250-500cc '09 WR 250 First Ride

I took my '09 WR 250 out for it's break in ride at Carneige OHV near Tracy, CA on Friday. Temps were in the mid 70's with clear skies. The bike has become progressively harder to start over the last couple of weeks and it took a good 30 kicks to get it going. At one point a bunch of gas hit the ground, it must have come from the carb overflow, and I thought I had really flooded the engine but it started on the next few kicks. I let it warm up for 4 minutes and took off. Very bubbly and congested on getting going and then it cleaned up and took off with quite a hit. Carneige has a dirt road with a 15MPH limit and I was easily doubling that in first gear. I got over to the edge of the park where there wasn't much traffic and ran up thru third gear. This bike really wants to run fast. The engine's not too happy running slow in first or second as it's very congested being lugged down. Third gear was better as it would run cleaner coasting and respond better to throttle. First gear, very congested from idle to 1/8 throttle at which point you have to hang on as things happen very fast as the throttle goes from 1/8 up. Second gear, slightly less congested more gentle hit, engine not completely happy. Third gear, a lot less congestion, pulls strongly off 1/8 throttle. After 10 minutes I returned to the covered table/parking spot and let it cool down for 30 minutes. Started on the second kick and I rode around exploring the flat area of Carneige. The dirt road is concrete hard adobe clay with small rocks. Just off the road is an area with larger rocks and some whoops but not great riding. 15 minutes cruising around at various throttle settings and then back to cool off. Started on second kick and I decided to try one of the trails. Carneige is located at the bottom of a small valley with hills rising to the south. Some of the trails are very steep but I stayed off these and took an easy route up to the top of a high hill. Double track road was hard packed adobe and I went up and over the hill, turned around on the other side and came back down the way I went up. The engine didn't really like idling down the trail and once back on level ground it was even more congested than before. There was a large stretch of level dirt off the road and I went over there and ran up through the gears fairly aggressively from first thru third five times to see if that would correct the congestion but it didn't help. I cruised around a little more and then had to load up and get back home.

Today I'm going to try adjusting what the manual calls the fuel mixture adjusting screw (Page 92 of owner's manual) to see if that helps with the congestion and starting issues and change the oil and plug. Next week I'm going to try the Hollister OHV area and see what that's like.

The Carneige OHV is off Corral Hollow Road near Tracy, CA. About a mile before the Carneige turnoff there's a Lawrence-Livermore Lab site that warns about explosives. This is where the lab burns uranium cores from power plants in the open air and riding at Carneige may not be the best thing to do from a health standpoint.

Sounds like your jetting is way off, check you current settings main,pilot, needle and clip position and report back. We should be able to give you a good starting point. Your gonna love it when shes breaks in and the jetting is crisp.

I just got a 2001 CR 250 and am running 390 main 32.5 pilot haven't checked the needle position as it's running quite well.

My '09 300 used to gurgle off-idle too. I changed to an iridium plug, went down one step to a 32.5 pilot, opened the mixture screw another quarter turn, raised the needle clip one notch (lowered the needle) and things cleaned right up.

Mine's always been an easy starter, 3 kicks max when cold and 1 or 2 when warmed up. The gas belching out could indicate your float is set too high. That, coupled with a rich pilot jet might be contributing to your hard starts. You didn't say what elevation you're riding at, but that may also have an effect on your jetting. Above 1000-1500 feet, you definitely want to look at leaner jetting versus stock.

EDIT: Googled Tracy, CA elevation and it's 48 feet. Elevation is not your issue.

Drained the oil after warming up the bike. Took a lot of kicks again and it dropped fuel on the ground just like Friday. 625ml of oil came out and per the manual I put in 800ml of Rock Oil's gro gear oil which was recommended by the dealer. It comes in a liter bottle with markings on the side to show how much oil you've put in. I hope this works out as the bottle has it's own nozzle and the oil level is clearly visible which makes putting in the right amount a snap. The drain plug was full of metal shavings and the drain oil was full of very small metal particles that you could feel between your fingers. After I got the oil taken care of I checked the fuel mixture adjusting screw and it was 3/4 turn out. I turned it all the way in and then very cafefully backed it out to 1 1/4 turns and the engine cleaned right up. Another quarter turn and no more congestion. Now it revs cleanly right off idle and there's a lot less smoke so the fuel must be burning hotter. Let's see how this holds up at Hollister this week.

There's lots of vibration and buzzing through the handlebars and I hope this subsides after some more break in. In many ways it's like my '93 Harley Heritage Softail that put my hands and feet to sleep. Got rid of that one.

The shifter started to scratch the case so I put some duc tape on the case while at Carneige. I removed the shifter today to diagnose the problem and it seems there's a lot of play in the shifter even when tightened down. I backed it out a hair hoping that takes care of it. It it doesn't it's dremel time.

My 07 WR250 currently has a 400 main, -60 needle dropped one clip rich from middle and a 30 pilot with the air screw about one turn open. This is for 1000ft and temps in the 50's and 60's and bike is running just slightly rich through the midrange and top end.

If it warms up another 10 degrees or so, I will probably switch to a -61 needle, turn my air screw out another 1/2 turn and maybe drop one size on the main.

My bike went through a couple of plugs when it was new. Check your jetting and start with a fresh plug.

You have to bend the shifter out to clear the case. Just stick it in a vise and put some muscle to it.

I'd still check your jetting so you know what you got in there. My Husky came with a 15 pilot, which is ridiculously small. Although it sounds like you are rich.

Your drain plug has those shavings more than likely from the Clutch. Mine had it all the time when new. On the shifter, you need to take the shifter off again and bend it out in a vise. Enjoy the new ride.

I took my '09 WR250 to Hollister SVRA yesterday. Hollister is a much better place to ride as a lot of the trails are through the woods with a lot of shade. The ground is hard packed adobe but few rocks unlike Carneige. The bike started on the fifth kick and has a lot less bubbling congestion now that the fuel air adjustment is set to 1 1/2 turns out but the engine is still not completely clean coming off idle up to 1/2 throttle. This was another break in/check out ride so I didn't want to fiddle with any settings. I'm starting a new thread in the jetting section to discuss the differences in how Husqvarna set up the Mikuni TMX38 carb on the '06 to '09 models. I'd like to reconcile people's jetting recommendations that seem to be based on different year models.

Does the '09 WR250 come with the new style TMX, with the kidney shaped slide? If so,comparing pre-'09 TMX's to it is apples and oranges..... The new TMX38 has completely different jetting specs than previous TMX38 Husky used. My tried and true '02 WR125 jetting specs mean nothing to my new '09 WR125. All you'll be able to do is compare how many steps from stock you are from stock on each style. Power Now carb divider is a good upgrade to clean up carburation with TMX38. I've used one on both styles.

Norman:
I haven't taken my carb apart yet so I don't know if it has the kidney shaped slide or not. Where did you get your Power Now divider? I searched for one for the WR250 and can't find it.

Power Now for new style TMX38 is '04-'09 YZ125 application.

Norman, Do you know if this can be used for the '09 CR125's. I'm having trouble finding info on different needles for my CR.

I have one in my '09 WR125, so should work in your '09 CR125.

Thanks Norman.

Installed it when I did the carb kit, so I never rode it without it. I don't think I've had the same midrange problems as some others. It made a difference on my '02 and seems to on the '09.

I took my bike back to the dealer yesterday because it was very hard starting when cold. After I explained this problem to the mechanic he grabbed my bike on the left side, tipped it over almost touching the ground and then stood it up straight, pointed to the gas that spilled out on the ground from the carb, got on the bike and started it on the third kick. It was 52 degrees. He and the owner said this was an old trick to start hard starting bikes when cold.

I showed the dealer and mechanic service bulletin C005-2008, FULL POWER ENGINE SETTING CHART FOR RACING MODELS, which refers back to the Owner's Manual page 6 FULL POWER ENGINE conversion. This is similar to rasputin's post above. The service bulletin mentions part numbers 8000H0052 for the WR125, 8000H1011 for the WR250 and 8000H1013 for the WR300. These part numbers are for Europe and rasputin's part numbers are for the US models. According to the parts guy 8000H1012 is around $35. I'm thinking of ordering this once the bike is fully broken in.