1985 250 XC

My first Husky. I'd found a pair of bikes at an estate sale, both an '85 and an '86. My buddy took the '86, which has the 411 number plate. We had been talking for several years about finding a pair of similar bikes to try some vintage racing. That way we could share parts, resources, and setup information.

Both bikes run. My goal is to go thru mine to get it ready to race. Functional and adjusted correctly is my plan for this season. It won't be a beauty queen this year. Hopefully, I can try a few of the AHRMA regional cross country races and enduros before the end of the season.

I'll have a ton of questions for all of you. I'll post up my progress along with questions. If you have suggestions or setup tips, I'll be glad to hear them.

nice, looks like a good pair. swede huskies are great bikes but their quirks must be heeded!

Nice find. One is good but two is better.

Nice find...here is a basic how to I put together for another guy setting out on a journey of discovery.......

methodical process is all you need from here. bag and label everything....carefully. photograph everything, especially wiring + cable positions etc. see if you can get a parts manual online. print it off for the workshop. is invaluable for sorting what bolts went where.

then once the frame is bare, decide on your cover..powdercoat or paint. then get the repairs done and then prep it for a new coat of glistening whatever. powdercoat needs to be grease free, spray degreaser up all the little frame drain holes and pressure wash carefully other wise it melts when coating and poohs the job. also, cover threads and put dummy bolts in threaded holes etc as the PC fills them up. painting is self explanatory.

make a list of parts then start shopping. dont put anything back on the frame till your happy its right for combat. check husqvarnaparts.com and HVA Factory for bits

I would go buy a box of 6mm and 8mm nylock nuts and get all the bolts that are still serviceable plated. pick up new 10 and 12mm where required.

as your making a rider, find a "how to prep the 250 for enduro riding" article and follow the tips. obvious things but essentials are new tyres, new chain and sprockets (unless they are in good shape) and new brake shoes.

Wheels, are the spokes tight and the rims ok? wire brush the inside of the rim back and run 3 or 4 turns of duct tape in the spoke well. cut out the rim lock and valve holes. I file the valve hole a bit so the valve can creep around a fair bit and not be pulled out of the tube.

Get the shocker serviced and dismantle and clean the forks before giving them a new set of seals and oils. wheel bearings front and back. get good ones not cheap ones. flick the plastic seal off one side and pack with waterproof grease. pop the seal back on. oil the cables (or fit new ones ) grease the lever pivots and clean and grease the backing plate pivots on the brakes.

strip the motor to fit new engine seals at a minimum. match the transfer ports in the cases to the barrel, open the transfers out to the gasket line on the barrel and clean up any daggy bits in the ports. assess the top end for serviceable parts. if your lucky, a light hone and a new set of rings might be the go.

replace the needle rollers in the kick start system as well as the roller behind the idler gear. NOTE...the clutch case comes off with all the bits on it...don't take the gear lever or the kicker off.
replace the water pump seal and bearings while its apart.

look at shrinkfit tube over your electrical wiring from the stator to the backbone. get a new spark plug cap.

everything else should be straight forward refitting.
check your reeds for cracks and splits, I recommend boyesons if you can find some. these can help smooth the bottom to mid / top transition.

check the inlet manifold for cracking and splitting. look carefully, they can split along a seam. consider a new carb if the old one looks worn out. nothing harder than jetting a leaky carb.

get the exhaust de dinged and straightened and make sure the muffler is freshly packed.

chuck the old plastics on and hit the track!

Special areas to check on those single boinger huskys are the pivot hole for the swing arm bolt in the frame, they can elongates and also pooh the engine case inserts as well.
the needle rollers for the linkage can be an issue but lots of info here to help.

Check the swingarm for cracks while you're completing the other list haha they crack frequently in the linkage area. Both the 85s I had were cracked in that area.

I forgot about that ...around the needle roller positions....I should get one then I would remember all this stuff

All of the above is great advice and not to be considered optional, make sure you follow these tips thoroughly, these guys know what they're talking about!
These are awesome bikes for their intended use.
Tony.

Nice looking bikes the pair of them.
If you feel that the front brake is atrocious , buy a Left Hand fork slider from a 87 and a caliper as well.
They are 2 spot calipers and work well.
The reason for the fork slider is because they use different mounts.

The front rim would need to be changed as well, need a solid mounted rotor hub.

Nice score!

No problem with a floating/floating only problem and I've seen it is when you put a fixed/fixed.
That's a floating disk and a floating caliper and a fixed disk/ fixed caliper.

I had checked the parts lists for the front hubs for both 1986 & 1987s. Same hub number used for both years but the disk numbers were different

So why would i switch hubs if they are the same? They are different.
The 1 not in the rim is the 85/86 style that has buttons to hold the rotor and they wear out fast as they are alum against cast iron. Thats a 87 rotor with bolt holes, 86 style has no holes.

hubs are different for single and dual piston caliper set ups.

thanks for the pic...i was too lazy to take one

Technically the both styles have 2 pistons
Solid mounted calipers on any car or bike have a piston per pad.
You can not run a floating caliper and floating rotor. The flutter in the rotor will knock the pads back too far when not in use and the first application on the brake will be like a brake pedal going to the floor. Scary.

the 86 uses the same single piston caliper from the 85, in 87 they switched to the 2 piston caliper and use the modern style master you still see today

I can count lol, small pad caliper has 2 pistons though. 1 per side, i rebuilt them before.

Not trying to argue but 2 is 2 cheers

Then someone should have updated the part number for the 1987 hub. It does match the part number for the hub listed for the 1986. If an item changes, the part number should as well.

I do know the 87 TE and maybe the 87 TX have the 1986 small pad floating rotor front brake still.
So not all 87s have the solid mounted rotor with bigger pad caliper.

I was looking up the wheels on my 86 400WR and checking against a 87 430WR so it is certainly Husqvarna tradition that WRs and 4T models get the leftovers from previous years.