1987 430xc and 500xc

[bronkorob]

i have been looking to sell my yz125 for a bigger bike for awhile now and might be able to trade it for some huskys. i dont ride track too much anymore, due to an old injury, and looking for more of a desert/trail/fun bike. ive always liked the looks of the old huskies from the 70s and 80s. i had a 78 390 auto basket case a few years ago, but had to many things going on to deal with, so i sold it and have been wishing i had it back ever since.

anyways i might be looking to do a trade of sorts for an 87 430xc with a semi complete 87 500xc parts bike. here are my questions about them.

i have come across info about huskys of certain years not having the most reliable ignitions. how are the 87s?

anything particular to these years i need to pay special attention to?

if everything checks out, how reliable are they?

how about maintenance parts like rings, pistons, shock seals, fork seals? readily available? anything that is impossible to get?

any words of wisdom or advice on these 2 bikes?

thanks husky gurus.

 

[husky jim]

Are you sure thery are '87s? Does the 430 run? Have you seen the bikes? Parts are available if you know where to look, although some original parts can be a lttle pricey. Some aftermarket is available, most of which quality is just OK at best. Bearings and seals all availabe and very reasonable. Ohlins USA rebuilds the shocks for about $175. Having a parts bike will help. Ive had good luck, I've only had one (Moto-plat) ignition stator fail out of all of my bikes.They used both Moto-plat and SEM ignitions. Don't know about the SEM all mine are Moto-plat. I would only be concerned if the bike sat too long and it started leaking water on the inside from either the head gasket or water pump. My 88 250 sat for a good spell and the crank cases were wrotting out from the inside. The 86 430auto I 'm currently restoring had a bad head gasket that leaked down inside the cyclinder.

You wil find plenty of info on here just search through the posts here in the vintgage section

 

[fran...k.]

These things were intended for the origional owner to go out and chase trophies. There are a whole lot of things that can be worn out you wouldn't expect if you are used to street bikes.
the 87 models you mention should have a black plastic tank with a small downward fastner in the front, often sellers or traders are a bit optomistic as to what they have.

I have come across info about huskys of certain years not having the most reliable ignitions. how are the 87s? I only had to walk once, about 5 miles I am sure folks differ but I estimate 2/3 to 3/4 should be still working. You can get another used one, an aftermarket one or have yours re wound.

anything particular to these years i need to pay special attention to?
Put it on a box under the engine and try and twist the wheel and swingarm, examine for movement at the pivot/engine rear. Look for cracks, loose inserts enlarged holes in the frame.

if everything checks out, how reliable are they? If the engine is firmly bolted in place and it isn't shedding metal flakes to the drain plug magnet I would say they are reliable.

how about maintenance parts like rings, pistons, shock seals, fork seals? readily available? anything that is impossible to get?
All that stuff is available piston probably not exactly the same as origional but lots of oversizes. Kick starter parts, the gears involved might be an issue and also the source of the metal flakes.

any words of wisdom or advice on these 2 bikes?
Third gear on the input shaft is hard to find a good used one but still available for the models you listed because it was used for another 10 years in the four strokes. It wouldn't be a bad idea not to hammer third too hard unless you know what shape it is in. The bearing right next to the front chain sprocket probably ought to be changed out my 500xc 83 had it changed by the dealer as preventitive and the bearing failed on my 88 430. Unfortunately the 87-88 can no longer pull that bearing out like before.

thanks husky gurus.

 

[bronkorob]

thanks for the info guys. fran...k i should have said motocross track riding in my original post. I got the 125 to get into riding motocross, but my shoulder issues are killing me so its back to just trail/desert/fun riding. i cant stay on the track to long before my shoulder starts bothering me, but trail riding and desert doesnt seem to bother me nearly as much. glad i gave it a shot, but the MX track is not for me.

so back to the huskys. yes they are 87s, got the motor and frame VINs all checked out. the 430 is in running condition and looks to be in very good shape.

i hope next week to go and check the bikes out.

fran...k what do you mean the 87-88 bearings can no longer be pulled out like before?

are the 87 500xc and 430xc identical other than the top ends? do these bike have balanced crank and flywheels from the factory? he told me the 430 was balanced during the last rebuild. just trying to get the facts straight.

 

[husky jim]

The 430 and 500 share alot of the same parts. The 430 and 500 have the same bore, the 500 has a longer stroke. The cranks, cyclinders, and heads are different. The pipe, shock, and clutch basket are also different.
The crank cases and ignition appear to be the same. Post some pics when you get them!

 

[fran...k.]

For the 430,, 400, and 500 approx 82-88 the cases are essentially the same. 87 and 88 don't have a little plate that comes off near the sprocket it is just one piece. The difference between the 430 and 500 Is in the stroke the 500 being 10 mm longer both bores are 86 mm to start with, the 500 has a longer heavier piston. Actually the water cooled 500 had three different crankshafts in the short time span they made them, not sure if I like the last one as a lube hole got eliminated. The first two differed only in the balance factor. I have never seen an 87 500 but bought a bad crank for one off ebay just for the collection.

 

[bronkorob]

here are the pics of the 430. still waiting to see the 500. the guy told me he used the 500 for parts for his 430. that explains the 500 side panels. the 430 looks to be in good shape.

 

[photoguy_43420]

Looks like a nice XC. I love my 87 CR 430s. I was told by Gunnar Lindstrom of the Husqvarna factory that no 87 500 where made "officially". That is not to be said that in 87 when Husqvarna Sweden was sending all of it's parts to Cagiva in Italy that to clean up stuff some could have been made.
If you need a piston for call Forest Stall in IN, I know his phone number is listed on this site. If you get you going to love it! They are shakers though.

 

[bronkorob]

well i hope everything works out and i do end up getting them. ive had a few big bore bikes before and they all shake. so not too worried about that, its the fun factor im looking for. depending on the condition of the parts bike, it might be nice to have a project for a second husky big bore.

another question for you guys. tank capacity? tank mileage?

 

[fran...k.]

wr and xc had 12 liter gasoline tank 3.2 gallons. What you picture looks like my 88 wr 430 tank. As far as the mileage, it won't go as far on a gallon as that 98 125 I currently have in my avatar.

My 88 stuff is either wr or te, as far as the spark arrestor silencer and the rear frame loop or lack of what I see in the pictures is different than my 88 wr. Did by 87 the xc get the lack of rear frame loop and lack of spark arrestor as earlier xc and wr shared those features.

 

[husky jim]

LOOKS NICE! REAL NICE! You've got a great start, looks like an XC. The 85-88 xc was like the cr in that it did not have rear loop for the fender. The xc has same rear fender and front number plate as the cr. The chain guide, chai rollers, and kick stand are typical for xc The cr had the floating rear brake.

 

[bronkorob]

do the XC and WR models share the same stator? i would like to throw a headlight on for unexpected late days riding back to the truck. what is the output for the XC and WR?

after digging threw the cafe husky archives for the past few days, the 430 seems to be a great trail and desert bike. im really looking forward to that 6th gear too.

 

[fran...k.]

If you go to the teck resource section in this vingage section and look for a file named tech_data_81-88 You can see how they origionally came set up. I am pretty sure for the 430 the wr and xc had the same mini 6 motoplat. There is a little half a cigarette pack size thing for a regulator of sorts. The 250 models had more electrical output but were a differen unit perhpas with a higher failure rate. Maybe with today's led technology you could get useable light, I always just kept the yellow wire connected to nothing at all and never had any problems.

 

[cbyrne131]

If you can, see if you can remove the water pump cover and inspect the wheel, pump housing, and clutch cover. I didn't know these tend ot turn into a nice magnesium/aluminum antifreeze sludge... ended up adding about $370 or so to the restore job. water pump wheels, water pump covers, and clutch covers are very expensive and hard to find. I ended up having a guy in Germany mail me some stuff he could get on ebay locally as I couldn't hunt them down in the US. Althought the tranny parts that this rust through affected where cheap and availble from Halls and husqvarna-parts

 

[bronkorob]

ok i have been reading up on anything i could get my hands on about this bike. i have never ridden a husky of this era before. I have had a few other big bore 2 strokes from the late 80s, KX500, KTM 500 DXC, ATK 406s, and YZ490s. now i came across a few places that rates the 430 at 17hp. this cannont be accurate....right? i know huskys of the era were not the top dogs when it came to brute power, but i would think they would have been in the neighborhood of the other big bores. ive also read that the 430 oozes torque, which is a big plus to me, but i just can figure out where anyone would have come up with 17hp. i am just trying to get an idea of what to expect and what to look for when i check this bike out tomorrow.

 

[cbyrne131]

In my experience Husky's live by their low end torque. Especially in technical trails. It's awesomeness having a 2 stroke that is useable at 4-5k rpm. Where as my vintage Suzuki needs to be revved out to 8-9 k to have any power. Especially when hill climbing, which usually puts me out of comfort zone when at the speeds that those high RPM's carry. Also, Huskies like to wheelie a lot and with ease which is fun to show off.

 

[fran...k.]

In response to post 15 above
I kind of doubt Husky was top dog by 1987. Other brands had plated cylinders, other brands had cylinders that bolted to the cases with a large bolt circle and heads that bolted to the cylinder while the Husky still used long steel studs going from case to head which severely limited port and passage placement and size. If you ever had your kx 500 cylinder in your hands, wander around this site enough to get an idea of what the cyllinder ports and passages of a 430 husky are like and you probably will see what I am trying to state. I can state a 2004 husky wr 250 says 42 horsepower on the certificate of origion and calls that an sae rating. I never bought one of these bikes new and got a certificate of origion. I don't know but would guess an 1987 430 is within 10 or so percent of that. What the bike does have is a 10 pound crankshaft assembly and a steel clutch basket so a lot of rotating mass is there. That may figure into why after a while the 250 class could go around a course faster than the open class.

fran

 

[bronkorob]

Fran, thanks for the info. I knew that husky was not the king of the open class, and read that by 87 were not at the top of the game. it just seemed that 17hp was a very low rating for that big of a motor. with the huge crank i can see where HP would be sucked up in rotating mass though. i figure that even with mediocre horsepower, tons of torque, and that 6th gear i should still be having a good time in the desert. luckily im not going to be on too many motocross tracks with this bike.

 

[photoguy_43420]

I'm thinking in the 40s for HP. I have a 76 Husky 360 CR that was rated at 39 HP I know that my CR 430 is not that far from that. When I raced My 430s back in the late 80s to early 90s in the open class I was right there with Honda 500 CR and KX 500. Those bike would brake way better and there fork and shock set up was better for motocross then the Husky. But when it came to power for motocross the Husky was in the hunt. Torque to the moon!

 

[bronkorob]

ok well i guess this place is going to be my new home away from home...lol i picked up the bikes today. got the 430xc, needs some carb work to get it to idle, and might need to pull the clutches apart because they drag a little, and have to bleed or repair the front brake, also a kickstand spring. could use some basic maintenance, wheel bearings, chain, etc, but it was complete and runs really strong. started up very nice from cold. also came with the extra 500xc parts bike. complete bottom end, head, but no cylinder or carb, spare set of wheels, tank, rads, airbox, swing arm, seat, drum, triples, skid plates, pipe, silencers, etc. so i think i did alright trading my 125 for the bikes and even got a little cash too.
i have records from the 430 all the way back to new. original warranty info, original husky owners card, sales receipts, engine works, manual, and a receipt for every little piece ever bought or work done to it for it. got a stack from malcolm smith motorsports.
so here is some eye candy. id call it a 7 out of 10.