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/126849
Husqvarna's 1986 400 Enduro weighs in at 235 pound s dry and has an engine t hat puts out just-right power. Improvements on the rear end inc lude a lig ht er swingarm, a switch to a tonque -and-qroove brake retention sys tem and a new backing plate. The 9. 1 -inc h Grimeca disc is drilled and floats on its six mounts. , Imllression: J986 Husqrarna 400 Enduro Gon e is the o ld WR (wide ratio) designation, an d with it the o ther "alphabet soup" letter com bi na tions (W R X, CR, XC, TE, etc.) th a t hav e lon g been a pari of Husky dia logue . Th e new na m es, suc h as 400 End uro, 500 Mo tocross an d 250 Cross Coun try, more closely ide nt ify th e bik es wit h their intended ro les. In -th e case o f th e 400 En d uro , th e first '86 Husky we've had a chance to sam p le, we'd have to agree with Mel ton . T he o u t-o f-the -crate bike is a n exe rcise in co m peti tio n preparedness, bu t the beauty of th e bike go es much beyond th a t. It cha nges o u r p erception o f so-ca lle d Open -class bik es, known fo r th ei r exces sive p ower and " yo u 'd bet ter be carefu l" p ersonal ities. The 400 En duro ca n be co nsidered a co u p in tha t it is p ow er ful ye t co mpletely manageabl e, h as the fight weigh t o f a 250cc bike a nd th e nimble ha n dl in g to match , an d a degree of refinement seco nd to none. Where did H u sky tu rn to co me u p Renamed, rewrapped & refined check-mate , By Tom Kolnowski " T h ey've got th em so close," said former N ational Enduro Champion Mike Mel ton as he ro ll ed the 1986 Husqvarna 400 Enduro out of th e va n and down the ra m p , " th a t all 6 you have to do to 'em before' idi N' I. . n mg a auona IS put o n n m locks and a better spa rk plug cap. Tha t' s all th ey need. It _ _-~ u ~ed to ta ke a lo t mor~ ~or~ to get a bik e rea dy for co mpeu tron . An in d ica tion th a t th e la test Husky is i ndeed more en d uro-rea dy is ap p arent in i ts n ew name: 400 End uro. _ _ . .. - I It.;:" :. 10. with su ch a pa ckage? For star ters, they put th e o ld WR dua l-shock chassis o ut to p asture an d began to bu ild th e new 400 End uro arou nd th e si ngle-shock, mi d-year '85 400WR X (t he '86 Endu ro lin e serves as a rep lace me n t for th e WRX as well as WR models ). T he 4130 chrome- moly WRX frame wit h a rem ovab le rear su b-fra me was carrie d over in tact -to th e En duro , b u t ot h er tha n that, n earl y a ll a reas of the bike have been refin ed . Th e bl ue a nd wh i te safe ty seat is well p ad ded a nd now h as a white Husk y logo stamped on both sides, a nd while th ey were at it, a laminated Husk y logo was a ttac hed to th e front fend er. T he d eep l y va la nced rear fender is graced wi th a m ore an gu lar ta ill igh t than th e si mple ro un d unit of th e WRX , and the 3.2-gallon fuel tank is a nothe r ca rry-o ver. In a p urely fun ctiona l mov e, th e righ t side pan el has been cu t away a t th e frame to form a n idea l handl e for p icki ng the bike up or musclin g it o ut of th e mud. T h e rear inner fender , previously at tac he d wit h zip ties, now ha s integra l mo lded grooves a t the to p a nd just sna ps in p lace - q u ickly a n d securely. Wh at is proba bly one of the best a ll -a ro u nd o ff-road mo tors ever to come down th e tra il liv es in th e fra me o f the En d uro. Wh ile basica lly th e sa me Iiquid -coo h -d, cent er-port-exhaust , p rim ary-ki ck , reed-va lved engi ne as th at of the WRX model, with th e sam e 396cc d isp laceme nt a nd six speed gearbo x. it has severa l minor im provemen ts to mak e th e end uro p ilo t's life even eas ier. Machining to lera nces a t th e Swed ish factory have been tigh ten ed u p , especiall y in th e a rea o f th e cen ter cases, a nd the result is a mot or th at ru ns better th an ever a n d moreover, p u ts out less bod ypou n ding vibrat ion . A red esign ed cl utch push rod a nd ac tua ti ng a rm gi ve th e Enduro a p leas ingly light cl u tch p u ll - ni ce to ha ve in th e la tter sectio ns of a to ugh en d uro . Th e ex ha ust system has been modified to p rod uce mor e low-end power, has stron ger mounts and has been tipped with a new oval a lu m in u m silence r (rep la ci ng th e h eav y steel u n it of th e WRX). The bolt-on Husky Prod u cts/Krizm an s p ar k arres to r makes th e bi ke forest lega l an d has an ea sily removable en d ca p for quick clea n ing . A 38 m m Mikun i carb br eath es through th e sa me la rge, flat ova l fil ter as the WRX , bu t th e airbox cover n ow a ttach es with two 6m m bolts o ne fore a nd a ft - in stead o f sim p ly snappi ng on as before. ' Sus pens ion a t both en ds has been reworked , with th e front en d th e mo st cha nged . Th e most o bvio us difference is the unpa inted (i nstead of wh ite) for k legs, bu t th e internals hav e been red esig ned from to p to bot to m . Th e. new fork is wha t Husky call s Free-Fl ow , wh ich is engi nee red for less sl ip -s ti ck (d rag effect or h ydr aul ic lock) and overa ll im p ro ved p erf orm an ce. A new g u idance system with T eflon-lik e bu shi n gs as well as new damper rods, sea ls and stiffer sp ri ngs are among the cha nges in th e 40mm unit, a nd fork tubeoverl ap has been in creased to mak e th e asse m bly more rigid. T ravel is 11.2 in ches co m pared to th e 10.6 o f th e WR a nd 11.8 o f the WRX. At 13.0 in ches, th e rear en d offers th e sa me trave l of th e WRX a nd 1.2 in ch es m ore th an th e 400W R. Refinement is th e key wo rd h ere, as th e al u m in u m sw ingarm has been lighten ed bv elimin at ing the forw ard brace (co m p u ter a na lysis found th e bra ce u nn ecessary), whi le dual zer k fill ings . are found on th e sh ock linkag e, reducing maintenance to a q u ick 30I ', j " I I . J 1 J l , ... ~ ~ I :. I • I I ' I J _ !