Vintage Husqvarna As A Supermoto?

[huskyonahusky]

First off, I'm new here so I apologize if I should've posted this in the Supermoto forum.

I have a complete 1982 WR250, but it's in pieces. It ran when I took it down and I would have little trouble putting it back together again. The motor is still complete and has not been torn down either.

...And I really want a 2-smoker to drive around. For reference, my daily driver is a 1986 Yamaha XT600, and I also have a Yamaha TT350 dirt-supermoto which I picked up on the cheap.

I have an idea for a nice, simple supermoto to use for commuting and some desert exploration.

It's not titled, but I can go through the long and arduous process of street-titling it- I just want to know if it's possible first, or just a crazy idea.

WR250s were the enduro bike, not the MX bike, so I'm assuming they had better services intervals, etc.

I'm a little bit familiar with supermoto-ing dirtbikes, and from what I understand there are resources for getting a decent electrical system on old Huskys so they can run a simple Baja Designs type lights/horn/mirror kit.

I'm also not concerned with comfort-related stuff, vibes, etc. I already ride a 4-stroke thumper all the time and am not really bothered by it. Unless the bike is extremely loud or extremely vibey I won't have a problem.

I need to have it relatively quiet if possible, geared up enough to handle 50mph street without complaining, and run DOT tires, etc.

Apart from the street title issue, my main concern is reliability. I know it's old, I have to premix gas, and that smokers need more maintenance than 4-strokes. No problem. I'd like to use it as a commuter to work (30 miles or less on 55mph or less roads) and also for occasional jaunts out into the desert. For commuter duty it wouldn't nearly be as practical as my XT600 but I'm willing to tolerate that for the sake of having a 2-stroke to drive around on the street .

For that, I need decent lights, a little rear rack, etc. Oh yeah, and a kickstand. Someone cut the previous one off.

What are the maintenance intervals on a 1982 WR250 motor with street and light trail use? No abuse, varied revs, no engine braking, etc.

As a side note, I've heard about CR500 fork swaps. That sounds appealing to me since I can get a front disk and better suspension.

Thanks all. I know it's a lot of questions at once, but I want to get a feel for the project before I start it.

 

[ruwfo]

In my opinion a 250 would be too small for street use, I had a 2000 400 KTM and thought that would be as small as I'd every go.



I've had 80's Honda XL 250 & 500 as well as a XT 225 & 250 Yamaha all street ridden & wasn't really happy with any of them.



Even the 400 was very buzzy at 50mph , & had a board for a seat, I'd hate to think what a 250 would be even with street gearing.





I'd look for a (79-80) 390 or (81-88) 430 OR/XC or WR as they have lighting coils + have frames that will except larger forks.



If your set on using your bike, rather then look for something else, you frame will except a 390-500 motor with no mod's. Then I'd find late 90's Husky or KTM upside down forks as your frame already uses tapered bearings & should bolt right on.



Your NOT the 1st to do this & if you Need some inspirations, I couldn’t thing of 2 better ones then these.
83 500


http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/83-cr500-here-begineth-the-lesson.22344/

81 430


http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/1981-430xc-street-legal-motard-conversion-project-schimmelaw.5513/
Have fun and don't forget to post your project

 

[Bigbill]

My dealer back in '98 sold me a Italian manufactured street legal version of the husqvarna wr 250. I had a blast tearing up the streets on this awesome looking bike. I hit the easy trails too. I say if you have an idea of a street legal two stroke build go for it. Being an ex-drag racer I know this bike was capable of 12 seconds or better in the quarter mile.

With the on road riding only with a motard conversion we can also use a higher sprockt ratio too. With a bigger bore it would save wear on the engine too.
In the past my street legal bikes were;

77 husqvarna wr 250
77 Suzuki TS 185 oil injected(really dual sports)
72 Suzuki TS 185
83 husqvarna wr 250
98 husqvarna wr 250
99 husqvarna TE 610e very fast like 120mph with more twist to so. It's a mini Ducati.

Since with all my riding two strokes on the street my only suggestions is get a desert gas
Tank. Even the 4.3 gallon '85 gas tank would maybe work? The big '83 gas tank is perfect the plastic one for desert racing. I hate mixing gas on the road.

Besides fun on the road with summer riding we installed ice screws for riding in snow storms and ice storms on the roads. Every truck I passed by that had Harley stickers had the drivers shaking there heads when they watched us fly by on the ice. It's impossible to fall on the ice on the roads. It's crazy fun.

With the '98 husqvarna wr 250 on the street the more intense the popcorn noise got you could predict when the front wheel was going to come up. That was cool.

 

[Nikel]

This is my bike.
A cr500.
Vibrates a bit, is extremely loud.
But runs great on the highway.

 

[huskyonahusky]

Ruwfo: thanks for the links. A motor swap would be awesome, that's good to hear. But how bad is the fuel mileage on those 430s?

Bigbill, Nikel: since you've both ridden 2-strokes on the street a bit, I'd like to pick your minds about what an enduro smoker is capable of.

I currently use my XT600 for literally anything. Commute, highway, off-road puttering, errands, bad weather, long-distance, etc. Most people I talk to think it's crazy to use an XT600 in one situation or another- I've heard it's not a highway bike, not a dirt bike, not a good errand-running bike, etc, yet it still seems to do all of those things just fine and has never let me down.

So even if it seems stupid, I've come to take all that advice about what bike is appropriate for what purpose with a grain of salt. When someone says an aircooled two-stroke makes a really bad road bike, I'm interested to hear what people who've actually used them that way have to say.

If I build this bike up, it'll have some semi-practical kit on it (rear rack, big tank, tool bag). Anywhere possible, I'd like to use it.

I'm pretty adaptable when it comes to comfort, so vibrations/etc are probably my last concern unless they're really extreme (ie, shaking all over at a dead stop or something, which even the very vibey XT500 I've ridden did not do). I can deal with most maintenance stuff too, as long as I'm not rebuilding the bottom end every week.

The only thing I cannot do is have a bike break down on me unexpectedly in the middle of nowhere. I have to ride in both lunatic Houston stop-and-go traffic (and cannot lane split, damnit) and be able to buzz down some trails in the middle of podunk nowhere carrying my own gas and tools because I have no support vehicle or money for a tow.

In your (or rather ya'lls) experience, are these aircooled huskys up to it? Are any old smokers up to it?

 

[justintendo]

i feel if you are familiar with the bikes and know their tendencies, a swede can be very reliable. an older dirt bike may not be best for lunatic houston however.
on the plus side, its a safe bet they are stable enough handling-wise. headshake on a swede is virtually non existent.

 

[Nikel]

I haven't had any breakdowns yet.
Changed to a pwk39 and it changed the bike alot.
Get around 0.75L per 10km.

You need to use locktite on everything.

But otherwise there is not much to complain about.

 

[huskyonahusky]

Alright, thanks guys.

One more question: I don't know the stock stator output, but it probably isn't great. When it comes to dual sport kits, would it be better for me to try running the Tusk offering from Rocky Mountain ATV, which runs everything except a headlight on an independent battery and does not connect to the stock wiring system, OR run a Baja Designs kit that basically mimics an OEM dualsport setup? The Baja kit requires some stator output, but on the plus side comes all sorted correctly, has a nice headlight, and has a keyswitch which helps with theft and resale value. The Tusk kit doesn't require any modding of the stock harness, which is nice, but all the street-legal stuff runs off a battery that's only good for so many hours before it needs to be recharged, and my WR didn't have a headlight on it when I bought it, so it would also need to be purchased and wired in. And the Tusk kit has no keyswitch.

I guess the difference would be that the Baja seems to turn a dirtbike into a dual-sport, while the Tusk kit basically is just a dirtbike with lights and a horn.

If the bike could support it I'd rather go Baja but if not the Tusk type kit will suffice (I hope) and I can try to get a decent headlight.

 

[suprize]

the husky is ideal as everything is interchangeable.

the engines are bullet proof. service intervals would be approximately new rings every twelve months, piston and rebore every two years (could be more) and you should get 5 years out of a rebuilt bottom end. (as long as you change the oil and clean the filter regularily.)

I would get a good husky tuner to port the cylinder a tad for its new use...just get some more power for the road

You can have two sets of wheels, 1 motard road set and 1 set dirt so in half an hour you can be dirt ready with a wheel swap and a front sprocket change.

use a light std chain (not o ring) for the bike unless you intend to ride in serious sand and mud regularily

Jetting the bike for the road is important as you need to have it running smooth in the mid to trailing throttle otherwise the intermittent 4 stroking will drive you crazy as well as a bit rich on the main jet for higher speed blasts. This is a critical point for two strokes and it would be worthwhile having an experience tuner set the jetting once its on the road.

The 250 should be good for an easy 50mph cruise and an 80mph top end.

if you can get a good SEM ign you can pack some good lighting power.

make sure all the swing arm bearings etc are spot on and use good engine bolts and the vibes should be ok.

gut the muffler, extend it 100mm and make a good straight core inner and pack it well and it will be quiet on light throttle and bark sweetly on full noise. run a very good synthetic oil at 50:1 so you can get a few fills per litre bottle.

lots of rubber plugs on the fins to dampen the ringa ding ding...

she should be sweet and very unique.

 

[ruwfo]

Biggest thing to remember about riding a 2 stroke on the street is the only time the piston is getting lube is when you on the gas(throttle).
If your going down long hill and basically coasting the piston isn't getting hardly any lube. A 4 stroke can go all day on full throttle,
a 2stroke can't they build up too much heat.
I've had a bunch of 2 stroke street bikes, 77 RD400, 83,84,& 86 RZ 350's & 2 85 RZ500 & always constantly varied the throttle to keep
them properly well lubed, i doesn't matter if the bike has oil injection or is premixed.

 

[Nikel]

Biggest thing to remember about riding a 2 stroke on the street is the only time the piston is getting lube is when you on the gas(throttle).
If your going down long hill and basically coasting the piston isn't getting hardly any lube. A 4 stroke can go all day on full throttle,
a 2stroke can't they build up too much heat.
I've had a bunch of 2 stroke street bikes, 77 RD400, 83,84,& 86 RZ 350's & 2 85 RZ500 & always constantly varied the throttle to keep
them properly well lubed, i doesn't matter if the bike has oil injection or is premixed.

I just pull the clutch when going downhill.
But keeping it at a steady throttle is no problem.
You just have to Jet it right.
I take my bike on trips to a nearby town regularly and its a 30 minutes ride on the highway (Steady throttle).

And I don't have any problems on full throttle runs either when I go trackracing.
You just can't jet it for maximum power.
I have a #190 main in it and max output is on a #175.
Now I can go full throttle/max rpm in 5th gear for a minute and the engine don't mind at all.

 

[huskyonahusky]

Suprize, I'm really liking the sound of those service intervals. My vehicle usage is about 10-30 miles round trip 5 days a week, 10 miles or less the other two days in city only driving (grocery-getting/etc) and about one 500 mile+ trip per year. It sounds like the old swede would be capable of that if well sorted.

I'll be calling the DMV tommorow to get a handle on the title situation. If I can get a title on this bike, it's on.

More questions:

I have the complete front end and it's in good working order. I know Kenda makes some street tires for 21" wheels. But some jackass spray painted the forks (just the tubes, thankfully) and the front end stuff needs some prettying up. Is it worth it to run the old school front end on the street or should I just sell it and swap it with a better one? My main concern is braking power from that little drum up front.

My Ohlins twinshock setup still works okay but looks bad, and I doubt rust is good for the springs. Just like the frontend, is it better to fix up the old or upgrade to newer or better parts?

 

[suprize]

the ohlins are as good as it gets, you can see some nice shocker restos on this site, get the oil and gas renewed and paint em up nice.. the drum is sad and I would look to a disc conversion for the front end. your life depends on that front brake....

 

[justintendo]

would be a great idea to get a disc on the front...the ohlins in the rear are excellent, parts and decals are available. would not want to run a drum on the front on the street

 

[huskyonahusky]

Well, I've run into a problem... seems the bonded title thing won't work on this bike.

I need to figure out how get a title for this bike. Were WR250s titled as street-legal bikes or off-road only in 1982? It seems to be really important despite the fact that you can street-legalize an off-road bike. I don't even know if it's possible to do a bond on an off-road-only title if so.

Anyone been in this situation before? I'm sure its happened plenty when motarding dirtbikes.

I also need the service manual just in case anyone has a pdf or similar copy.

Thanks guys

 

[ruwfo]

Never used these guys for a title ,but worth a look into them.

http://www.ohiotitlesonline.com/

I used International Title Service years ago (5-8) , but just read some bad things about them while doing
a google search , so look before you leap.

 

[huskyonahusky]

Thanks ruwfo. The Ohio guys seemed to know what they're doing and willing to help out. Fingers crossed I guess...

In the meantime, I've heard about CR500 fork swaps. Honda CR500 or Husky CR500? Is it just forks/wheel or the whole frontend?

 

[huskyonahusky]

Oh yeah, one more thing (again). I need to know the voltage and output from the stator. It's a Motoplat with external flywheel.

I've read about the Motoplat ignition systems, which my WR has. There's a snipped yellow wire that I assume is the lighting coil (headlight according to what I've read). But there is no green or red (stop/tail), which there "should" be.

 

[suprize]

just run the tail and stop of the same wire.... there should be a PDF of the manual / parts book on this site

 

[Wildebeest90210]

Go for it! The TLS brake is fine for the road if well set up (see threads here on CH). Get a good pipe to make sure power is smooth and good electronic ignition. Get a new carb and get dyno'ed instead of messing with plug chops and enjoy! I'm doing another twinshock sumo this winter but a 4T this time but if I can give any advice from my 2T build I'd be more than happy to help.