Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125853
was so true in the past that many people found they could not get along with a Husky under any cir cumstances . They could not ride it the way it had to be ridden. It was , and to a lesser exten t, still is an an gular , extremely precise mach ine . Th ere is n o r oom for slop buil t into it and sloppy riders didn't find it very tol erant. T his w ill, in turn, m ake them unh appy . The latest Husqvarn as, with the MK frame, have changed significantly. No w, riders and racer s o the r than stone Husky freaks can ride it and learn to ride th e Swe dish way - th e correct way. All those fair -ha ired, bl ue-ey ed m otocross World Champions can 't be wr ong . T he new 4 00 Husqvarna wi th th e ' clo se ratio five-speed transm ission for mot ocross has better su spens ion, is faster , and will actual ly turn on th e proverbial d im e - or k roner. T hat cap sule summary is what the 400 Husky is ab out, but the details are wo rt h paying attention to. The engine pl acem en t is still high by standards of cur ren t motocro ss de sign; this is accentuated by th e high, flat black p ipe that ha s a too-heavy sile nce r buil t in and still erni ts the distinctive raspy bark that spells "Husqvarna " whenever y ou hear it. T he re is a lot of ground clearance. The engine is moved forward that mag ic amount that m akes mounting the gas cap and flicking th e bars down in a turn work to get ar ound quickly. Internal port matching is improved and engine no ise has be en decreased considerably by redesigning the transmission-clutch assemb ly to reduce in terna l lash. At th e same time, th e infamous Husky vib ration has been lessened considerably. Thestandard left-side shifter features long throws (which we like) and faultless engagement. The Husqvama was originally designed with long th rows and stiff engagement so that the shift / lever could get completely buried in making turns on the deep, sand tracks in Europe . wi thout popping out of gear. The engagement is no longer stiff but it still goes into gears perfectly and won't pop out. First is tall - appropriate for starts on muddy, or deep loamy tracks. The rest of the ratios seem right. They are progressive, make it easy to keep the engine humming and fifth is entirely usable. . We had a chr onic problem with th e clutc h nut backing off and preventing clutch disengagement. The nut needs to be imp act driven and Loc -t ited to stay. But you only use the clutch onc e in most races. Gu y Lou is who, appropriately enough, runs Gu y Louis Motorcycles and happens 'to be both Cycle News ' friendly neighborhood bike shop and sets up some bad 400 Huskies did h is " dealer prep" number on our CR400. His mods to th e stock bike rec eived from Hu sqvama Motor Corp. included c h a ngin g the fork fluid to a silicone-based product that Husqvama themselves suggested we try. It is, strangely enough, called " Fork Flu id. " He re-jetted th e 36mm Bing and op ened up the in take holes around the needle j et to preven t starvation. The rear shocks were adjusted to rider weight and we then had a 400 Husky that was set up as you would buy it from sharp, competition-oriented dealer. Which is good because it is a crisp, compe tition-d er ived machine. The fine adjustments all worked. The mid-range wa s stronger while i t ran clean and full at top end . It also started easier - alway s by th e third kick, ho t or cold , On ce the potential of th e CR400 was prodded into release, it revealed th at it was a very quick bike. The quickest 400? Could be. The five speeds actually seem to help th is m achine (most have four , rem em ber) and it gets moving deceptively fast. It is the opinion of staff riders and those who have made a business of riding 400 Huskies that it is noticeably quicker than previous models. The fron t forks are lighter, have more travel, and allow incredible precision in line sele ction . They invite front wheel landings and you 'll see photos of Tor sten Hallman (in I p re-Yamaha days), Mikkola, Kr ing, all of the Husky riders do in g just this. At speed, it is the best way, to set up for the following corner. • BeCause . after landing , you prod with the left foot to a get the right gear; use both of the e xcell en t br akes very hard; and tum the handlebars in the direction you wan t to go comi ng ou t of the corn er . The Husky demands sharp , cu t and " shoot turns to get ar ound qui ckly. It w on't slide well be cause sliding is not the fastest way to get ar ound a rea l motocross cou rse. It handles extreme turns ; you actually change t he direction of the steering head with co mp le te control right up to 18 0 degree turns or more. Th a t is th e correct way to rid e mot o cr os s acco rding to Swedish phil osophy and that is the wa y the 400 Husky makes y ou ride it. Go very fast , faster than seems pruden t, into the com er. Brake very h a rd . T he Hu sqvama brakes are excelle n t ; t he re ar one is full -flo ating wi th no wheel h op , "and both are fade-free, T hen tu rn it on th e point that allows you a st ra igh t shot to the ne xt corner. You 'don't need a berm and if a b erm is buil t up at the wrong pl ace for a stra ight lin e exi t from t he comer, don't use it. The Hu sky won' t like it. You can brake on t he flat, ska tey p lac es then just turn the front end and gas it. The Husqvama com ers much more slowly if you d o it an y other wa y but , con t rary to pre vious models, the CR400 at leas t allows you to make a tum sloppily. The machin e is demanding but the result is that your lap times go down - and y our style imp roves. The rear Girlings ar e esp ec ially built for Husqvama and provide progressive action , when coup led with th e righ t spring weight, to the limit of t heir travel, They could still use more travel and they ' still fad e som e in 45 minutes of competition though not as noticeably as previous models. The late st batch of CR400 Husqvarnas came with Metzeler ISDT tires on them. Now most enduro riders would kill to get a Metzeler Six Days' tire, but we couldn't get along with the rear 4.00 X 18 for motocross or desert riding. The 400 wan ts and deserves a bristly 4.50 , with lots of wrap around tread, at the rear. Whatever happened to the ,- 4.50 Trelleborg Motocross? If there's a price difference, anybody who buys a CR400 would be willing to pay it. The Metzeler has high, hard sidewalls but we could feel it breaking loose on comers long before it should have or the bi ke wanted to. The harder rubber ' compound does last but the compe tition trade-off isn't worth it. - Detailing on the Husqvama is, as you could exp ec t, ' improved. The maroon steel tank is a work s replica that holds 1.54 gallons of pre -mix. The fenders are deep, adequate, and ' made of fairly brittle white flexible plastic. Cracks will eventually fan out from the mounting bolts. Finally, Husqvama has pu t a new, much more waterproof still air box (also plastic) on th eir production bikes. It has been long-awaited and sh o uld be much appreciated, especially b y past and potential Husqvama owners. The footpegs have li t tle dimpled holes punched through them that are an improvement over t he comp letely slick previous style, but not much of one. The Magura con trols and new angled control levers that provide m echanical advan tage are good ex cept for the small, unridged hand grips tha t we couldn't get along with. They made bl isters. Shouldered Akront rims continue to appear laced to th e flat bl ack conical hubs. 'T he Husqvama seat is "the" right seat fo r 90% of all motocross bikes and motocross ra cers. You sit a little h igh on it, and on the whole" b ike for that matter, until it gets properly broken in . lt has been virtually cop ied by Suzuki and Yamaha on their works bikes. The Motoplat electronic ignition makes plugs las t longer , and generates a nice healthy spark to help prevent ' fouling. And there is no timing or point gap to worry about. It is the way to go for a thoroughbred motocross machine - as th e timing stays constant for all 90 minutes. The buyer also gets a little tool kit with the absolutely necessary pullers, etc. in it and two more countershaft sprockets - a 131' and a 151'. The stock 141' works just fine for the vast majority of tracks. Both internal and external gear ratios are very close to just right. The bike is virtually an all-new Husky 400 that will fit a lot more riders '~n the old ones., If you couldn't ride 'one' b efor e take another look. " ' . .10< 0.. -c 9> 37 " .