125-200cc new owner questions 1999 wr 250

Hi there , I am new to the forum and just getting back in to dirt biking . I just picked up a 99 wr 250 it was cheap and a little beat on but it is 15 years old . It runs great but has a few issues , the main issue is the clutch grabs quite a bit with the clutch pulled in , so much so that if I just let it idle in first gear with the clutch in it will stall it works fine as long as I shift to neutral before coming to a stop or keeps the rpms a bit but it is annoying so any thoughts or advice would be great and I am trying to figure out where I can get parts from if needed like clutch or throttle cables which I thought might be a good idea to have on hand in case and the rear wheel bearing will need replacing at some point as there is a little play not much and I'm not worried about it at the moment but its something else to think about and after scouring the net I am starting to realize its not so easy to pick up parts for these bikes , anyway any thoughts or advice will be much appreciated

nice looking bike, oh yeah looks like mine, never mind
on the clutch, did you check the oil level yet? did you replace the oil? is the cable good?
first things first, after you buy a bike assume nothing, change the oil in the gearbox, I use synthetic as it lasts all season
second I hope you service everything but lets stick with the clutch issue for now, there is a freeplay issue in the manual, did you get a manual?
if that is good look at the cable, even if the cable is ok I would recommend buying a Motion Pro Terminator cable for it, its such a huge difference you will never believe
if all that fails to solve it pull the clutch cover and look at the plates
not sure where you are located but in the Midwest Halls is very popular and they sponsor this site so you will see them in sponsors tab, on the west coast you will find Bill MC in Oregon and they are also a sponsor here
do yourself a huge favor and put the bike on a stand and do a complete lookover, personally I take mine all the way apart to the frame and look for any and all problems unless it came from a reputable shop with a warranty, pushing a dirt bike sucks

sticking clutch plates on an older bike is fairly common. They usually free up after the bike gets hot. From my experience, the fiber material from the clutch plates bonds to the steel/aluminum plates from sitting and even if freed up, leaves enough residue on the steel plates to make them sticky. If it doesn't work good when it gets hot, pull those plates and clean them off real good.

Wow it looks so shiny and new , it is an awesome bike with plenty of juice . I did buy it from a dealer but I got it super cheap so they said they checked the fluids but nothing was actually changed so I have bought new oil for the motor and will change it this weekend , the cable seems fine but I will have a closer look this weekend and yes I did get a manual with it , I am located in Victoria BC Canada on the west coast so I will check out Bill MC in Oregon as they would be closest for me , hopefully he will be able to get me one of the motion pro cables , Thanks for the responses it is much appreciated

where did you get the disc guard, I can't find one listed for a 99 anywhere

Hmmm where can I get a set of graphics and seat cover like that? its hard enough finding anything in terms of graphics or even plain seat covers but that's a nice update!

N-style or something like that made the seat cover and a full graphics kit
I bought one a number of years back, my brother has the parts now for his 98

Would a motion pro clutch cable from a '99 360 fit on the 250? I pulled the clutch apart on my 250 and it had one mre of each plate in there. It runs through the gears fine, but I'm getting close to maxed out at the adjustment at the lever. New cable?

it should do, but it is the wrong cable.
The 250 wont fit 360 as the 250 passes straight over the case to the clutch actuator so its a straight cable.
The 360 passes a coolant hose then travels over the cases the cable should have a metal 90 bend on the end of it.

try venhill in the uk, they make loads of different cables, custom made ones too if needed

Cheers gentlemen. I will check venhill as well as making a few more phone calls around. I just spent some good time on the web last night and could find them for 2002, just couldn't find '99

...venhill has a huge selection, but only carries upto '87 then jumps past ''99. They do have one for a cr250. That should work right?

You can adjust the clutch arm geometry at the transmission case and it will help the feel of the clutch and has a lot to do with the cable adjustment. Pull the clutch cover and in the center of the clutch hub is a pushrod adjustment screw with a lock nut. Adjust it so the lever/arm at the transmission breaks over at 90 degrees. There is more than one thread about this here if you do a search.

you can also measure the old cable lying flat on a table then tell them the measurement of it's total length and the end pieces and their styles, they can make one up to be an exact copy if it's not listed

99-2002 use the same cable on the 250
the 98 250 uses the 360 style cable with the 90 degree end

Thats good to know.

Rancher1 is sending one out to me. I will adjust the arm at the trans too. I measured the tolerances for the springs and fiber plates. They are in spec, but there was one extra friction plate and steel plate as compared with what the manual states...