Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Impression: Busgvarna Z50CR Liquilied U distinctively Swedish By Tom Koln o w ski Change comes slowly to those products manufactured by Husqvarna Motorcyklar AB in Sweden. When changes are made, they are not of a drastic nature, but rather follow a pl a y- i t -sa fe, fo r m -foll o wsfu nction approach. T he 250C R .. . IS not Ju st a no ther new ~\ a.tercooled motocrosser - 1l I S a 30 H usquarna, meani ng that w hat you get is a bike th at has been honed and refined o ver th e past severa l years, w ith the liquid-co o ling feature added as simpl y a not her esse n tia l step in th e evo lu tio na ry process . That ca uti ous formu la is a proven w inner and no t l ikely to ch a n ge in the near future . This latest Scandinavian m ot o crosser glistens with many o th er less n oticeable improv ements and wh en ta ke n as a whole is '! very effec tive di rt weapon. Liquid co o ling brings th e m achine to th e same techn ologi cal level as o th er bikes in th e. quarter lit er class . And as long as you h ave no o bjectio n s to th e o vera ll wh ite co lor sche me , thi s Swede co uld be your bermla de n link to winner 's circle. P revi ous ed i tio ns o f th e H usk y 2S0cc motor, in sta n da rd tune, wer e n ot e n d o wed with e x trav a ga n t a mo u nts of raw horsepower. Rather, th ey wer e d esigned to o pe rate m o st effic ie ntly in th e lo wer ~anges o f .t h e p owerband, a ll th e while ch u r.m ng out a n adequate a m o u nt o f pomes to ge t the job at ha nd d one. That co m binario n worked well enough on rough , tight , techn ical tra cks , w it h nearly all of th e ava ila ble power going d irectl y to th e g round. When the ter rain opened up, H usky rider s were o fte n left as kin g for more. Enter th e 24Scc liquid-cool ed mill. Engineer s began with th e same primary -kick start -equipped lo wer end asse m bly iha t began li fe in th e frame of the '82 Husky 2S0s. Most o f the ru nn ing gear w ithin th e co nfines o f those ca se halves, including th e gea r pairs that form the hea rt o f the six-speed transm ission, ha ve been re ta i ne d in th e latest ed ition. Changes in the lower end a re indeed n ot within th e cases, but are loca ted to e i t her side o f the cra n ks h a ft assem bly . On th e lef t, th e clutch is eq u ipped with a n improved fri ction p la te d esign . On th e o p posite side, th e int ern al rotor Mot oplat ign iti on system appears identical to that used in last yea r' s bik e, with th e exce p tio n o f a n a lte ratio n o f the ad vance cu rve to match the power cha racterist ics of th e new cylinder design. Faithful H u s k y follo wers wi ll notice th e sw i tch to a cen ter exhaust port acco m pa n ying the wat er-jacketed cylinder a nd head. U pon closer inspection wit h th e fin less h ead removed , yo u wi ll not e th e a p peara nce of two sm a ll er ex ha ust ports, o ne to eith er side o f the large central passagewa y, a ll o f wh ich collectivel y form . what Husky calls a "triple-port ex haust. " The reasoni ng beh in d this layout, a lo n g wi t h flowi ng m o re exhaust gases at hi g her rat es, is to keep th e o vera ll height of the ports lower, whi ch according to Husky's Dick Burleson, prevents theresulting powerband from ta king o n a pipey feeling. Ta ki n g r es iden ce within th e 69.Smm diameter bore of th e cylind er is a g ra p h ite-co a ted piston , claimed . to retain great er amounts of preci ous lubricating oi l on its surface as it goes about i ts up-and-down business. Tighter cl earances ca n be run as a result, w h ich a ll add s up to a pis to n th at produces less fr ict ion , and o verall power benefits. Carburerion is provided by a 38m m Mikuni , a standard it em on a ll 2S0 Husk ys si nce 1978. But wait - the throt tl e, th e usual straight-pull item , has a n even silkier feel to it s ac tio n th an o ther late model Huskys. Casting a look at the carburetor rev eals a flat-slide design, th e lig ht feel o f th e th rottl e brough t o n by th e lower weigh t o f th e slide. Once turned into a mi st, the air/fuel mixtu re is fed into an eig h t-pe ta l reed valve. Defin itel y a s tat e-of-the-art arrangement. Drive n off the left side of the cra nk shaft is the water p ump, a si mp le i m pe ller d esign . T he on ly p robl em we see in this area is the very close proxim ity of the radiator hose, which exi ts from the pump, to th e exha ust pipe. We 'd like to see a bit m ore clearance to prevent a melted hose. As with the carb, H usky a lso turned to J a pa nese tech no lo g y to su pp ly the radiator. Manufactured by N ip pon denso, it has a sha pe a nd size tha t would be a t hom e o n any Oriental machine eq u ip ped with a singl e radia tor. Even th e pl asti c co w lin g, with its sculptured de sign, co u ld grace a Japan ese bik e if molded in red , yello w o r green rath er than white. A standa rd so/so mix of wa ter a nd a ntifreeze forms th e coo la nt, with the coo ling su rfaces protected by a wire m esh screen . T he m o tor is nestl ed in to basicall y th e sa me fram e as th e '83 m odel, with a spl it cra d le design ada p ted in th e en gine a rea to acco m m od a te th e cen ter exh aust la yout. The 2S0C R shares it s fra me with the 12SCR, a lso water co o led for '84. Air-co ol ed m od els remaining in th e '84 Husk y line retain the stra ig h t si ng le downrube frame. Suspensi on has bee n p u lled a lm os t ,,,"em ir,ely Irom the '83 line. The 40mm fo rk differs onl y in h av ing a 10mm

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