Looking at getting older bike - Husky ??


enmerdeur

Member
Feb 10, 2002
79
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I am looking at getting an older Husky. The late 70's era is what I am most interested in

Looking at two bikes

79' 390 OR

79' 390 Auto

Any info on these would be appreciated. I understand that the early autos had some problems. Were they sorted out by 79? If not what is a good year for the autos?

Thanks in advanced :worship:
 

Enduro_Nut

~SPONSOR~
Feb 7, 2002
1,155
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The '79 Auto was ok, IF it was taken care of. You were right, the earlier auto's were a pain and then again after they went to a 3spd in the mid 80's.
You will need to learn how to maintain it though - the springs break on the tranny paws but are easy to replace.
What are you going to do with it - compete or...
I'm not a fan of the OR because of the tranny gearing.
The Auto is a fun bike - if they came back out with them I would go back to 2 smokes instantly!
 

enmerdeur

Member
Feb 10, 2002
79
0
I am looking at using it for Trail/Desert riding. Not planning on racing it. Using it as a show piece type of deal not a full time bike.

Can you explain a little on the OR gearing and why you are not a fan?

Thanks
 

zoommx

~SPONSOR~
Apr 23, 2001
282
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I think "OR" was 'optimal ratio'. Kinda a gearset between the cr 'cross ratio' and wr 'wide ratio'. Some people preferred the OR. I don't really have any opinion on any including autos as I've only ridden 1, a 79 or250 which seemed o.k. to me.
Roger
 

Enduro_Nut

~SPONSOR~
Feb 7, 2002
1,155
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enmerdeur said:
I am looking at using it for Trail/Desert riding. Not planning on racing it. Using it as a show piece type of deal not a full time bike.

Can you explain a little on the OR gearing and why you are not a fan?

Thanks

Frankly, there are more people who prefer the OR over the auto because they require less work to maintain. The OR would be a great desert bike which is why I asked - the OR is better at desert type riding over the single track I ride. I ride 99% single track where speed is not that important as in the desert.
My fascination with the auto is being in the correct gear at all times!!
 

Vince Stokes

Member
May 30, 2002
64
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You have to make sure the spring you use is the right one.
There is a differant spring part No used on air and water cooled autos.Use the wrong one and it will last about 1/2 an
hour.The other hassel if you trail ride is the tranmission changes when the gear is on the pipe.So it does not like to
chug around unless it is jetted just so. If jetted right you can
fool the change points by small throat aplications.If the part
throatal jetting is off you have a screaming abrupt engine that
is good fun, but definatly not a trail bike.
Vince





Enduro_Nut said:
Frankly, there are more people who prefer the OR over the auto because they require less work to maintain. The OR would be a great desert bike which is why I asked - the OR is better at desert type riding over the single track I ride. I ride 99% single track where speed is not that important as in the desert.
My fascination with the auto is being in the correct gear at all times!!
 

Oregon Trail

~SPONSOR~
Aug 2, 1999
263
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I think for ease of maintance the manual shifting Husky's are a better way to go. The Auto's are a fun novelity, but the manual trans air-cooled bikes are pretty low maintance and fun to ride. :think: I know guys who are always buying 'Auto' parts to keep theirs running, not that they break down all the time, but some parts are hard to find. :whiner:
 

Oregon Trail

~SPONSOR~
Aug 2, 1999
263
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Looks good, price usually runs between $600 to $1000 for a bike in that shape. :) The only thing I remember is the rear tires were 17", hard to find a good 17", we ran IRC with good luck. Also we put 40mm forks on from 81-83 and that made a HUGE difference on the MX track. Those 35mm would flex under hard braking and turning, didn't really notice it on the trails though. :thumb:
 

sdm

Member
May 14, 2003
9
0
I had a 79 390 OR that I bought new. Probably would have worked well in the desert but
most of my riding was /is in the woods. I wound up selling it because for me it almost had too much suspension and I had problems with the forks flexing also. A pretty tall
bike and I wound up fighting the handling more than I liked. I later bought a 430 WR
which had larger diameter forks and more precise handling for the woods. The 390
was a good bike but for my application I should have got a WR.
Live and learn....
Sam
 


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