more WR250R fun (not!)

I got the swingarm and linkage complete off, cleaned everything well, took the bearings apart and lubed them with Maxima blue waterproof grease.

The stock bearings had some weird plastic lube sticks in there (there is a name for it) that appeared almost dry, so in went the pick and out came the plastic lube thingy.


Once everything was nice and clean, I got ready for reassembly.

Than is, until I decided that it would be good to repack the wheel bearings while I have it apart.

Surprise!

WR250R seal guard

This is a follow up for yesterday's post. I got my new part in today, and started cleaning the rear suspension.

Why Yamaha calls it a Seal Guard is beyond me, since this really is a chain slider of sorts. Names aside, the following pictures are the new part, side to side with the part that has 5387 miles on it. Needless to say, the wear is unacceptable and I will be keeping an eye on the wear once I install my larger sprockets (front/rear). My simple understanding of geometry tells me the chain should not come in contact with the seal guard as often with larger diameter sprockets, bu we shall see, since Yamaha's design puts the pivot point for the swingarm off center, thus creating inevitable wear on the seal guard.

WR trouble

I finally found some time to get down to the garage and start working on the WR. The plan for today was to replace the stock gearing with a new set, plus a new chain. I decided to go with 14T front and 52T rear combo, and an RK X-ring chain.
Having spend my allowance on the goodies, I went to the garage and started removing things. But, as motorcycle plans usually go, this one was no exception - it decided to throw some obstacles in my way.
Everything worked just as it should until I took the swingarm off. Heck, I was halfway there, so why not take it apart to inspect the needlebearings. I'm glad I did.

The chain slider was completely worn through, and the chain started cutting into the swingarm. Since this bike only has 5k on it, I cannot help myself to not blame the previous owner. With proper chain maintenance and proper care, neither the front sprocket nor the swingarm should look like this.

Well, I'll have to place an order for new chain slider, and while I'm waiting, I'll be taking all the bushings, bearings, and linkage in the rear suspension apart.

Front sprocket at 5k miles

The new sprocket is huge compared to the stock. That should help the bike crawl in the woods.