Yamaha WR250R Mega Thread

In stock 13/43, the speedo is ~10% low & the odo is ~5% low.

Correction...in stock 13/43, the speedo is ~10% HIGH & the odo is ~5% HIGH.

A short 1min fail vid for you to "pick the tune" on:
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rKKt1O5z58Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

(keep in mind... I ride solo... I ride like a noob because it stops me getting hurt)

Very nice. No "picking" on anyone who gets out and rides....and puts up a vid.

I have 13T/47T and non-OEM T63 tyres and the speedo is off by 20%. When I got the new-to-me '08 last May it had 12T/43T and MT21s, and all I can say is the speedo was way off, didn't measure it before having to replace the sprockets and chain because they were all in very bad shape.

I'd be surprised if a vehicle from the factory would read low on the speedo, that sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen if you get pulled over for speeding or are in an accident where speed is a factor. The two other bikes and all the cars I've had read just a little high.

No fear posting. We've ALL been there, done that, looked stupid.

ac

Mine (09 WRR, 13/43, stock tires) was the opposite, the speedo was HIGH by 11+%.

13/47 too...woot woot

The tree's don't care what speed I am heading for them at, only my ribs do.

Zero mph drop, trying to turn around. My first solo drop, even with less than 1/2 tank, it's still more than heavy enough.



On the mesa:

You better do something all your junk is hanging out. [emoji1]

Flatland is a good choice

Fred


www.riverbendphotos.com

I have one, waiting in the shop ...

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www.riverbendphotos.com

Steve - What vendor and part # for the front?

Not sure on the front only PN. The kit I got is PN HBK9270 from JD Motorsport in the UK. I purchased through eBay.

>"I have one, waiting in the shop ... "

Remember that the bolt on the right hand side, rearmost... is shorter.
Make sure it doesn't impact the case.

Thanks

oh oh......venomous poison.....Alice Cooper.

I never could have guessed it if you hadn't crashed.







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes ADW,
My wing siphon lines are a little high, but if I'm going to spend all the money to get back into the tank to fix it(Which is what I was hoping to avoid) I'll have to replace the FP gasket, and probably the vacuum pump simply because I can't afford to go thru all of the work then find out it was a defective pump. When I got it originally I found out some idiot had put the diaphragm in backwards so I had to do the original install twice as well as rebuilt the pump, and I don't relish doing that again.

Can you see down into the lobes on the Safari? I can't on the 4.7 IMS. But it's the natural color and I can shine a light through the tank and see that the pick ups are both on the bottom of their lobe.

Maybe you could use a rod to push the hoses down into place thru the filler neck.

Only part way, I might be able to use a dental mirror, but I'm going to run out of hands before I accomplish anything useful, and even if I could see it, it is to far down to reach from outside of the tank. I'm going to have to cut the wing line down a little to get them to sit lower.
The other possibility is just leave it alone and go with a short 2.5 gal runnout parameter. I carry a 1.5gal. rotopak and a 4L fuel bladder so I can get 250 mile range if I have to.

I noticed a nasty noise coming from my WR250R. At first it would occur for just a couple of seconds on cold starts, but it began to occur intermittently when warm and idling.
I searched the web and found this video … exactly the same noise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfW3XJWaCx0

Looking at the comments, this guy was stripping down the engine trying to trace things.

Elsewhere I read about cam chain tensioners being problematic on the WRR. Apparently the auto-tensioning system on our bikes was upgraded since the 2008 launch, presumably because of faults.

I discovered http://www.kriegercamchaintensioners.com/ make a simple manually adjustable replacement for our bikes – and it comes at a fraction of the price of a Yamaha part – just US$33.

After chatting with a mechanic friend about the noise after a ride a couple of weeks ago I was convinced it was worth trying. Without leading him he diagnosed the cam chain tensioner as being a strong candidate for the source of the problem and said I may be able to get a manual tensioner.

Dealing with Mark Krieger was a breeze. Emailed him Sunday night with some questions – he replied immediately and offered me two postage options so I could get hold of the part before leaving on Christmas holiday (with riding planned).

Krieger’s site includes explanation of the problems of automatic tensioners … I won’t try and paraphrase http://www.kriegercamchaintensioners.com/

Anyway, the part arrived in exactly a week – not bad for postage from US to Australia.

It looked shiny and reassuringly simple, came with easy to follow instructions:






So, this is the important part. How easy is it to replace the auto-tensioner for the Krieger part? Mark said half an hour.

You know what half an hour means in shed time … it’s how long you tell the wife it will take you. And yes that’s how long I told my wife it would take.

Equipment
¼ inch ratchet with extension, 8mm socket (starter motor and auto-tensioner), 5/16^th socket (ahem), 12mm socket (exhaust)
1/2 inch spanner (manual tensioner)
4mm allen key
Big screwdriver
Gasket sealant
Roger’s Profanisaurus
... and a soft-headed hammer.


So if you didn’t know the cam chain tensioner enters the engine on the rear left side, just in front of the clutch cable and above the starter motor.

The procedure is basically:
1) get the starter motor out of the way (two 8mm bolts)
2) remove the tensioner (two 8mm bolts)

I discovered a short cut that enabled me to spend two and a half hours on the half hour job. Yes, the short cut that wasn’t (surely it’s not just me?)

The workshop manual tells you that to remove the starter motor you must remove the exhaust system. Krieger’s instructions say you don’t need to remove the starter motor, just remove the bolts and swing it out of the way.

I started off removing the heatshield on the exhaust and squeezing in to get to the starter


This was the dumbest thing to do. I managed to round the head off and waste a lot of time trying to get at it.


… some time (and swearing) later I removed the whole exhaust system (I wish I’d known how quick and simple it was!) and used a 5/16^th socket to grip the rounded 8mm bolt.

Use a big screwdriver or other lever to lift the starter motor and then spend ages grappling with it enough to get the bloody thing out of the way to remove the auto-tensioner. I didn't completely remove the starter motor, so it was quite tight getting to the auto-tensioner.

This photo shows the starter half removed (the auto-tensioner is to the left of the photo)


The auto-tensioner comes out easily enough.




And here it is next to the replacement.



At this point I walked away from the bike for a breather just to make sure I didn’t dive into anything and bugger it all up!



Back on the case, a smear of gasket sealant on the gasket, I just used some of what I had to hand.


Nip up the two 4mm socket head bolts and you’re ready to set the tensioner. The rearmost is a bit tricky to get at so I was using a screwdriver style approach.


Setting the tensioner is definitely NOT rocket science. The instructions are to tighten the bolt in by hand until there’s resistance, back off slightly, nip up the nut and you’re in business.

I was expecting fitting the starter motor back in would be tricky, but it was a piece of cake – especially as the exhaust was off
The exhaust goes on easily (using a soft-headed hammer to tap it in).

Then for the moment of truth ... I started the engine. Except it didn't.

Why is it I've always inadvertently hit the cut-off switch in these situations! :huh

Once i'd spotted that she fired up first time. There was a slight noise, but at this point it is possible to gently adjust with the engine running until the noise goes. I did this and left the bike to run while I cleaned up all the tools (my list of equipment above only includes what was actually useful in the end ), ran it until the fan turned on with no discernible rattles.

Used the bike today for commuting (50 miles) – instant start up, no noises when cold or warm.

Mark says to expect to adjust very occasionally (thousands of miles) using the same method.

So, in summary if you’re getting a rattling noise on start up you may as well do the swap. It’s easy – especially if you do it right. And if you do round off any starter motor bolts, the good news is you get two unneeded with the removal of the auto-tensioner!