Motorcycle Repair: 1989 cr250, wheel alignment, alignment issues

Question
Hi I just got a used cr 250 1989 and I have two problems it won't idle and when I tried to adjust the rear wheel it seems to be cocked. Like whe I do the right side the left side pulls to tight on the chain and you can plainly see that the axle is not running stright I have to manually pull the wheel stright but it won't stay that way. Your thoughts would be appreciated

Answer
Chris, MX machines are not my forte...  Won't idle can be many things.... idle jet blocked, idle jet wrong size, ignition timing incorrect, air leaks in the intake tract or bad crank seals, low compression, radical porting and pipe that won't allow the engine to run at idle speeds.

If you slide the axle in place so the chain runs straight, that is how the axle should align with the bike. If the axle adjusters are not even on both sides, in that condition, probably the swing arm is bent or the swing arm bushings are worn. If you can align everything and then it jumps out of alignment when the axle nut is tightened, then the swing arm is tweaked, most likely... hopefully not the rear section of the frame.

You might want to strip the body work off, so you can run some string lines from the steering head back to the back of the frame and to the rear suspension to see what is bent. 16 year old dirt bikes usually have had a really hard life of crashes and being abused..... Usually you can sight down the backbone of the frame, eyeball the wheel alignment between front and rear wheels to check them for tracking and vertical alignment issues.

Bill Silver