Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The Husqvarna '250WRX is a hybrid. multi-purpose off-road mount that is at home in either tight woods or blasting through the wide open spaces. First Test: Husqvarna 250Ul'HX ilpremium blend for extra versatility By Tom Kolncwski Husqvarna's approach to the off-road community is unique: instead of simply offering the rider tw o choices in a displacement size - either a m otorcrosser or an enduro model Husky is qui~k to point o ut that the new WR~ I S not a repl acement for th e WR line. The current WRs have the dated dual -shock rear sus. pension/chassis , while th e WRX tak es them three distinct lines: CR (close full advantage of the new single-shock ratio, designed for motocross) WR suspensio n / ch assis debuted on th e (wide ratio, for enduro usc), and the 1985 CRand XC models . Husky con XC (cross country, for the desert). But tends the WR is still th e bik e of choice apparently that wasn't enough; accordfor the rider that intends to co m pe te ing to Husky, they've been bombarded only in end u ros, wh ich, from our with requests from riders looking for experien ce, is at lea st partially accua less specialized mount, a bike that rate. The WR 's sh orter suspen sion co u ld function as a top flight enduro and wheelbase make th e bike more mount one weekend and as a warpeffective in the tight woods , while th e speed hare scrambles or desert sled WRX is slightly less a gile in the same the next. And after a stint at their situation due to its longer suspension drawing boards at the factory in a n d wheelbase. Sweden, th e WRX line was born. Still, for th e enduro pi lot loo kin g for a high- tech single-shock mount, As the name suggests, th e WRX is a blend of p arts from the WR and XC we would hardly ca ll th e WRX a bad lines, and wh en tied together with a ch oi ce. It works well enough in the selection of specially-d esigned comdeep woods-although it gets th e job ponents, the result is probably th e done differ entl y th an th e WR-to be most versatile dirt bike line on th e chosen.as a woods-onl y mount. And pl anet. Introduced as m id- year modwhen th e terrain open s u p , the WRX els, t he 250WRX, wh ich we will will leav e th e WR in its dust , th anks exa m i ne in depth her e, a n d th e to a more po tent mo to r, better sus 400WRX, sh ould effectivel y fill a n y pension an d length ier wh eelbase. .voids in t he oCf: toa.d. markcl" __• _••• _•• •• Hlls.k..Y).!'!g !J2_s.h_oj £c;,!>~.!!~ !i! !~~ - they came up with a line of machines specifically designed for d ~ser.t or ot h er hiigh-speed applications, That move gave .10 WRX wi th th e lat est si ngle-shock chass is. As th e la st holdout in th e off-road m a rket with a dual- sh ock chassis, it would 've been a sh ame to eq uip th eir latest line wi th the heav ier dual- sh ock chassis wh en a new singl eshock chass is was ava ila ble from a nearby parts bin. Husky grabbed the XC chassis and basicall y used it intact , th en built th e rest of the bik e around it . The ch ro me-moly steel frame itself is ba sed o n a single-backbone des ign , so mewha t of a throwback to Huskys of the late 1970s. but th e large central , a rci ng backbone is much larger in diameter. The tube sta rts at the steering head a n d runs through a smooth a rc to the bottom anchor of th e suspension linkage. Following Husky tradition of the pa st two years. the single front downtube runs from the steering head th en ' sp li ts just above th e exhaust port. Instead of just a sing le welded-in en gi ne cas e guard (in li eu of a skid plate), th e WRX has a pair of parallel protector tubes which make the engine cra dle that much more rigid. The WRX also has a removabl e rear su b-fra me, which is based on the XC unit. In thi s ca se, the rails have been exten ded to form a rear frame loop, which provides su p port for th e fender /taillight assembly and gives th e ride r ' so meth in g' to g ra b when muscl ing (p us h ing, pulling o r lifting) the bike through a muddy section. , ·T,h t;, ..s~bjfra'P.e, .c?JP:~ ; 9f f, !~Wy I qui ckl y, but yo u fir st h ave to rem ove the seat, tank , sile nce r a n d air box to ge t a t i t. Once to th at poi nt, a ll yo u ha ve to do is unplug th e electrica l co n necto rs, rem o ve th ree bolts, and the su b-frame, Ien der and sp las h guard come off as a u n it. _ Husk y's firs t single-shock sus pe n sio n co mes off as a very clea n desi gn. Agai n lif ted basicall y i ntact fro m the C R / XC lin e, the linkage is a re la ti vely sim pl e design an d is con nec ted to an a lumi n um swi ngarm - anothe r fi rs t for Husky. At th e heart of the system is a n Ohlins shock with pigg yback reservoir. While Ohlins ha s been su p p lying Husk y with shocks for ' yea rs, they hav e h ad a lot of previous ex pe rience buildin g shocks for single-shock machines; they've offered replacement shoc ks for man y sin g lesh ock bikes since the late 70s. U n like previous Ohlins shocks on Huskys, you won 't have to disassemble th e shock to change the rebound or co m p ressio n damping qualities. Compression damping adj us tme nt is handled by a " cl ic ker" knob on th e top of th e reservoir. while a similar knob-at th e base of the shock enables rebound adjustment. Both knobs are easily reached from the left side of the bike and don 't require tools of any kind. Even the spring preload Can be ch an ged without removing any p las tic. and all you'll need is a screwdriver or drift and a hammer to rotate th e pa ir of threaded rings. It would be difficult to imagin e a more easy-tolive-with system. While th e shock is mech anically the same a s that of the XC, an internal spacer wa s installed to limit the stroke. As a result, travel at the rear wheel is slig h tly less than o n th e XC, down to 13.0 from 13.8, but that cha nge brings th e sea t height down to 37.8 in ches - the same as th e WR. Inter estin gl y, th e WR offers only I 1.8 inc hes of rear suspension travel. The stock sprin g is fin e for riders I ~9 ,t. , WiP5'~\~d, r'i~lfe:.L~l}d ? in \qc.

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