250-500cc The filthiest gear oil ive ever seen!

So is my gearbox about to let go?

2006 wr250

I was reliably informed that the gear oil was changed just before I got it and I never checked it, until I drained it after about 200 road kms (I've converted into a motard with a cush drive hub).

It literally looked like metallic silver paint, and the majority of the fine particles must have been aluminum as there wasn't much stuck to the magnet.

I've put new oil into it and plan on draining it later today to see what it looks like. So what might have caused it? As far as I can tell the gearbox rides fine, it's clunky but no more so than any other motard I've ridden.

that's a left field question
first off see what the second oil change does
then send a sample to be analyzed, it's done regularly, usually before buying equipment (I have)
hard to tell what it was, since it's not magnetic it might be aluminum
you might contact the last owner and ask him why the oil had more shine than the wheels

is the bike got alloy clutch plates ?
or i wonder if it is something steel eating part of the cases . it cant be gears letting go as its alloy

I have Barnett clutch plates in my YZ125 and the oil looks terrible after 2 rides but none of the wear material is magnetic and I have had the engine cases split to do a crankshaft and the transmission and clutch is in perfect condition so I don't worry about it because it's most likely clutch dust suspended in the fluid. I have had a perfect OEM clutch set standing by for over a year just in case but haven't needed it.

My oil changes seldom have i seen flakes in it the first time i changed yes it looked golden and the oil was black with a golden shine in the sun.
Could be clutch plates could be something chipping away at the cases, how clunky is your gear change and do you ever find it hard to select neutral? If so change your oil more frequently.
But you need to see the second change to be able to put your mind at rest.

Sounds like a broken clutch plate to me

Ok guys thanks for the info. Yeah, none of the wear material is magnetic, so we'll see I guess. I took it for a hard ride yesterday and Im commuting on it today, so Ill drop the oil tonight and see what it looks like.

I'd say to check out the clutch assembly. Easy to do and you can get an idea out how much life it has left.

I discovered a broken friction plate on my old husky. Didn't cause any symptoms I just happened to inspect it.

Kind of unrelated I guess but def. wouldn't hurt.

Reminds me of one of my favorite dirt bike jokes:

What's the oil change interval on an XR400?
Every other owner.

So I've dropped the oil and it's very much the same situation, dirty and silvery. I've done a bit of research and worked out that my clutch must be aluminum, and that's the cause of the oil issue. Looking into the gearbox from the clutch cover everything looks good, this time around there was very minimal magnetic shavings on my plug. I guess I'll just be changing it more often. This time around I've taken old oil from my Husaberg and thrown it in. Fully synthetic stuff with 350ks on it. I'll see how that goes.

You put used oil into a transmission that's dirty?

yup

Well, alrightythen! But seriously, I bet you'll find aluminum plates in there. My 200 had them, and the oil was an ugly silver grey no matter how short the change interval. In fact, it looked like ground up pencil lead. It concerned me enough that I swapped to all steel plates and then it was completely normal.

mine was as bad if not worse. Problem is it was quite low and I had no idea which would have led me to realize the crank seal was dead.

Mine was from the clutch basket. These husky 2 strokes get a ton of wear on that basket for whatever reason.

Yeah I should have clarified the used oil thing, it's nearly brand new stuff, never saw a hard ride. I drained it before I rebuilt and saved the older stuff. Ground up pencil lead is exactly how I would describe it. if I need to overhaul the engine I guess I'll swap to the steel plates.

Yeah so for anyone wondering, here's a pic of the oil. Diiirrrtaye

First of all, are you sure that's not coolant in your oil?
Second, the oil change interval for that bike should be something like 5 - 10 hours depending what type of oil and how hard you ride. You should use new oil with zero hours on it.

wow, looks like silver metal flake paint ready to be mixed and poured in a spray gun

that looks like a waterpump seal leaking.loosing coolant??