engine troubles

[MC_NickP]

hey guys i am new. i just bought a kawasaki kx250. great bike. to start my story, when we were buying it, the guy said that it had a sticky clutch. so much in fact that when stopping, the tranny had to be in neutral or it would die. first thing i did was raise the idle, which helped a little, but upon further research i recently have discovered that i need to turn the little screw to make it a little leaner. i forgot to state my problems: sticking clutch, and poor idle. so after that i took apart the clutch and saw some grooves, they were pretty small, and i grinded them down with a file. took my pressure and friction plates to the dealership and they said they looked alright. put clutch back together. after done working on the clutch i turned te bike on its side and gasoline started pouring out of what i believe was the carb overflow tube. after setting it up right and letting it sit overnight, i tried to start it, which took a long time and after letting it warm up, the engine died under load. forgot to mention the PO ran 80w in the tranny and i switched to 10w30, as recommended by the dealership. i opened the radiator cap and saw there was practically no antifreeze. even when i turned the bike on its side. after draining it from the water pump hose, i maybe got enough to fill a cup with. antifreeze was not leaking, so it made me think it was burning. there was no antifreeze in the oil when i worked on the clutch. so i suspected head gasket. took spark plug out, looked okay to me, but fouled. also it seems really hard to start the engine; the kick starter requires alot of force to get it to turn over. took the head off and the head gasket looked okay actually. so i ordered me a new one and am currently waiting for it to come in the mail. i investigated the head and the block and saw no cracks. where to go from here? thanks

 

[kx2502009]

your clutch basket is toast but doesnt hurt to use the old one just some clutch chatter and it wanting to die while in gear sooner or later your gonna have to buy a basket.as for the antifreze does the plug smell sweet if so its burning the coolant and other thing is i would say the head may be warped since you put a new head gasket on it may be building up compression in the radiators and dumping it out the overflow tube

 

[MC_NickP]

update - filed down grooves completely in outer basket, but clutch still sticks... i use 80w kawasaki oil, have messed with adjusting the cable, i think i need a new cable. i did my best to file down the grooves on the inner clutch basket, but are those enough to cause it to still stick? should i buy a new throwout rod and hope that does the trick? i really dont want to replace the inner basket until i replace the outer aswell, and new plates, that way everything is new and old parts arent wearing on new ones.