Firstly I did a search but couldnt come up with anything - i think it was playing up....

So anyway, has anyone had the steering head bearing on their bike replaced?
i had to get mine replaced the other day and pay for it, (i am still under warranty) apparently warrenty doesnt cover the steering head bearing?? just after any similar experiences before i try and ring kawasaki about it.

Thanks,
Scott.

 

Scott, list your problem for the other guys.

 

What happened to it, why did the dealer say it wasn't under warranty?

 

Deej had a great write up on taking them out and greasing them with pics. If your going to have them out, not any harder to replace them. I used his write up a year ago and it worked fine .

 

Well it all started a couple of months ago when the steering started to get stiff so i took it in and they added a grease nipple in the head stem and pumped in the grease, since then it had been fine until last week when it all started getting stiff again, when i called them up they said that they will have to replace it if the grease hadn't fixed the problem.(obviously was broke before they added the grease- just a temporary fix). when i took it in and asked if it was a warranty thing they said that the head bearings were not covered for some reason, which i think is a load of ...... but i am trying to track down anything similar before i go back and argue with them about it. i need to find my warranty booklet and check what it says this evening.

 

I had the same problem, it felt like the tire was in a rut when i was slowing down
or it would lock when going around a slow bend.
the first fix was added grease that was good for a year then it came back
this time we pulled the bearings ,they looked great nothing out of the ordinary
but we put new one's in, they where only $30 now it's good again.
with more than a few people having the same symptoms it's got to be a manufacturer defect.

 

IMHO should be a straight forward warranty job if the bike is still under warranty.
Ring Kawasaki and I think you will be fine.

I don't think dealers get paid a lot to do warranty work but that's just too bad.
Goes with the territory.

In saying that, it's an easy and cheap fix.

 

Typically steering head bearing damage is front excessive wheelies, and then slamming the front end down. This usually happens on regular sport-street bikes. I've never heard of something happening so prematurely on a dual-sport/on off road bike.

 

100% agree however they have charged a bit more than $30. i have contacted Kawasaki Australia to see what they say about it and will let you guys know. they also stated that its not covered on any bike; sports, cruiser - doesnt matter. they said there was a guy with a vulcan in the other week- same problem and they still couldnt do it under warranty. when i was talking to the apprentice though he admitted that the bearings come standard in a rather poor condition, not greased enough etc, so i might have to chase that down.

 

I just found the bill,it was last month $32 parts and $114 labor don't let the dealer rip you off.