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 The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.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

ignition update possible?

loony888

loony888

Husqvarna
AA Class
hello to the braintrust that is the vintage/left kickers regulars!

I've just bought a 1971 400 cross, it's a runner and i'd say 95% original, i have a list of what i need to make it completely original and once i've done that i'll sit back and decide whether or not i'm going to dive in boots and all and restore it (i probably will ).

My first question, does it have a points ignition? and if so is there a conversion i can install to make it more reliable and maintenance free in this regard?

For some strange reason the tabs on both sides for the number boards have been removed, if anyone has a rooted frame they can supply the tabs from and give me measurements please??

Please see my list and if you can help in any way i will be very appreciative!

PARTS NEEDED

LOW 4SPEED HANDLEBARS
MAGURA TRAPDOOR THROTTLE
MAGURA GRIPS
MAGURA KILL SWITCH
SEAT COVER
FRONT NUMBER BOARD BRACKET
CHROME REAR SPRING COVERS

Thanks for looking
Paul
 
I believe your machine would have come originally with a Femsa magneto with points. You can update to an MZB, PVL or a Motoplat from a later model. All of these ignitons require a change to the smaller crankshaft stub in order to allow the flywheel to fit. Requires removal and disassembly of the crankshaft to press the old stub out and smaller, later style one in. PowerDynamo now lists an ignition to fit the large stub shaft so you don't have to modify your crankshaft. I've only seen them listed online, have no experience with them. I chose to retain the Femsa on my 400 (1970), with careful set up and rewiring it has been quite reliable. I did have to hand rewind the magneto coil since I could not find a new one.
VintageHusky.com in the US has seat covers, foam and complete seats, also has the low crossbar and the high crossbar handlebars. Not everyone agrees as to which is correct on a 71 model, personally I think they used the high wide crossbar handlebars like the 71 in this photo:
71 Husky handlebar.jpg
Husqvarna-parts.com for Magura kill switches and original grips, etc.
I've never found the chrome covers for the shocks, hopefully someone on here will know a source.
Good luck with your project. You'll get plenty of help from the people on this site.
Steve
 
thanks steve,

I looked in the parts catalogue i downloaded from here and the high wide crossbar is std fit but at the back there's an accessories section which shows the low option, that's good enough for me i reckon. Thanks for the ignition tips, do the points need replacing regularly like a car with a condenser etc where i have to worry about dwell and all that crap? i haven't changed a set of points in 30 years! last time i had to i changed the distributor!
 
I doubt you will use it enough to use too many sets of points! Replace the condenser regularly and remove it from behind the flywheel, I always position mine up by the coil, a much more friendly environment.
 
I ran mine on one set of points for the last two racing seasons, however I do check the point gap after each race. Seldom have to adjust as long as the flywheel eccentric and oil wick on the breaker plate have a light amount of lubrication when installed. Great idea stormer254 has about moving the condenser, I will move mine. I also changed/ rerouted the wiring between the magneto coil and the points. It now comes to a connector outside the cases that allows me to temporarily open the circuit between coil/ points. I then use an analog (needle type) ohmmeter in the wire going to the points to determine exactly when the points open for timing accuracy.
Not trying to suggest that you shouldn't change the ignition, but for the price of a replacement ignition you may want to get the Femsa working first and determine whether you'll ride it enough to justify the expense of an ignition upgrade.
One item that is hard to find is the ignition coil (under the fuel tank). If it is bad you're stuck with finding a good used one, as far as I've been able to tell. Perhaps someone on here has discovered a new replacement for these coils...?
I run Renthal vintage bend handlebars on mine. Just don't want to bend a nice shiny set of expensive chrome bars when I fall off of it in a race. Someday when I quit racing it, it will get the proper bars... and some of those chrome shock covers if there are any in existence.
Steve
 
I was going to be the first responder and tell you that the point system in my opinion is more reliable than any electronic ignition in my history as I was never stranded anywhere with a set of points. The worst set can always function after a cleaning with a matchbook striker. You can not pull that stunt with a failed CDI component. Another good part of points ignition is that the coils are generic simply requiring matched voltage if even that. You can get fresh FEMSA points from Hugh's Bultaco or Hogan Cycle in Agawam ,MA
 
thanks guys, i appreciate the tips and experience, my thinking behind changing the ignition was mainly for reliability as well as me being hopeless at setting points and timing, but it seems i'm better off keeping it as is and learning how to do it i think.
 
Bigbill said:
Does the site "vintage husky" offer any of the parts your looking for?
Click to expand...



yeah mate he and a couple of other places have almost everything i need, i just thought i would ask here because if members who chime in with help and advice want to sell spare parts i'm happy to support them.
of course, if i need advice from a business and they are happy to help i will support them by buying their product as well!

I'm a small business owner myself and always go the extra mile for my customers, it's rewarding when they appreciate the effort, disappointing when i get milked for my experience with no appreciation and i definitely don't want to be _that_ guy!
 
I look at all the options here and what's online just incase we can't find it. When I restored my post vintage husqvarnas I scoured the country for parts as far as Oregon and Washington. Now with all of us husqvarna riders connected together from around the world we have the most access now than we ever had for parts. There's ebay but we must weigh the cost for used prices that can be high as new parts. We have to shop smart. My wife is one of those coupon shoppers. When I show her what I saved my hobby is still alive and well. I understand how you feel. Bill
 
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