• 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 The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.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!

1987 WR250 Husqvarna Rescue Rebuild

jonhicks

Husqvarna
AA Class
Hi there everyone,

This thread will cover the rescue/rebuild of my "last of the Swedish" 1987 WR250

Below are the photos of the eBay listing when I purchased the bike from Brisbane Australia in March 2015. Lot's of new parts were included in the purchase as you can see form the photos.

The engine require a complete rebuild:
  • Every seal
  • Every bearing
  • Rebore
  • NOS Mahle piston
  • New Clutch
  • New radiators (Chinese replicas not the best fit)
  • New radiator hoses
Other works also carried out:
  • Front wheel spacer to get the WP forks working correctly with the Nordisk KTM rim (san blasted orange hub)
  • Sandblasted the rear rim as it was painted black
  • Ohlins shock rebuilt new bump stop fitted
  • Shock linkage bearings replaced
  • Swing arm bearings replaced
  • New front brake line
  • New front brake pads
  • New UFO Rear light assembly Cassons (Aust Distributor) Part No 1307
The list goes on - I'll upload more images of the work carried out throughout the rebuild and assembly
It's been a decent challenge and learning curve getting this box of part ands bolts back together as a running bike again - but lots of fun. Cafe Husky has been an amazing resource thanks for the content you guys make available - the information & photos have been price less.
$_57 (2).jpg$_57 (3).jpg$_57 (4).jpg$_57.jpg
 
Some of the new parts that were included

Full complement of seals & braided throttle & clutch cable
IMG_0579.jpg

Boyesen Reeds - these were tricky to fit - had the leave the plate of where the screws go in and it would seat into the inlet on the barrel it was hitting on the reed screw heads it that makes sense? So had to install without the backing plate - not super comfortable with this as I question whether it will put strain on the reeds.
IMG_0580.jpg

New UNI Airfilter & UHD tubes
IMG_0581.jpgIMG_0582.jpg
 
Next was determining the exact state of the barrel and piston and work out which replacement piston could be used.

This was quiet tough to workout given its a non power valve version with 66mm bore - from what I've read there is only to oversizes for this model -
Part number 16 16 387-03 / 161638703 was ordered from Italy along with matching rings 66.94MM not sure what I can do next once that piston wears out - I've read mixed thoughts on which piston would work as a replacement - it has a longer skirt on on the exhaust manifold side.


Does anyone know of another piston I can use to go up another size? - it would be helpful given there was some slight marking in the barrel that honing did not clear up




IMG_5841.jpgIMG_5851.jpgIMG_5850.jpgIMG_5879.jpg
 
good find with all the really great NOS and new parts
look forward to watching your progress
good base of quality parts
 
please dont put that yamaha front fender on it. Acerbis NOST is still available and is what they came with fron the factory. just my 2 cents. good luck with it. shoulg be a fun build.
 
please dont put that yamaha front fender on it. I couldn't agree more, nice build so far
 
When the cylinder is too worn it can be Nikasiled and sized to a piston you provide. The bore will last a lot longer too.
 
I saw that for sale. Congrats on scoring it. Lots of good parts there. You still will have a lot of work on your hands. I am looking forward in watching your build. Keep the great picks coming...your gonna love that bike when it's done.
 
you really should have that backing plate for the reed petals installed. maybe double or triple up on the gasket that goes in between the cage and the cylinder.
 
The engine rebuild -

Upon inspection the existing piston was in poor condition as was the head and barrel
View attachment 75552View attachment 75553View attachment 75554View attachment 75555

The pocking in the combustion dome of the head and the top dome is showing indication of the engine running with a disintegrating big end bearing. Do check the rod by trying to pull it up and down without the crank rotating and feel for radial play.

I have seen the same in 2 out of six Husqvarnas I currently own. Both engines looking like that required a rod kit installed or replacement crank. I have done both thus far
 
Jon it appears that you have the wrong model caliper, unless you have the original?
Your bike should have the dual piston Brembo caliper but the one pictured looks like it's from a 1986 model.
Tony.
 
nice score! my favorite of the swedes...keep us posted with more pics!

Well put and I definitely second that. Just a great all around bike. I'm faster on my 87 250 wr than I am on my 15 te300 in the right stuff it just doesn't get as much seat time cause parts can take a lot longer to source out.
 
Well put and I definitely second that. Just a great all around bike. I'm faster on my 87 250 wr than I am on my 15 te300 in the right stuff it just doesn't get as much seat time cause parts can take a lot longer to source out.
dont tell me that! ill never buy a new bike haha...
 
dont tell me that! ill never buy a new bike haha...

Dont get me wrong, the te300 is an effin animal! Absolutely incredible bike. The 87 250 is just damn near perfect with minimal effort. That as well as having a lower seat height than the te and I don't quite have the suspension dialed like I do on the 87. I've also had the 87 for years and years so once I've had the 15 that long I'm sure it'll be perfect too haha
 
Back
Top