1987 Husqvarna 430XC

Big bore 2 stroke.  6 speed.  Need I say more?  The 87 Husky 430XC was actually a really fun and fast bike.  The suspension was surprisingly good off road.  Ergonomics were the typical 80s style, sitting more behind the tank and farther back.  The seat was also typical 80s era, wide, deep, and very comfortable.  The cool thing about the Huskys from this era was that there was so much interchangeable parts between the models.  Bottom ends had parts that could be swapped as far back as the air cooled models.  You could pretty much pick a tranny from any of the models and slap it it.  You have 250, 430, and 500s, 2 stroke and 4 strokes even, to share parts between.  I was lucky enough to get the better electrical system that put out 140 watts if I'm not mistaken.  In California, these parts along with a green sticker is a recipe for a plated bike. 

 I never got to the point to plate it because the one big pitfall of the bike, vibration.  This bike had gobs of low end power, but would still produce the power up high to make this bike fly...If you could hold on long enough.  The bike vibrated more then any other big bore 2 stroke I had to date.  From my research and getting in touch with guys who dealt with the factory desert teams that ran this bike, the solution was adding a motor mount.  From the factory, there was only 2 motor mounts, and no head mount.  So the hot trick of the day was to add this extra mount and it eliminated some of the vibration, along with balancing the motor. 

 This was one of the best looking bikes I have had, and at the time I didn't know I had a lot of trick, hard to find parts for it such as guards, up-tite skid plates, up-tite reed blocks, pipes, and enough extra parts to make three-quarters of another bike.  With the huge amount of low end grunt it made a killer trail bike, but at the time I wanted speed.  I really wanted to like this bike, but as my one and only bike, this wasn't it.

From this experience I found out how much vibration can really effect your stamina.  It wasn't something I put a lot of thought into at the time.  But when you spend a few hours on a bike that puts your hands to sleep, it's really hard to want to like the bike.  The ride becomes less enjoyable.  If I find another, I will definitely look into flex bars and balancing the motor, and if that doesnt cut it, break down and add the motor mount.  Its just too damn cool to not want another one.

CafeHusky.com was a huge wealth of knowledge of these bikes.  This is one of the less popular generations of Husqvarnas, but there are some die hards on that forum that really know there stuff.  It is a one stop shop for older Huskys.