AngusThermopyle

My Honda is the last year of the Elsinore series, 1981. They dropped Elsie after 81 and went with a straight CR designation. The RM's were awesome bikes and pretty well left everyone else in the dust back then, at least for a few years anyway. I'd love a Husky CR but they're very hard to find now. What I do have is a Husky 175GP Cross Country. They're actually even harder to find than the CR's. She's rideable but still needs a couple of details to make her perfect. The countershaft sprocket cover is missing, still trying to track one down. I also need three of the four plate mounting brackets for the side plates, only one was on the bike when I got it. There weren't too many of these imported into NA back in 1976 so I'm pretty fortunate to have this one. She's a really sweet ride for an old twin shock, drum brake 76.

Yeah, Huskies were even exotic back in the day and were well respected.  They were pure to the dirt bike riding spirit without all the glam from the big well-heeled Japanese producers.   They were winners in the right hands.

The good thing is that we have ebay today...for parts. 

In 1969, I trashed a Suzuki AS50 engine by stupidly separating the case with a screwdriver and hammer !   The dealer fixed the resulting air intake leaks past the rotary valve with epoxy filler.   But they did say I fixed the broken 2nd gear just fine once I had it apart.

In answer to the two stroke observation. They aren't banned, it's just that the four strokes are enjoying a great deal of popularity right now. Having said that there is a resurgence of popularity happening for the 2T's currently. People are getting tired of the expense and complexity associated with 4T bikes. I can do a top end job on my bikes in a couple of hours as opposed to a lot longer on a 4T. Add to that the thrill factor of a 2T over a 4T and you have a winning formula for the two's. I've ridden both and despite the 4's being easier to ride I'll take a two hands down any day. Nothing compares to the rush you get when a 2T comes on the pipe and that power hits like a sledge hammer. There's still plenty of new 2T's available from quite a few manufacturers and new ones being introduced regularly. In fact KTM have just released their 2T fuel injected models.