• Husqvarna Motorcycles Made In Sweden - About 1988 and older

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    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.

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SHOCKS for 1975 wr400----??? quality but not bank buster

andy75wr400

andy75wr400

Husqvarna
A Class
I have the original shocks on my 75 wr400 and feel i need something decent that Im not spending $400 or more on. Is there anything out there that will perform decently (Im 200lbs) without sacrificing too much quality/performance.

Can I rebuild (is it worth it?) the originals or should i go with something modern.

Thanks
 
In another thread someone had mentioned that a 14.25" shock works better than the stock 13". i was looking around ebay with the seller of the link you posted and it appears that the 76-79 is 15". Not sure what to get that would be 14.25" or if there'd be much inprovement over the 13". I also have a 75 400wr that is on my list of things to do.
Hey, while looking around the seller's ebay store another thing I noticed is that the 67-74 is 12.5". Could the 75 shocks be put on a 74 without a problem? I also have a 73 450wr. The 450 is almost ready to ride. Just have to find the 30 mintues to put the carb together and mount it on the bike.
 
The 13" ones for the 75 should work out fine on the 74. I just did a swap to a 76 swingarm, i like how they have the chain wear guard up front and the needle bearings instead of rubber bushings. turns out that shock mounting point is a little more forward (1/2") and i ended up with a 9.5" rear travel with 13" shocks.

1 1/4 longer shocks might add too much to the travel, making it look funny or something.
 
IMG_5877.jpg
 
86 400 XC said:
The 13" ones for the 75 should work out fine on the 74. I just did a swap to a 76 swingarm, i like how they have the chain wear guard up front and the needle bearings instead of rubber bushings. turns out that shock mounting point is a little more forward (1/2") and i ended up with a 9.5" rear travel with 13" shocks.

1 1/4 longer shocks might add too much to the travel, making it look funny or something.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the information...

Heres what I would like to do but my 75 husky wr400 frame is much different than the 75 cr360 shown above. I would like to put on a 76 swing arm, but is this the same width as the 75 frame? What swingarm could I use and what shocks would work 15"? or 13" just as you said. My shocks go almost straight up and down. Thanks Andy See below
 
I used two pairs of progressive gas shocks years ago and never had a problem. I was a 300lb rider and used the strongest springs they had. I used the 15" shocks on my '76 250 and the 17.5" shocks on my '79 390 huskys. Make sure you get the right length springs for the shock length.

There are gas shocks being offered on eBay from Australia but I never heard of them. Maybe one of our land down under fellow forum members might know?
 
Bigbill said:
I used two pairs of progressive gas shocks years ago and never had a problem. I was a 300lb rider and used the strongest springs they had. I used the 15" shocks on my '76 250 and the 17.5" shocks on my '79 390 huskys. Make sure you get the right length springs for the shock length.

There are gas shocks being offered on eBay from Australia but I never heard of them. Maybe one of our land down under fellow forum members might know?
Click to expand...
I asked about those shocks on one of the Aussie forums but nobody knew anything at that time, they are obviously going to be Chinese so I quess you will get what you paid for!!
 
I can't find them on sleezebay anymore(ebay). They were 15" for just $136.

I must stress this fact. I rode the easy stuff on my 390cr and most trails are rated easy to maybe mid in some spots. I hammered those progressive shocks in the top of sixth gear. I even wicked it in sixth gear and she would wheelie while flying putting the test to those progressive shocks. I started riding this bike at 360lbs. In three months I was at 300lbs. What a fun exercise machine. Standing up she hammered muscle group. But tune the shock springs to your body weight. Get the correct length springs for the length of your shocks. DO NOT PUT THE LONGER SPRINGS ON THE SHORTER SHOCKS YOU WILL BLOW OUT A DISC IN YOUR BACK. My 390 when I first purchased it had the longer springs on the shorter shocks. The suspension was rock solid. Once the correct shocks and springs were installed it was a sweet ride. If we use too soft of a spring rate we over work the shocks thus failure happens. We can tune the rear suspension somewhat.

It's time to workout again.
 
This is little off topic but sort of close ... I owned a 76 CR250 Husky at age 17 and actually snapped a swing arm leg once by just bouncing over a ditch ... Are you guys doing anything to bikes to beef up the rear suspension when you up-grade the shocks?
 
I had gotten a set for my 82 Montesa 349 Cota about 4 years ago that were 13" eye to eye and they had cost about $160 shipped. They were listed as vintage shocks and was a US based seller.
Might have been Trail and Sport but not sure at this point
 
I was adjusting the online on my first 83 250wr to the max preload. They seem to work for my weight. Then I learned about the race sag. It was explained to me, example the bike has 12" of total travel on the rear shock. With the rider in full gear the suspension should compress only 4" leaving you 8" of travel. I guess that's the rule of thumb. I know the older bikes are hard to adjust with no fine adjustments. I try to match the correct spring rate to my weight.
Once my rear suspension is set I adjust the forks in the triple tree so the bike sits even static wise. The older suspension is forgiving. I think the newer bikes with there fine tuned adjustable suspension is confusing to me anyway. For me I can throw a leg over any left kicker and ride it stock if it's right. I do have more patience now.
 
ray_ray said:
This is little off topic but sort of close ... I owned a 76 CR250 Husky at age 17 and actually snapped a swing arm leg once by just bouncing over a ditch ... Are you guys doing anything to bikes to beef up the rear suspension when you up-grade the shocks?
Click to expand...


To me it sounds like one shock was bad. I try to setup the bike for my weight as close as I can get it. Then I can go fast and not worry about the suspension absorbs the bumps. It doesn't bottom out that's the key thing.

A lot of riders just ride the bike and say it's ok with out ever checking it. They do not realise how much of a better rider they could be if they tweaked the suspension to there weight and riding style. Most riders or your average rider has no knowledge about how to adjust there suspension. They get a used bike and never change the tranny or fork oil. They just hop on and go. Then they crash and don't even think why it happened?
In my old neighborhood every kid rode. So I witnessed this. I try to explain but some would listen and some could care less. At times I piled up there bikes on my trailer and took them all riding. There dad's never got involved with there kids. One lad told me his dad was home in his chair drunk. This was a good kid too these parents don't know how lucky they are. But they missed out on something that you can't replace. There's no feeling like riding with your son or daughter and even taking the family out for a ride too.
My son with his son is just learning what it feels like to ride with your son.
My point is idle minds and hands can get into trouble. Keep the kids busy by hobbies.
 
I just made an offer on the Australian shocks on eBay try them. Who knows since no one knows about them. I'll put them on my bike and let my son hammer them. If there no good it should show up right away.
 
I'm haggling for a pair of Aussie shocks now they fit my 84 250wr so we can bolt them on and try them. I asked for more info about them. Where there manufactured? Next they have more questions to answer. Are different springs rates available? Rebuild kits?
 
Well I have another bike with no shocks too. He didn't accept my offer yet.
I may ending up getting progressive shocks any way.
I questioned the quality and where there manufactured and no answer yet.
 
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