Slop or backlash in countershaft sprocket

I was riding very slowly on my 2012 WR250R, and when I was on-and-off with the throttle, I noticed I could hear a "clunk" when I gave it a little throttle.
I jacked up the bike, and put it in 1st gear, and when I turn the back wheel, the countershaft sprocket turns a lot. There is a ton of "slop" or "backlash" in the countershaft. It rotates more than one tooth on my 13 tooth sprocket, which would be around 30 to 35 degrees. I compared it to my KLX250S, and it has less than half the slop. Maybe half a tooth on a 12-tooth sprocket.
Is this a normal amount of backlash for a WR? Can anyone check theirs and see?

About a tooth & 1/4 'slop' on mine (14 tooth).
Perhaps one of those 'they all do that' things.

I suggest you remove your front sprocket to check, because it sounds like the shaft splines may have been chewed up.

johnkol wrote:

I suggest you remove your front sprocket to check, because it sounds like the shaft splines may have been chewed up.

I checked and the splines aren't chewed up.

I can't quite follow you here; if you checked that the splines are fine, then you should have observed where the play between countershaft axle and sprocket is coming from.

The OP is referring to being able to rotate the shaft and sprocket a certain amount in either direction before it stops while in 1st gear.

I believe it's the normal characteristics of the gear, themselves.
Take a look at a parts catalogue and some pics of actual motorcycle transmission gears on the Internet.
The areas called the gear dogs and the slots they engage with will allow this movement.

I thought that the OP was talking about play between countershaft axle and countershaft sprocket, but re-reading his note I see that he might have been referring to play in the entire drivetrain. In that case, this play is common to all motorcycles, and as YZEtc said, it primarily arises from the way a constant-mesh gearbox is constructed.

I presume this must be the OP's first motorcycle.

johnkol wrote:

I thought that the OP was talking about play between countershaft axle and countershaft sprocket, but re-reading his note I see that he might have been referring to play in the entire drivetrain. In that case, this play is common to all motorcycles, and as YZEtc said, it primarily arises from the way a constant-mesh gearbox is constructed.

I presume this must be the OP's first motorcycle.

Yes, I'm talking about the countershaft itself having a lot of play in it. There's no play at all between the sprocket and shaft.
The WRR is not my first motorcycle. Like I said above, my KXL250S has less than half as much play. At the moment I also have a CRF230F and a XR100R, and neither one of them have this much play.