My '84 500AE MX Project

[Rossik]

These pics appear in a ;Post pics of your Husky' thread on this forum but I now realise that it should really have been a project thread. So here it is.....I will repost the pics as thunmbnails only for now and any new pics will be full size.

I'm an Aussie, living in London, UK and I bought my bike from a lady in Abilene, TX who advertised it on Craigslist. I bought it sight unseen, not even really knowing if the bike existed...... Luckily the ad was genuine, and I picked the thing up from the docks in East London a few months later and was pleasantly surprised (it was basically complete).

 

[Motosportz]

Looks like a good bike to start with. Good luck.

 

[Rossik]

here is the before & after of the frame work......which was basically bead blasting it and spraying it a gloss black. I had the wheels anodized black and completely rethreaded (or whatever it's called) with stainless steel spokes
My wheel builder and all-round handy person to know, is Dave Norris (who lives in Uxbridge, he can be contacted on 01895 253525)

 

[Rossik]

and here's part of the collection of goodies which are going to make it whole again......

 

[Rossik]

and some more bits....

 

[Rossik]

and some of the bits put together......

 

[Rossik]

The lower steering head bearing race was completely stuck on the steering stem/lower triple clamp so I had to press the steering stem out of the triple clamp then heat the begeezes out of the race to finally prize it off. The new bearing/race setup (which I got from the wonderful Andy at HVA Factory) is going to be pressed on tomorrow.

I'm putting in new wheel bearings tomorrow and will just about be ready to reassemble the rear wheel and swingarm on to the frame.....I'll post some pics of that on the weekend..........

 

[Wildebeest90210]

Excellent, looking forward to this. First question, where did you get those funky little boots for the foot pegs, reckon I need some.

 

[Rossik]

here ya go mate.....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ACERBIS-M...94?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item53edc1b97e

 

[Motosportz]

The lower steering head bearing race was completely stuck on the steering stem/lower triple clamp so I had to press the steering stem out of the triple clamp then heat the begeezes out of the race to finally prize it off.

When I run into this issue I run a bead of weld on the race, heats it up enough and makes it bigger and it falls off.

 

[oldbikedude]

Great tip on welding the race to get it off.

 

[justintendo]

it works well...by far the easiest way on kaw zrx...

 

[Rossik]

I haven't reported anything for months, basically due to not having actually achieved anything on my bike that I could photograph. But I have made progress, firstly with placing the order for my Race Tech fork bits:

• 1 set of 33.6 x 521mm .50Kg fork springs
• 1 x gold valve cartridge emulation kit
• 1 pair fork emulator adaptors

As soon as they arrive I will drop the lot off with Brooks Suspension to have it fitted and setup to my weight & riding style.

And my motor & gearbox is being rebuilt by Rod Spry in a couple of weeks so it is moving in the right direction. And I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel

I think the next bike I buy will be off the shelf.......

 

[Rossik]

Yay, my RaceTech goodies just arrived......

 

[Motosportz]

really curious to see what you think of the gold valves as I have read varying reports as to their performance.

 

[Rossik]

really curious to see what you think of the gold valves as I have read varying reports as to their performance.

Yeah and I'm really gonna have to get a couple of guys from here to have a go, cause when it's rebuilt, it will be the first time I've ridden it..... so I won't be able to compare it to the originals....

I decided on these simply through the reputation they have of being too easy to bottom out and given my intended MX use, that kind of worried me a little

 

[suprize]

are you running the big legs on this?? (I know I should read back through the post) cant tell if you have the big cr or xc longer fork sliders and damper rods. autos in that year were predominantly wr spec I thought.

for mx you need the cr sliders and damper rods and the travel spacer removed from the shox. that should give you over 320 mm of travel

see andy at HVA for some evo forks, they have much better damping, he can "make "them look pre 85 if required

 

[Rossik]

are you running the big legs on this?? (I know I should read back through the post) cant tell if you have the big cr or xc longer fork sliders and damper rods. autos in that year were predominantly wr spec I thought.

for mx you need the cr sliders and damper rods and the travel spacer removed from the shox. that should give you over 320 mm of travel

see andy at HVA for some evo forks, they have much better damping, he can "make "them look pre 85 if required

Hey thanks for the tip......no as far as am aware these forks are the standard ones as the rest of the bike was standard....

So what is this spacer on the Ohlins that I need to remove ?

 

[suprize]

look at a cr / xc fork slider and see the extra underhang c/w the WR ones.

Enduro rules in Europe limited suspension travel to 10" while MX and desert racing had no restrictions on travel so husky have two options with forks and the ITC shocks.

To keep the rear travel under 10", there is a spacer inside the shockers. This can be removed to give the full travel. you need to track down the long fork sliders and damper rods to go with it.

they are a bit tippy toe but if your planning mx etc, that shouldn't be a major issue.

 

[suprize]

Just found this in the vintage left kickers section....

When you Disassemble the shocks, there are spacers between the seal head and the piston. You can remove or add to these to change the shock overall length. With the ITC shock, they have a piston that enters a hole to give a hydraulic bottoming device. I remove these (or actually, it is easier to leave it in position and remove the alloy sleeve that the piston enters) and use a conventional Ohlins bump stop on the outside of the shock rod. The thinking here is that if you compress the shock really quickly - the ITC device hydraulic locks - which is why the shafts are often bent, and why Ohlins latest products have reverted to the good old - old fashioned bump stop. Also, you often find the 'topping - out' 18m/m dia spring inside is broken. Replace this spring before you re-assemble. ITC's ran 7.5w oil...
Andy.
hva-factory, Aug 30, 2012 House Keeping
that's from the horses mouth!