque
 
My AE500 is fun to ride, suspension set for my weight and brakes working well she is a fantastic bike, but I must admit I think my 87 WR400 is better. I'd like to ride an auto version, it would be cool. the safety seat allows you to get up front easily and be aggressive in turns, you can use the torque or rev the 400 engine hard. the disc brake and calliper work. A couple of years ago when I was getting back into dirt bikes - I hunted the 87 WR400 down as it was a favourite from back in that era and it would likely be my only vintage bike if it wasn't for the pre85 Nazis here in Australia. Nah- who an I trying to kid, you need a few vintage bikes in the shed :)
 
Normally i'd say a 84-85 400, like Steve, but after riding Joe's 84 500 auto, i don't know. Like Joe said, it feels like cheating :thumbsup:.

Husky John
 
Not sure how old this thread is, but...... I have owned several Husky's starting in '82 and ended with a '87 Automatic. I can still remember the first race on it, a 2 hour Hare Scramble in Maryland in December...muddy conditions and cold to boot. Dead last at the start(A class), had to put it in gear LOL! worked my way to 4th place in the first lap! I was laughing out loud 'cause it was like I was cheating! that 430 was awsome! I had the usual clutch shoe issues, overheating motoplat issues, etc., but it sure was fun!
Wade
 
Bought a WR400 a few years ago out of curiosity and the fact that it was on CL for cheap. Rode it a few times and then tossed a 99 WR250 front end on it (way better brakes and fork). Took it for a ride with my normal ride buddies that thought they would have my number. Nope, come to find out I am as fast through the woods on this as I am on most other modern bikes. Buddies with the new KTM 250's and 350's were in shock as I roared away from them then took pix as they went by. Nothing is more fun than walking away from guys 10 years younger than you on a 25+ year old bike. Priceless.

IMG_5579-XL.jpg
 
Motosportz said:
Bought a WR400 a few years ago out of curiosity and the fact that it was on CL for cheap. Rode it a few times and then tossed a 99 WR250 front end on it (way better brakes and fork). Took it for a ride with my normal ride buddies that thought they would have my number. Nope, come to find out I am as fast through the woods on this as I am on most other modern bikes. Buddies with the new KTM 250's and 350's were in shock as I roared away from them then took pix as they went by. Nothing is more fun than walking away from guys 10 years younger than you on a 25+ year old bike. Priceless.

IMG_5579-XL.jpg
Click to expand...

Yep you nailed it, i ride with lots of guys on new bikes and they could not believe how good the older bike really is.
 
justintendo said:
i have never rode an auto but i think any wr that has the shorter suspension is pretty good in the woods...it seems the cr and xc are really tall that at can cause a bit of instability in the tight stuff...and im 6 foot 2....i had a 79 wr that was really low and narrow...
Click to expand...
I forgot that the 82' 430 was this tall and that the wr was a little lower and shorter . It's taller than my 09 Beta 525 which kind of threw me off.... and my 01 cr.. I'm 6'1" so it's not that big of a deal but I do notice just sitting on the bike.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top