I feel your pain. But I can tell you why they had to do it. Due to the amount of flex that this chassis has, they needed to use a balljoint type [which pivots in all directions] to keep it from binding. It would be very possible for the stem to bind if they just had a bushing. Its the price we have to pay for new technology I suppose.Our good friends at Stealyourmoneyasaki decided to use a ball joint as opposed to a bushing for the lower steering stem pivot. 84 bucks for this item from the dealer. Kill me.... I ordered a new one under protest.
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sounds like your are going to answer your own questions soon. let us know how it goesThat makes sense. Is it painful to swap out? Any special tools needed?
Hmm that may be part of the problem I'm having... what lead you to replacing this?Here it is. $84 bucks for tight steering. Appears like a simple swap.
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Yea I think mine is loose as well, no big air for me... but plenty of small violent stuff mixed in with a few rolls and flips. What bike is that off of? did it bolt right on? "double d" did make a good point about the frame flex.AJ, I can physically see the lower part of my stem wobble when I move the bars. I have developed quite a bit of play there. I do alot of mx jumping and dune riding.
FUELATV,That is the stock part. It bolts the the frame. I had to replace that after 2 rides. The new one seems to be holding up fine. I noticed my bars having play up and down. After removing it the ball was loose in the socket. The install was not bad. Lets hope the new one holds up longer.
Thanks for the clarification so it seem Kawasaki changed the design of the stock steering stem mount... and the new design seems to hold up better... good news. Sorry for the misunderstanding the "blue stem mount photo" through me off, but now I realize that it was just the photo.The above part is the stock steering stem mount.