1988 XC250 revival 2016

Hey all!

So I've been bored lately, my GSXR is running about as well as it can and after a few years of tinkering here and there doesn't really need much else aside from crazy performance parts and deep pockets.

One day a coworker told me about an old dirt bike he had kicking around that needed to some work and said he would give me a good price on it. My curiosity peaked when he told me it was a Husky. I went to his place one day after work and I was sold.

Upon further inspection we negotiated down to a reasonable 500 dollars and loaded it up. It started on site, but only after puking out much gas from the exhaust, presumably because the gas was left on.

He then told me about how the piston skirt previously cracked so he welded it and put it back together so running it was a major risk but I was giddy and and the piston skirt broke again, fouling the spark plug with aluminum.

Naturally being me, this was a great point to break it down and get it the proper attention it needs, restoring and cleaning along the way. Most all the rubber has perished, rust bleeding through the paint on the frame etc etc etc

A large box of parts arrived today from husqvarna-parts.com and my new piston should be here some time this week, ordered from Halls. Its apparently a OS piston for a xc240 or something so fingers crossed its the proper shape. Once its here I'll drop the jug off at The Crank Shop, a local snowmobile performance shop that specializes in insane two stroke sleds.

Ill try to keep y'all posted with images as I play around with my new bike.

A few more pictures. Bare frame, engine on my bench ready to be dismantled and the sprocket photo is as such: the one on the left was on it when i got it and I decided to make it into a flywheel holding tool. The shiny new one came in a kit off eBay. I love eBay.

And now for the fun bit, making it look good again! Sent the frame out to be sandblasted and then did the primer and paint myself with a rattle can. I regularly spray paint like that at work and have gotten pretty good at using it and coming out with a decent finish. I wanted to go powder coat but I will ride this bike like its meant to be ridden and I've heard problems with it chipping and peeling. Either way paint on a dirt bike to me is more for protection from corrosion than looks anyhow.

Also after much fine grit wet sanding and buffing the swing arm finally looks good again, need to get a pointy buffing thing for wheels and tires to get all the nooks and crannies but still tenfold better than it was.

I recently learned from a member that what I though was rubber bushings in the shock linkage are actually heim bearings. Which is great cause i totally thought they were bad due to the movement they had! They were however super tight and may need attention, hopefully just needing a good cleaning. Once I'm done with the engine I'll move onto the suspension, I have the seals for the front forks but I'm pretty sure I'll need the special tool to remove the damping rod.

Oh and while its on my mind, I looked up the vin information on my bike and it doesn't have the Zxxx prefix on it meaning its technically a 1987 BUT I also have the original sales slip from the dealership in 1988 and it says 88 XC250. What gives? Late model 87 billed as a 88? Either way its a true swede I believe.

Got into some nitty gritty work today. Managed to split the cases but it came apart a little strange. I'll have to bring the case to work tomorrow to see if I can gently coax the crank out of the stator side case with our arbor press.

Upon inspection the output shaft bearing is feeling pretty notchy so when your in Rome...

All in all, having never done it before it really wasn't that hard at all. I think had the rubber grommet for the wires been intact for the last however many years things would have went smoother but likely shouldn't be too bad in the end.

you should have no drama undoing the fork lower bolts without the damper holding tool. just leave the springs in and crack the bolts loose with a ring spanner and a hammer.

I hope there was a seal there first on the main bearing ignition side.

Husky was Italian owned by then and was just using up existing supplies.
What's on the bike will tell you more... like the forks, '88 forks are different than the 87 forks. Hopefully you have the '88 forks. Also, Nordisk wheel rims are stamped with dates, but those could be old '87 stock too.
If you need them, I have the 87 and 88 Parts Manuals in PDF.

Doh! Just ordered it today. I guess I'll just add it to the collection.

There was, it wasn't pretty but it was pliable. New one in its place now.

I have the 88 parts manual, not sure if there are glaring differences or not or if it will be close enough. How would one know what year the forks are? They are the aluminum lower with Husqvarna down the side. And while we are forking around, when I put seals in these forks they will also need to be repressureized with air right? Can't find any info on how much though.

My wheels are stamped Nordisk 4-87 which to me means it could go either way on what year it truely is.

Glad to see you saving that bike. That sprocket looked a little worn and I don't know what to say about that old piston. Keep up the good work.... & pictures. (we like pictures)

the tool is still nice to have! do not run air in these forks, the schraeder is for bleeding air out that gets in. run atf at 475ml or so each leg. you can go up or down 25ml to suit damping tastes.may need a lil heavier spring if you ride fast/hard..
very little diff between 87/88 forks, just minor damping differences.
congrats on starting the restoration on the last swede made swede designed husky. great bike.

No need to pressurize the fork, in fact the owners manual says "never pressurize" the forks. As justintendo says, just de-pressurize the forks.

I discuss the '87 vs. '88 fork differences in my 87 250 XC rebuild thread. Externally they are identical, internally the 88 has dampening inprovements.

Here's a pic, 87 fork guts on top and 88 fork guts on bottom. The 88 has more dampening holes, a bigger dampening spring and dampening bushing. The '88 has less mid-stroke harshness...

So working the weekends is killing my time for Husqy restoration but keeps the pockets full for said restoration. Its a catch 22 really.

Anyhow, I got the crank back in the cases and the cases all sealed up using the heat and cool method. REALLY REALLY want the crank install tool but could only locate one in the world through HVA and they want 300 euros for it. May in the end just make one because I'm sure this isn't the last time I'l take the engine apart.

I managed to get the forks done as well, using an impact to remove the damping rod bolt. Went well but re-installing the fork leg bushing was kinda a pain. Topped them off with atf as per justintendo's post and already a massive difference! My forks have 8 large holes around the skinny end of the dampening rod so I think its the 88 fork set. Got the front end pretty much back together, steering stem bearings were great though.

Now for the bad; the front wheel bearings are notchy, not quite smoked but not new either.

I also found six crack in the front rim, not sure what to do about those. We get cracked aluminum rims in at work all the time and we regularly just gouge out the cracks and weld them up so that may be one option. Are replacement rims available? I'd imagine I could find a rim and have my hub laced to it if all else fails. Also maybe someone could enlighten me as to how the front axle is held in. Is it a press fit? if so how do you know where to press it back into? There are no wheel spacers which just about blew my mind.

Still waiting on my piston to come in, should be here Tuesday. Hoping to have the cylinder back from machining by this weekend and possibly get it fired up and broken in. (Also putting a 70cc big bore kit on my friends Yamaha Jog today, so theres a chance I may not live to see this weekend hahaha) Heres a few pics of the work. I'll throw a pic of the GSXR up too, just hope it doesn't get me kicked outta here! hahaha

front axle install is a black art...the idea is to get the fork sliders parallel at the top and bottom then do up the clamp to set the axle. you don't want the sliders pinched or spread. its hard as every pair of forks I pull apart have the damper cones "trimmed off" by the fork legs

Finally!

The piston is here and its absolutely beautiful (always was a sucker for machining). That being said however they are far from identical. I'm not an engineer so I'm not sure if the differences matter much at all. The compression height and wrist pin diameter are spot on. The skirts are way different and the factory piston doesn't have the strange pockets the Wossner has on the intake side. If anyone has any insight on the role piston skirts play and whether or not the length really matters that would be sweet! I mocked it up and the piston strokes clean through with more than addiquite (over a quarter inch clearance to the long skirt.)

When I got the bike someone had lost one of the two swing arm pivot rod nuts. They are if I recall correctly a 14mmx1.0 nut, which apparently doesn't exist on this planet, or at least not with fastenal or mcmaster-carr. (if they don't have it it doesn't exist.)

Its nice working where I do though, I talked to the head of our machine shop this morning and handed him the nut and he came back later in the day with two brand new nuts he made that fit absolutely perfectly. They aren't nylocks of course but I'm sure some red loctite will solve that issues. He also advised me on how to make it a interference nut, like the lock nuts with the tapered heads.

Off to The Crank Shop tomorrow for the 1mm overbore, could be back up and running this weekend! Getting pretty excited now. (Youtube Crank Shop 1500, these guys are REALLY good and pretty well known.)

wossner doesnt make a piston for the 87-88 husky 250..can you show a picture of box lid?

Right, that piston is not specific for Husqvarna.
Before installing it you should work on intake side which is so different from the original.

your right they don't. This one is for a 87-88 cr and wr 240. According to Halls it should work just fine. (figured they must have people like me looking for pistons all the time and would know what to put in it.) The specs are all right on the piston with the exception of the skirts, which I checked and clears the crank and connecting rod through its whole stroke.

I could have ordered a NOS piston from them as well but it was somewhere around 250 bucks where as this one was 150. I've looked into it and all I can find out about piston skirts is they keep the piston from rocking in the bore while moving so in my mind as long as the pin size and compression height are the same skirts shouldn't much matter.

Also I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the 240 was a de-stroked 250 as according to the parts guy Ray at Halls the 240 and 250's share the same bore diameter, 66.44. This piston is the first over size I do believe.