Hey, thanks again for the input. After I read your post, it started to make sense to me. I also race(d) RC cars and it's the same concept on this little guys. The only difference is that you can control the camber (sp?) of the wheels going in or straight up, slightly out, etc. I did check that bar that connects the tie rods and it was bent. I'm calling the dealership now to find out a price on it. I still think the alignment is off, with or without replacing that bar however... we'll see after I install the new part. Maybe I'll have another post up for that!!! Thanks again.

 

I had the exact same problem as you. First I adjusted the tierods and it was still out of alignment. I compared it to the other 300 that I have and the steering stem looked straight. I deceided to take the steering stem off and sure enough, the flange on the bottom was bent slightly. Once I installed a new one, everything was aligned again.

It's amazing how such a slight bend caused the handle bars to be off by so much. If you need a new one go with http://www.servicehonda.com. I went to the dealer before I new about servicehonda and paid about 200 bucks. Service honda will cost you about 125.

HTH.

 

Damn, even $125 seems like a lot especially when it wasn't me that broke it. I guess it's a good trade off cause the guy is giving me free dental work to borry the quads. So far I had my wisdom teeth pulled, teeth cleaned, 2 fillings... my wife had 4 fillings, cleaned, and teeth bleeched... all for some elbow grease and $125. I guess it's a fair trade.

Hey, the headlight on the 300ex (actual metal bracket) is bent so the headlight is off center as well. Is the plastic piece (headlight cover) easy to remove and put back on?? I'm thinking of trying to straighted out some parts on the vice or something, but the last thing I want is for the holes where the screws go into to not line up.. that would be frustrating.

 

You paid how much for that rod?? Thanks for the website cause the rod that connects to the inner and outer is selling for $9.59 part number 53521-HC0-003. Are you sure Honda charged you $200?? Holy crap.

 

I just checked service honda. The steering stem is 126.38. If you need new headlight bracket it is 32.30. The headlight plastic is 29.50.

It is not really hard to get the plastic off of the headlight bracket. It does take some work to get it back on though. It's just that there is not much room in there to plug the headlight back into the wire harness. I replaced my bracket as well but I probably could have just straightened it out.

 

Not the TIE ROD, the steering stem on mine was bent at the base where the tie rods connect. The steering stem (the long black rod that the handle bars and headlight bolt to) cost $200 from dealer.

Oh, by the way, mine got bent from flipping over end over end and landing hard on the left front wheel.

 

Oh I see what part you're talking about now. Hey when you put the tie rod (was your tie rod bent too?) did you just eye ball it for the toe in/out difference? Not sure how scientific I need to be with this. I'm sure if I'm off by a few millimeters, it won't be that cruicial will it? I am just planning on eye balling it.

 

If i am interpretting the part your talking about right you can easily take it off by the end nuts and role it on a flat surface such as a cemented garage. See if the whole rod is on the ground if not your answer is that it is bent

 

No my tie rod (actual rod) is bent and I need to replace it, but was wondering when I put it on, how precise I needed to be on tightening it up. If it's too tight then it'll toe in and too loose or longer it'll toe out and I didn't want it to be to far off from the other side and was planning on just eyeballing it.

 

No, the tie rods were fine. Just the steering stem was bent. I just count the number of exposed threads on each side to get it centered. According to the manual I have, it states that it should be equal on both sides. I think if your off by a thread or two on one side it should not matter that much.