jaguar

~SPONSOR~
Jul 29, 2000
1,502
82
South America
I remember a friend had an old Husky 125 that he had mounted the shocks forward. Man that bike had incredible torque!
It could pull a wheelie with a rider on the back (me) at less than 4000 rpm.
Later I bought a '77 Husky 125 that had 7 inches travel. It was OK in the bumps but not as good as I wanted so I took the fork
apart and took the aluminum damper rod to a machine shop and had them add 2" to it. Really worked well but eventually wore out
the sliders.
The bike really shined and earned its "GP" (CR125 GP) on fast mx tracks. The faster you went the better it handled! Still had the characteristic Husky defect of not really liking to turn but rather railing burms.
At the height of my very short mx career (ha!) I took it to race at that track south of Dallas / Ft Worth. Super incredible track
laid out across rolling hills and creeks. A wet dream of a mx track. Nationals were run there also. Later I watched Roger D
ride like the wind in a Trans AMA race. Man he was smooth!
Anyway I had the gearbox apart and back together before the race (don't remember why) and I'd put it back together
with some dohicky one notch off. Before practice I dragged raced an RM and won but it wouldn't shift back down from 6th
gear. Arggh! Didn't even get to practice on my dream track. Oh well.
Anyway I miss that bike. It was really built well at a time when all the jap bikes had bolts made out of butter and only had top end power. (Huskys had some low end and a decent mid range)
Anyone else with fond memories of Huskys out there?
 

dirt bike dave

Sponsoring Member
May 3, 2000
5,349
3
I've ridden a '68 250, a '71 250 and an '82 420XC auto. Memories? Yes. Fond memories? Ummm.... no comment :p

Laid the '68 down on the left side, but the throttle stuck anyways. Kill button would not kill. Bruised thigh in the get off prevented me from wanting to ride. Had to pull the spark plug wire to kill the beast at WFO. Shocking experience! OUCH! Who says old Husky electrics didn't put out the juice?

The '71 was the first 250 to come with over 30 hp from the factory! It was peaky and foul. The frame was rigid, which was a novelty for the period, but the long travel revolution in the mid '70's revealed the bike for what it was - a temperamental, ill handling, poorly suspended beast.

The '82 420XC auto - interesting machine. Ran hot, needed new first gear centrifigal clutch srpings almost every ride, as well as new $10/quart (lots of money in the '80's) special Husky tranny oil. Turned about as tightly as the Titanic. Flexy flyer 35mm fork tubes and 250+ pound bike. But kind of fun, despite all that. On the right trail, it was a good bike.

:)
 

glenncal1

Member
May 24, 2001
40
0
I have 2 old Husky's that I recently bought to get back into dirt riding after a few year hiatus due to some health problems.

I bought a '79 390cr and the guy also had a non-running 73 250wr which he basically threw into the deal.

I have the '79 running pretty well and except for hard starting cold (which is a known feature on these) it is a blast to ride, plenty of power that is very
controllable and not bad suspension. It is definitely a stable bike at speed and takes a different style for trail riding than the 4 strokes I had in the past.
I plan to do a lot of cosmetic work on it this winter.

I haven't really done anything with the 73, but went yesterday to pull the chain so I could measure it to get a replacement. Looking over the bike it is in great shape and doesn't look like it has been ridden much and should be a fun and easy refurbish, need to get spark, but even the sprockets look in great shape.

Jim
 

jaguar

~SPONSOR~
Jul 29, 2000
1,502
82
South America
if you put Boyesen reed valves on the '79 you should get some awesome low end power out of it. Stock Husky reeds
were mostly for top end power.
yeah, WR is the ID for that old 125 of my friend. Good strong bikes. Plan on any suspension mods for the 250? The
swingarm is strong enough to forward mount the shock without any risk of it breaking if you reinforce the swingarm
about 4 inches before and behind where the shock mounts to it.
Too cool! 2 Huskys. Send a picture if you can.
 

glenncal1

Member
May 24, 2001
40
0
Jag-I plan on leaving the 73 pretty much in stock condition, it even has the
original Girling shocks on it. I will need to paint the tank but it is not dented or scratched and the seat needs to be recovered. Other than that it looks to be in great shape. Currently there is no spark, but I think some new points and a condensor should fix that. I am going to start the refurbush on it soon and do want to take some before and after shots of it.

I do have a new set of reeds for the 390, haven't installed them yet. I will probably install them this winter when I do some of the cosmetic work on the
bike and paint the engine and frame.
 

OldMaiconut

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Apr 28, 2001
483
0
I was an eyewitness to the sparking power of a 1968 250 Husky. We were on a winter trail ride, my buddy on his 68 Husky was leading, I was following on my 125 Maico and another buddy on his 175 Penton was bringing up the rear. We were romping along thru the slush when my Husky buddy appeared to go into some crazed gyrations then jumped off the bike while going about 45 mph. When we got back to him he was sitting ass deep in a half frozen puddle screaming THAT SUMBITCH BIT ME!!! A little investigation revealed that his spark plug wire had some craks and apparently zapped him right off the bike. He wasn't a real lucky guy..... got rid of the Husky and got a 250 Pursang. Ever wonder what would happen if the frame breaks in half off that BIG jump at Aztalan...?? Thats another story though...:cool:
 

jaguar

~SPONSOR~
Jul 29, 2000
1,502
82
South America
he must of had a weird riding style to have his leg on the spark plug wire!
that was probably a good moment compared to incidents he had later on the Bultaco since they wouldn't turn
unless you put them into a powerslide. (My first and last ride on one was a disaster as I couldn't get it to turn
and ran into some construction dirt mounds. Endoed big time!)

125 Maico! Tell me more. Never seen one but read a write-up on one once. A dream bike at the time.

Pentons, well built except for the crappy Sachs transmission. My first bike was a 125 Penton. Drove me batty
with misshifts but it handled really well.
 

Oregon Trail

~SPONSOR~
Aug 2, 1999
263
0
I currently race a 72/73 WR 250. The mods so far have been a reed valve set up, Circle F pipe, Boge shocks and a Mag gas tank. I like the WR trans for the vintage racing because most of the tracks are not tight, so you can pull longer on the straightaways. Growing up I've always wanted a Husky, now I'm paying for it. Last race the kick starter stuck out during the race, now the back of my leg is black and blue AND I spun a bearing. Time to rebuild. geocities.com/bulliebutch
 

Oregon Trail

~SPONSOR~
Aug 2, 1999
263
0
Yes you can still get parts for the old Huskys. When I run AHRMA events I run my Boge shocks witha Mag swingarm, giving me a huge 4" of travel, the limit for the sportsman class. But when I race VDR Northwest I put on Curnetts so I have close to 5" of travel. :cool:
 
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