2011 yz 250 lost 2nd gear

**oldguysrfast** · August 13th, 2011

I was wondering if anyone else has had issues with 2nd gear shifting fork rod breaking on 08 or newer yz 250. The yamahas have a roll pin that holds shifting fork onto rod and it weakens rod and it breaks at roll pin (in my opinion). I just replaced this shifting fork in friends bike and after 15 min of riding it broke again. When it breaks you lose 2nd gear altogether. This bike has less than 30hrs on it from new. I did not inspect shifting drum and suppose there could be a burr or something on it causing bind and breaking. The transmission was shifting smooth though after rebuild and replacing the shifting fork.

I have searched and not found any known issues of this kind on internet. I would appreciate any feedback on this issue if others have faced it.

**huffster** · August 15th, 2011

Those bikes are basically unchanged since 2005 when the frames went Aluminum....This sounds like an isolated incident to me. You are talking a YZ250 2-stroke ?

**oldguysrfast** · August 15th, 2011

Yeah its a 2 stroke. I have not found anyone to have had this issue on internet. Opened the case up again and shifting rod not broke this time. Its weird the bike shifts fine until started. Once motor is running it is missing second gear. NOt sure if maybe shifting fork a little thinner or not correct or dogs worn a little on 2nd gear drive due to initial frok rod breaking. Frustrating! opened up and put back together again with no obvious problems. Just wont engage when running,
but fine when shifting through gears and not running. I guess i will open up again and inspect all gears with calipers for wear.

**huffster** · August 15th, 2011

Check the return spring under the clutch basket...you should not need to crack the cases again, imo...something else is going on.

**cwallis** · September 24th, 2011

What kind of lube are you putting in the bottom end? I use type-F ATF in my '09 yz 250 and change it every other ride. I made the mistake of putting some bel-ray hypoid 10w-40 in my '74 rd 350 and the friggin' kickstart gear would barely engage. Try some 10w-40 MOTORCYCLE specific 4-stroke oil down there or type-f automatic transmission fluid if you are not already using something like that.