WR250 shifter

S

sturd

PR Addict
I have an example of the last of the 2 stroke WR250s, a 1997 that
I totally love. Awesome trail bike.

It has a lot of hours on it and one thing I've never fixed properly
is that the shifter, being aluminum, doesn't really stay tight. I can
tighten it up before a ride and by 2 hours in, somewhere in the
wilds of Tennessee, it is loose on the shaft. It needs a shaft
again, second one, because I never stop soon enough and
after enough hours the shifter and shaft are both bunged up.

I looked high and low, including contacting IMS and looking at
all the various relevant web pages but can not find a steel shifter
for this thing.

The 1996 YZ250, I can find a steel shifter. Can anybody
confirm that a '96 YZ250 will fit a '97 WR250? Yamaha
and IMS cannot so maybe it really is a one off but I doubt
it.

Anybody?
 
I cant tell you for sure on your application but Ive had yz's since 1991 and the shifters look the same in my 06. Im sure there are differences over the years but I would give it a try if I were you.

I am assuming you are talking about the shift shaft and not the actual foot shifter? There are universal after market steel ones that would fit Im sure.
 
Another interesting topic.
Had similar issue with the 96 YZ125 I had. Went through a couple shift levers before I realized that it was actually a shaft issue. When you compare a new shaft to a worn shaft you'll see a big difference in the splines. And then found out not all aluminum shifters are the same. I think the OEM shifters are a bit harder material than the aftermarket units and with deeper spline cuts, as well as having a sturdier folding tip.

New shaft and new OEM shifter brought an end to my floppy lever issues.
 
hershey said:
I cant tell you for sure on your application but Ive had yz's since 1991 and the shifters look the same in my 06. Im sure there are differences over the years but I would give it a try if I were you.

I am assuming you are talking about the shift shaft and not the actual foot shifter? There are universal after market steel ones that would fit Im sure.
Click to expand...

It's the aluminum shifter that is the problem and no, at least as far as I can tell, all the aftermarket steel
manufacturer's have a blind spot for the '97 WR only. Implies that they all come from the
same manufacturer with different stickers.

I'll go mechanical engineer geek on you for a minute but the problem is that the aluminum creeps with
use and gets loose on the shaft. You can tighten it so it works fine but then it creeps again, maybe
ten hours later it's loose again. Eventually, the gap in the shifter that you are tightening against
isn't there and you can't really tighten the shifter so you get a new one. The shaft doesn't like this and
eventually, in my experience every second shifter, gets beat up enough you need to swap it too
to get back to something that will work for a long trail day.

So now that I need a shaft again, I'd really like a steel shifter but none of the aftermarket
guys show one, though they do for the YZs, and IMS who I suspect is the manufacturer
of all of them claims ignorance.

Anybody got a '96ish YZ I could compare?
 
i just checked on motosport oulets website on oem parts and the list the same part num. for the 96& 97 yz and wr 250!! the bikes are virtually identical aside from different tuning!!!!
 
HalfPint said:
i just checked on motosport oulets website on oem parts and the list the same part num. for the 96& 97 yz and wr 250!! the bikes are virtually identical aside from different tuning!!!!
Click to expand...

Cool, I checked a different site and they were different part numbers. But must be
updated on the old one. I'll have me a steel shifter shortly.

Thanks!
 
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