IF your old gears are good KEEP THEM!

I would just freshen the drive with the minimum amount of parts that actually show signs of wear.

Sometimes it seems like those older gears are parts were forged better and are actually stronger then the current XR junk

That's good to know, and that's my game plan for now.

Thanks for everybody's input!

So while I had the motor out I replaced the lower shift cable and the shifting is still super stiff, so now I'll replace the upper cable but where do I find one for a 272 Baja? I've done a search with out much luck so I must not know what I'm looking for, lol.

Did you try shifting each cable seperately while they were disconnected so you can isolate the problem to the correct hard shifting cable.

The lower shifts pretty well with the upper cable disconnected. The upper cable seems to move easily enough without any load but maybe the tension is what binds it. Just going through it systematically. It's a 20 year old boat so I don't see much harm in changing parts.

Pull the old cable and measure it for length, then order a new 33c cable and the required adapter. Cost is about $65.

Offshore ex hit it , those old gear sets seem to do very well . Its clutch failure that bites ya. The old clutch parts are nla. Hope you i.d. the gear set # while you had it apart so you can start hoarding the old school cones and forks ,if thats whats in there now

Thanks, Cole, that put me in the right direction.

Airjunky, I didn't actually pull it apart beyond the back cover as that looks like this next winter's project. Good to know those parts are NA anymore. I'll keep my eyes open for those era parts.