I bet this isn't a common problem.....

So, yesterday I went to start my 2012 WR250R with less than 3000 miles on it from it's slumber over the winter. When I hit the electric start it cranked for a few seconds and then stopped. So I thought the battery was dead. Popped in a known good battery, still won't crank and all lights dim when I hit the electric start button, weird.

So I decide maybe the starter is dead, let's bump start it. Roll it down a hill tried to bump it in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Nothing, tire just locks up, weird.

So I decide maybe the starter is locked in the engaged position. In order to get the the starter I decided to remove the exhaust.... This is where is gets really weird.

As I remove the muffler from the header a ton of bird seed, yes I said bird seed, pours out onto my garage floor. Well there's you're problem, that's not supposed to be in there....

So I remove the exhaust and header (it's an after market exhaust, so the stock exhaust flapper probably would have prevented this). There is bird seed all in the cylinder, and valves. My question is did I ruin something? Or can I just take the head off, clean it all up and re-assemble with new gaskets and head bolts? I guess I really won't know till I take it apart. The bird seed is not a very hard substance but it was enough to stop the piston from completing a cycle.

Also, I found the little mouse who was storing the bird seed in my WR....

Thanks for any input...

Pictures for your enjoyment, and my misery...

take plug out, air filter out, header off, blow everything out with air pressure, then then crank it and see what happens

Protosouls wrote:

So I remove the exhaust and header (it's an after market exhaust, so the stock exhaust flapper probably would have prevented this). There is bird seed all in the cylinder, and valves. My question is did I ruin something? Or can I just take the head off, clean it all up and re-assemble with new gaskets and head bolts? I guess I really won't know till I take it apart. The bird seed is not a very hard substance but it was enough to stop the piston from completing a cycle.

If you found bird seeds in the valve area, then the cranking could have transported the seeds to the camshaft chain well, which means they could have contaminated your clutch. Cleaning up all those areas will not be an easy job.

Bird seeds may not be hard, but the piston is not supposed to encounter anything harder than oil, so you won't know till you open it up. If you don't find any scratches on the cylinder walls, I would close it up and start it.

Good luck!

paulie1960 wrote:

take plug out, air filter out, header off, blow everything out with air pressure, then then crank it and see what happens

I'd do this and then turn it over by hand a few revolutions (spark plug still out) and see how it feels.
If it seems normal I'd put it back together and give it a go.
I'd hate to tear it down over bird seed if I didn't have to

Thanks for all the replies! I will try to get all the seed out and turn it over and see what happens.

I'll keep you posted.

I've had my airbox full of bird seed, but never seen a cylinder full!

Hope you got it cleared out!

btw, if trying to bump start use the highest gear.

Holy cow that little mouse was planning to really bulk up over the winter, or start a huge family!

I am curious how the cleaning process ended up and how the bike runs now.

Okay, cleaned it all up. Put it back together. Now it will crank over fine, but shows error code 33 and will not fire. Double checked my plugs and I can't figure it out.

Error 33 is ignition fault.

Thanks for any help!