250 CR 1975/6 Ohlins exhaust silencer

[watto450]

Still trying to track down an Ohlins silencer to finish off a project..anyone have one in the corner of the shed..?

 

[watto450]

bump

 

[jimspac]

Are you sure it is an Ohlins silencer and not something that may have been on a downpipe Jap bike in the 70's?

 

[watto450]

yep.. looks similar to a RM Suzuki silencer in size and shape.. but the bracket is quite different..

 

[markt2]

Probably going to regret this... PM sent.

P.S. Here's the silencer on my 76-1/2 250CR.... definitely original Husqvarna.

 

[jimspac]

Does a sales brochure for the bike show that? The bracket is likely homemade.

 

[watto450]

jimspac.. the bracket used is the OEM hanger from the seat bolt.. I believe the one with the wiggle in it..

 

[markt2]

Does a sales brochure for the bike show that? The bracket is likely homemade.

My avatar is one of my first rides on my first new bike... a 1976-1/2 250CR bought brand new from Malcolm Smith's in early 1977. They are the first Husky's I know of that came from the factory with the "snake pipe" instead of the traditional side pipe. (And I visited the Husky dealer a LOT back then!) The pipe change never made it into a sales brochure as far as I know. I got a sales brochure with my new bike, still have it. It shows the "side pipe"... I remember asking Ron Dugan (long-time salesman at Malcolms) for a brochure that matched my new bike... he gave me a 1977 brochure which was definitely a different bike in many other ways. I also still have the "fold out" parts list from my original bike. It shows the side pipe and not the snake pipe.

The 1977 model also came with a "snake pipe" but it was a different design. This was not unusual for any of the manufacturers at the time... around 1976 was the start of a "quantum leap" in MX bikes. (It wasn't like today where the "big thing" on new model year is that it comes in a different color.) During that time there were "half year" (or less) models form all the major manufacturers except maybe Honda. You could go to the dealer and the bike for sale on the floor had more power and more suspension than the same model tested in a magazine that just hit the newsstand that day! The race to build the best production MX bike was going strong and improvements and changes were happening fast. It certainly was a great time to be a kid interested in MX bikes!

Anyway, my original bike had the small silencer and a couple of years ago I found and bought two 1976-1/2 250CR's from the original owners... business partners in the aftermarket accessories business. The bikes were also bought new at Malcolm's... serial numbers within 20 or so of my original bike! I no longer have my original bike but the two I bought have been in storage for most of their lives and are virtually unmolested with very low hours. So I've had the same pipe and silencer on three 250CR's.

There is definitely nothing "homemade" about the pipe, silencers, or brackets.... they are just rare factory parts. (bracket might be the same as another OEM hanger as watto450 says)

 

[jimspac]

Maybe it was a change Malcolm made. Al Zitta when he had Cycle Dynamics was noted for setting up some of the late 70s 390s with welded on Supertrapp silencers for anything he sold for enduro/qualifer use.

 

[markt2]

Even back when my bike was new people thought the pipe was something "aftermarket" I had done to it.

I drooled over these bikes for several months new at K&N Motorcycles... row of them lined up... probably drove Ron Dugan (salesman) crazy with my questions (I was 15). Nothing ever was said about "dealer modifications"... I was told these were 1976-1/2 models with special racing parts from the Husqvarna factory... the most obvious being the pipe... but reportedly the changes went right down to the porting and even shock springs being different from the "regular" 1976.

(And Malcolm Smith was a big deal back then... so if it was a "special Malcolm edition" it would have been a great selling point!)

Still, today I might have agreed the pipe "could" have been a local dealer modification until I heard watto450's 250CR personal experience from the other side of the world back when these bikes were new...

Bottom line is this rare pipe and silencer were supplied as factory Husqvarna parts...probably originally as "factory hop up" parts and then it seems Husky decided to either get rid of their stock on the last few 1976 production models or they made an effort to compete against other manufacturers... Yamaha and Suzuki (and maybe others) also came out with mid-year 1976 MX model changes.

 

[oldbikedude]

Interesting reading....a pic of the "snake pipe & non snake pipe would be nice.

 

[Vinskord]

On Craigslist a couple of years ago:

 

[oldbikedude]

Nice. I take it that is the "snake" pipe?

 

[markt2]

Here is a picture of the 1976 250CR from the 1976 brochure with the traditional "side" pipe.

 

[markt2]

And here's scans of the Polaroid my Dad took of my new 1976 250CR outside Malcolm's shop... bike was bought in 1977.

 

[oldbikedude]

Nice pics, thanks

 

[jimspac]

So it is a late 76 CR250 with the 1977 expansion chamber only. Still has the 76 frame and straight leg forks. The top shock mounts point up on the 77 while 75-76 point down.

 

[markt2]

So it is a late 76 CR250 with the 1977 expansion chamber only. Still has the 76 frame and straight leg forks. The top shock mounts point up on the 77 while 75-76 point down.

1977 250CR had a different expansion chamber.