Husqvarna 400 Enduro

HUSQVARNA 400 ENDURO

LONG-TERM TEST

Still a favorite after a year of thrashing

IT DOESN’T HAPPEN VERY OFTEN. BUT EVERY ONCE IN a while, a dirt bike comes along that is so good, so amazingly competent, that it becomes a legend in its own time. Husqvarna’s 1986 400 Enduro is just such a motorcycle. It’s the bike of just about every dirt rider's dreams.

We felt that way, too, so much so that we hung onto our 400 Enduro after our March, 1986, test and have racked up more than 3000 miles on it since. The bike has been to the wilds of Baja several times, has ventured into the local mountains on numerous occasions, and has survived many 100-plus-mile trail rides in the Mojave desert.

Despite all this hard use, the Husky has never broken. It’s still as tight, as powerful and as reliable as it was when new. The cylinder head has never been off. and the stock sprockets and O-ring chain just now need replacing. The only things that have required attention are the usual maintenance items such as the transmission oil (we changed it after every ride) and the air filter, and the replacement of tires and rear brake shoes when necessary. The standard fork seals surprised us the most, though; they lasted 1800 miles before they began leaking.

We did, however, give two potential problem areas some needed attention before beginning this longrange evaluation. The speedometer cables on Huskys are notorious for breaking, and the stock clutch drags and gets hot quickly. The clutch fix was simple: We installed the steel and bronze clutch plates from a Husky 510 four-stroke. They're a perfect fit, and work nicely with the standard 400 clutch springs. We also replaced the 400 clutch arm with a quarter-inchlonger arm from the 510. The longer arm reduces the effort needed to pull the clutch lever: and although the arm also cuts down on the amount of clutch disengagement, there are no problems as a result, simply because the 5 10 clutch plates don't drag and heat up as do the stock 400 plates.

Fixing the speedo-cable problem was more involved. It entailed pitching the stock speedometer and cable into the trash and replacing them with a Honda XR500R electronic enduro-computer/öiiometer unit (this is, incidentally, the third different bike on which we have used this same unit) modified to fit. The electronic instrument is expensive, but easier to read and trouble-free. We also fitted the 400 with a bunch of Husky Products accessories: plastic handguards, front fender extension, enduro rear fender, chain guide, footpegs, exhaust pipe and Answer silencer/ spark arrestor. When we were finished, we had a dirt bike that was as close to perfect as anyone could reasonably expect.

Sometimes, our love for any given motorcycle dwindles when new-model introduction time arrives, but that wasn't the case with this 400 Husky. We were skeptical, in fact, about Husqvarna’s claims that the new 430 Enduro was significantly better than the 400. As it turns out. the 430 unquestionably is every bit as good as, or better than, the 400. But it wouldn’t hurt our feelings if we got to use the 400 for yet another year. It's truly a great motorcycle. 0