I have not bent a tie rod yet. I do alot of trail riding and have bent a rim. No problem with the tie rod for me (in 7 months).

 

i didnt do anything to bend the tierod on mine. i have ran over a few downed trees, but not fast. did some minor jumping. nothing over 10 ft. never hit anything. the only thing i could think is i just got a weak tierod.

 

The tie rods do bend easily. THAT is one of the first problems that the GNCC riders address on a V-700. I bent one, by turning the handlebar, while the wheel was against a tree! I wasn't even riding it!