[old3]

So, steering head came loose at around 1000 miles. I dove in to see what was up. Loose ball bearings. Really? 2013, a bike that defines your company to thousands of riders entering the sport and this is what you do Kawasaki? Shame on you!

Not soon after I noticed a decel wobble in the front with no hands on the bars at 50-40 MPH. Great, had the same thing on 2 different ZZR1200s. Time to research. Turns out many times this wobble is caused by the poor contact points of ball bearings and the steering stem basically deflecting along those points from top to bottom races.

I reset the tension a few times and added some Bel-Ray WP grease to no avail. I "suffered" with these bearings and the sloppiness for almost 1000 more miles and it drove me nuts!

All Balls sells a kit for the 250 so I ordered one up and dropped it in today.

Wobble is gone, steering precision is WAY up!!!

Do this bearing replacement. It makes the bike feel so much more stable and smooth, no comparison to stock. Absolutely excellent mod.

Under $40 and 2 hours of slow paced wrenching start to finish.

 

[veksdeath]

Can you share the link?
thanks

 

[ghost3772]

huh, odd. I would of taken it back to the place i bought it and made them fix it.

Mine hasnt wobbled yet, or come loose. I'll keep an eye out for it though!

Glad you fixed yours!

 

[cbzdel]

Kawasaki uses the same bearings as Huffy right??

Whats involved for the install? Do you need a front stand for the bike?

You got your kit from ebay right?? I plan on hainvg the 300 for a LONG time.. So this may be a nice cheap mod for me..

 

[old3]

To buy them/ Ebay has them pretty cheap,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALL-BALLS-K...Parts_Accessories&hash=item460a0b3b91&vxp=mtr

I'd tell ya to go to a bearing supply but these aren't bad prices and include the seals you need anyway. I had them within 3-4 days from the place I listed. Now I see them a little cheaper, I didn't see those suppliers when I ordered. Search around and you can save a couple bucks.

 

[HardRacing]

Gotta agree with cbz....to this day it still blows our minds that the Manufacturers still put that 70's inspired setup on 21st century bikes. And yeah, we understand their "save a nickel save a million" concept, but another $32 worth of sealed bearings in the stem would make more sense, beit, Kawi, Yami or any of the brands.. And pretty sure no one is going back with the ball/race system they have on it now.

.

 

[cbzdel]

Do you sell these hardracing?

 

[old3]

Kawasaki uses the same bearings as Huffy right??

Whats involved for the install? Do you need a front stand for the bike?

You got your kit from ebay right?? I plan on hainvg the 300 for a LONG time.. So this may be a nice cheap mod for me..

I don't think even Huffy would use this crap anymore!

You need to lift the bike from under the engine as the entire front triple must come off. I use a floor jack with a piece of wood under the exhaust and the sidestand.

A hammer and drift to knock out the old races, a big socket + extension to tap in the new ones or a race press kit, a slow hand to tap on the lower stem bearing or a press is nice. Pretty basic wrenching, oh, and waterproof grease to pack them full.

Setting the tension is a feel you develop, you want no looseness but not too tight to be binding. I usually try to bind them slightly then just back off but the kawi tension nut sucks and I didn't have a good tool to torque it so I went in on it and just made sure the steering didn't bind. I'll recheck it in 500 miles anyway.

 

[HardRacing]

Do you sell these hardracing?

Of course we do, AB still has them listed for the 250R though..

.

 

[old3]

Of course we do, AB still has them listed for the 250R though..

.

I had no idea you were even here or I'd have ordered them from you directly. Sorry about that but at least it is confirmed they fit the 300 as well.

 

[cbzdel]

Thats alot of work, maybe that can be my project next winter haha.. Or if I get bored in the summer..

Did it raise the top of the tree at all?

 

[old3]

Took me under 2 hours and I took my sweet time as it was raining anyway. Stopped raining for a test ride though so time well spent. The bike is transformed, how they sell them like this is beyond me.

I don't see a difference at the top, seems like stock height.

 

[HardRacing]

They are a direct replacement / upgrade, so no changes should occur in height.

.

 

[wetwork999]

They are a direct replacement / upgrade, so no changes should occur in height.

.

Sorry, but I've been on your site for 20 minutes, and I can't find them?

 

[JerzKawiKid]

warranty didnt cover this??

 

[old3]

They told me to keep my hands on the bars with my ZZRs. New OEM ball bearings would be the same crap and I wouldn't want them anyway so no. Nothing the dealer or Kawi would do would solve this "issue".

No reason to even report it cause like the rubber brake lines, the tires, the shock and the bearings, they were working normally. None were up to the standards I have so they are gone.

I'm still shocked the bike had these bearings, they are what was used in the 1960s and 70s by Japanese builders. Cheap to use but they have no other positive qualities.

 

[cbzdel]

no reason for warranty to cover an upgrade, they would of slapped the same crappy parts on there

 

[ghost3772]

true... maybe i'll order one from hard racing


EDIT: Hardracing... I cant find them either..? can you get us a link please? Also a search feature on your website would be nice =D

 

[cfrp]

Add this to the list of to do.

 

[dkw12002]

On the other hand, there is almost nothing on the bike that could not be improved. It's a little like buying a house, then rehabing it. In the end you would have been better off buying a more expensive bike. My Triumph is much faster than my 300, sounds better, better steering, better brakes, suspension, more comfortable seat, smoother-running, better tires, etc. It also sold for $9600. If you did every possible upgrade on the 300, you would still have a 300. I ain't touchin nothin unless it's broke.