• Husqvarna Motorcycles Made In Sweden - About 1988 and older

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Help - what is the XC transmission like vs CR

GaryM

Husqvarna
AA Class
I have bought in a bundle/bunch of 500 parts - that includes a brand new 500 crank and
a brand new 85 500XC tranny set. May install this XC tranny in 430 engine vs 500 engine it came from.

These are brand new.


What is it like comparing to the close ratio gearbox ratios to this XC tranny ratios. Is It closer on bottom and wider on the top ??

If I don't use it I will sell it. I also have a really nice 430 CR tranny set here to use.

Mostly ride closed course MX tracks but some trails also.

Any feedback would be helpful.
 
Any feedback would be helpful. Just want to know what to expect if I build a motor with this XC Ratios vs close ratio.
 
Any feedback would be helpful. Just want to know what to expect if I build a motor with this XC Ratios vs close ratio.

The xc tranny is the same as wr. Which is a 6 speed wide ratio. It has a lower first gear for easier take offs and climbing hills. It will also give more top speed with longer gears so less shifting. I had a cr along time ago it was harder to ride and alot more clutching. If you are a woods rider you want the xc tranny. I just built a 1987 430xc motor and used first second and third gears out of a 250wr. This should give ma a real low first gear for climbing hills.
 
Gary,
I tell you the XC tranny is unless for MX on a 250, it's gearing way too high , u bog in 2nd or wheelie over
in 1st on the starting gate.
But you could probably get away with it on a 430/500, I'd guess it would be close to the 500CR 4 speed gearing,
where 1st is more like 2nd.
And i'm guessing in Texas you may be able to use 6th gear for some warp speed LOL.

Husky John
 
if you go to the Husky specs and look up the tech data and service bulletins
you will see the different ratios used to pull off the different models, pretty much 6 speed parts are interchangeable as long as you have the matching gears you can really do as you please to mix it up, primary ratios were different on the cc's and secondary were used sometimes to make a model different

http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/vi...ech-data-and-husvarna-service-bulletins.4694/
 
The xc tranny is the same as wr. Which is a 6 speed wide ratio. It has a lower first gear for easier take offs and climbing hills. It will also give more top speed with longer gears so less shifting. I had a cr along time ago it was harder to ride and alot more clutching. If you are a woods rider you want the xc tranny. I just built a 1987 430xc motor and used first second and third gears out of a 250wr. This should give ma a real low first gear for climbing hills.
Jim,
Sort of suprised you found the XC better in the woods. Over the Summer during the Husky Gathering I chased Drew Smith thru the woods on
my 83 250CR & he was on my old 83 XC, we switch bikes a few times & we both thought the CR was better gearing for the tight woods. The XC
had a nice low 1st gear but it seems like the gap between 1st & 2nd was too big, so you were always either screaming 1st or lugging 2nd, didn't
seem to have that with the CR.

Of course the extra power & torque of the 430 over the 250 would make all the difference in the world though.

Husky John
 
I has always been my understanding the XC like the OR had close ratio 1st thru 3rd and wide ratio 4th thru 6th. The idea came from SoCal desert racers that wanted low gears in the slow tight stuff, but needed the wide ratio 4th thru 6th for more top speed.
 
I has always been my understanding the XC like the OR had close ratio 1st thru 3rd and wide ratio 4th thru 6th. The idea came from SoCal desert racers that wanted low gears in the slow tight stuff, but needed the wide ratio 4th thru 6th for more top speed.

That was true for a few years starting with the release of the OR model. But I noticed when I started with Huskies again in 2007 and found resources like the year/model charts at Husqvarna-parts.com and vintagehusky.com, I noticed that after a point the WRs and XCs had the same engine number assigned to them
 
I has always been my understanding the XC like the OR had close ratio 1st thru 3rd and wide ratio 4th thru 6th. The idea came from SoCal desert racers that wanted low gears in the slow tight stuff, but needed the wide ratio 4th thru 6th for more top speed.

Nope you got it reversed

In 1978 Husqvarna introduced the OR (Optimal Ratio) model to fit the needs of high speed desert racers. The desert guys had been using CR's (Close Ratio), but when top end speed was increased on CR's with sprocket changes, the lo gears were too tall. To "optimize" the gearing, WR (Wide Ratio) gears were used for first second third, and the CR's gears were used for 4th, 5th, 6th. (I got this off Craig's site Huskyclub).

That make more sense, cause i had 250OR & 250XC & the both had too low of 1st & too high of a 2nd gear for MX starts.

Husky John
 
The XC/WR transmission works just fine in a 250 for MX but you have to gear it so you can do a motocross start in 2nd. This makes 1st very low, but you are never going to use it, you basically make it a 5 speed using 2nd-6th. This also works better in cross country too, 1st is just a bailout gear you almost never use. The only time this would not work is geared for the desert, and then the jump from 1st to 2nd is not an issue.

As for the original post, the '82.5 500 4 speed transmission is much stronger because the gears are much wider. The 4 speed is just 2nd-5th out of the 6 speed as far as ratios go. I would go with a 6 speed, just because it adds versatility.
 
The XC/WR transmission works just fine in a 250 for MX but you have to gear it so you can do a motocross start in 2nd. This makes 1st very low, but you are never going to use it, you basically make it a 5 speed using 2nd-6th. This also works better in cross country too, 1st is just a bailout gear you almost never use. The only time this would not work is geared for the desert, and then the jump from 1st to 2nd is not an issue.

As for the original post, the '82.5 500 4 speed transmission is much stronger because the gears are much wider. The 4 speed is just 2nd-5th out of the 6 speed as far as ratios go. I would go with a 6 speed, just because it adds versatility.

Right on, this is exactly what the Husky owners manual says if I could find it amongst all my junk
 
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