Bike is reasonably new. 3,000 miles perhaps, today 40 miles out in the middle of nowhere, after a small jump on a gravel road, the whole suspension sunk down, and my KLX250sf, turned into a low rider !

It looks like my tie-rod is slightly bent and the bolt has some thread damage. God knows when and where the nut came off ! So that was never found.

Fortunately, i managed to wave down a couple of passers by, which are hard to come by, when you're out in the Everglades, on deserted roads. They helped me lift the bike, so that i could put the rod bolt back in (minus the nut) and ride it home.

Anyone else had this happen? Anyone know how much a new tie-rod, and tie-rod nut and bolt will cost me? Not sure if there are any washers or other internals missing from the tie-rod shaft. Looking at the exploded view of the service manual, its hard to tell.

Should i be going to Kawasaki and complaining in hope to get the replacement parts for free? Bike is only 2yrs old with low mileage.

 

You're mentioning "tie rod" but I assume you're referring to the "dog bone" suspension link for the rear shock at the bottom of the shock and swingarm. It's pretty unusual for that to happen but not beyond possibility by any means. There aren't a lot components on each pivot point. If you disassemble the pivot bolt on the other end of the one that came off, it's exactly like the one that came loose. From that you can correspond that to the parts fiche and order the parts online that you need. And I would be tempted to try to bend and reuse the bent dog bone(s). That's an extremely tight fit, and you don't want any "out-of-plane" with those dog bones.

 

TNC - I assume you mean "...I would NOT be tempted..."?
Just wanted to clarify.

 

thanks, took it apart now that i have the the bike on a stand.

It appears I need the following.

92150A bolt rod 12x90 10.72
39111 rod-tie suspension (dog bone) 33.08
92210 nut lock flanged, 12mm 7.60

$51.40 + shipping

I got these prices from procaliber.com OEM parts apparently. Anyone have anything good or bad to say about buying from there? or is there a better place to buy these parts from ?

Not sure i can salvage the existing dog bone. It's quite thick metal for me to bend back into shape, + its actually at the end where all the bend is. Perhaps if i had a proper workshop and vice grips, which i don't, so maybe just better to splash the cash and get a new one.

 

LOL!...yeah, "Do not bend".

 

Just hammer it back into shape on a steel bench. It's not exactly a structural item in that plane.

 

The nut on mine came off when it was relatively new, but luckily I noticed it and replaced and locktited everything.

 

Interesting. I wonder how many other people that's happened too. Lucky you noticed it too.. Thing is its not the sort of thing you think of checking before every ride.

 

Had my nut fall off also. 2009 KLX had maybe 500miles.

 

Always used grease on the threads, never had problems. Was the bearing collar seized or rusted causing the bolt to try and rotate during travel?

maybe off topic, but the lower shock bearing on the rocker wears out 2x as fast as the others, keep and eye on it, let it go and it's an associated parts 38 dollar fix instead of a 14 for just the bearing.