Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ .1 • ~ 00 Ol ....... ....... ....... >- H C'\l , ..J C C'\l ~ • ,_32· sho rter sp ring leng th , accom pan ied by a sligh t inc rease in spri ng ra te, and a black pl asti c sea ling ri ng o n the p isto n in place o f th e whi te u ni ts use d in '83. The ITC shocks, man ufactu red by Oh lins, ha ve a 5m m i ncrease in i nter na l t rave l and im p ro ved va lvi ng, with tr avel at the rear whee l bumped u p to 13.5 inches. T he suspens io n changes effec tive ly bring th e steering h ead a ngle ba ck to 28.5 deg rees, res u ltin g in quicker stee ring. Yet we noticed a co nsidera bly different type of handling in this new Husky. ot he r than just sn appier steering. T he sea ti ng p ositi on is decidedl y more forwa rd . mad e p ossible by a shorter p lastic gas tank. Yes, we sai d plastic - Husky has ditched those bea u tif u l formed a lu min u m tanks in favor of th e synt he tic variety. The ta n k. too, is mounted lo wer o n th e fra me, an d ca rr ies mu ch o f it s fu el do wn lo w, tha n ks to the asy m me trica l desi g n . T he rig h t side is ex ten ded ea rth wa rd severa l i nch es, with pa yload ca paci ty o f 2.8 ga llons . All of th e changes co me togeth er to crea te a low er center o f gra vity, a nd whe n com bined with tighter steeri ng geometry and th e fo rw ard sea ti ng position create a handlin g masterp iece that is eas ily ada pted to . ' ,0- tltlt test bi ke kicke m o.ugh very.-_ a lly accla ime d as on a par wi th o the r systems, an d this latest edi tio n, dual rea r shocks a nd all . will carryo n th e tradition . T h is a rra n geme nt ma y lack the elaborate linkages a nd pivot s. but si m p lici ty is so me thi ng we ca n easi ly live w ith whe n th e sys tem fu nc tio ns th is wel l. In th e co m p la int dep artment, o u r list was qu i te short. Durin g o ur fir st ride, we developed a n immedi at e ha te for th e Mach grip s. R eplace th em with a pa ir form ed from a much so fter co m pou nd. We found our lef t leg co ntacti ng th e exha us t pipe o n so me of th e tigh ter left hand comers. There's not much yo u ca n do about it - th e pecul iar shape o f the pi pe is d icta ted by th e positio n o f th e radiator. T he fro nt port ion o f the pipe a lso h an gs down below th e en gi n e cra d le - we wo u ld ha ve to wager agains t it s surviva l in roc ky terr ain . The doubl e-leadi ng shoe front bra ke, introduced in 1983, p rov ed to be a capa ble sto p per. The full -floating rear set- u p has been en hanced by a n im p roved brak e pedal design. A serra ted edge makes for more sure-foo ted braking, with th e p eda l p ivot no w a sea led ro lle r beari ng ra the r th an a sim p le bushing. As a pa ckage, we cou ld fin d few gli tch es. H an dling a nd suspensi o n are definite stron g su i ts. Ov erall en gine pe rform ance is exce lle nt in our book, and we a re told th at an access ory exha ust pipe will soon be available th rough H usqv arna' s H usky P rod ucts line that w ill bo ost th e midra n ge power output eve n m ore - if yo u think yo u rea lly need it. All components are to p qua lity ~ Oh li ns shocks. Trell eborg /P ir e ll i tires, Magu ra co ntrols. ri ght down to the alum inum silencer. We ca n o n ly see o ne problem .... bi kes su ch as th is a re o ften in short sup p ly. Luckil y, we were able to spe n d time a board o ne o f th e first productio n un it s avai la ble in the U .S., th en had to reluctantly give it ba ck . If this bike is you, now is th e time to get o n th e wait in g list. • eas ily a nd sta rted aft er o n ly a few jab s o f th e new fo rged kick starte r. After a few minu tes of warm-up to get th e coolant flo wi ng smooth ly, it was onto the mot ocross track. Our first impression of the a vaila ble po wer was a favora ble o ne - there was p lenty o f lo w-en d p u nch. easi ly a mat ch fo r the ai r-cooled Husk y 250 motor. Ad va n cing th e th rottle a few Engine m o re degr ees brought a bo ut a deType Liquid-cooled. single cylinder. two-stroke. lig ht fu l mid -r an g e pun ch , much Displacement 245cc. stro nger th an wha t you wou ld expect Bore x stroke 69.5mm x 64.5mm. to ge t from i ts predecesso r. Tha t Transmission , Six speed. p ower su rge co ntin ues well int o the Carburetor 38mm Mikuni. flat slide. upper lim its of th e rpm ra nge, th en Intake system Eight-petal reed valve. levels o ff. Ignition Internal rotor Motoplat COl. While you ca n ride it li ke a torStarting system Primary,k ick. quer, its o bvio us a fter a few minutes Clutch Multi-disc. oil bathed. in th e sadd le th at th e up-scal e nature Chassis of th e powerband, which is more closel y a ligned wi th th at o f i ts O rien Frame Chromoly steel. single downtube. ta l co u n te r p a rt s, begs for larger Front fork " 40mm. air-assisted. leading ax le . throttl e o pe n ings. The h yper-power Rear suspension Dual Ohlins shocks. side of th e m otor is needed for today 's Suspension travel 11 .8 in . front /13.5 in. rear. m o tocross trac ks, all th e while coFront tire Trelleborg Deep Grip 3.00 x 21. existing with a frien dl y, co n tro lla ble Rear tire Pirelli Sandcross 4 .25 x 1 B. facet that is eq ua lly a t h om e o n ha re Dimensions scra m bles co urses. To put the overa ll Wheelbase 58 .9 in. mot o r manners into perspective, th e Seat height 39.2 in. new power plant produces a healthGround clearance 227 Ibs. ier do se a ll aroun d th an d id th e '83 Fuel capacity 2 .8 gal. versron , Suggested retail price $2.795. Suspe nsion pe rforma nce o n ,1ille. . " ~, ~ odd ·•H l'sqvarnas has be ~ .&Te - •• -'~"""""~~""''''''-''''''''''''''-''lI!''I:-:lI~!!IIl~''''''''''I7'I''''''''''''rr.""I''''I'''!''''r'':':l'~:C*''''''' .... ._rn , , 5 pecif icat ions .' • ... •• • •• , • t ,. j • •• • ., " . .. . .. r.,._ . ' ~...-. ,

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