I had a wreck two weeks ago on my atv. I was putting along around 10-15 mph when all of a sudden the handlebar yanked from my hands and the bike darted in to a ditch, narrowly missing a culvert and hitting a tree, throwing me off into some tall grass. Thankfully I wasn't hurt, but my bike was. The front left tire was UNDER the left floorboard and the only thing holding it on was the strut. The lower a-arm was twisted and not connected to the steering knuckle, and the entire CV joint was pulled from the housing. I loaded it up on a trailer using my tractor and lift pole and called the dealer to let them know I was coming in. I thought I had totalled the bike. When I explained it to the service manager he immediately commented that the steering knuckle had come loose. He asked if I had received a letter from Kawasaki on the recall. I told him no and I wasn't aware of any recall. I bought the bike new in 2004 (it was the last '03 on the floor) and have owned it ever since. I try to take care of it as much as I can, fixing any problems as soon as they happen. Fortunately, this has been a good bike and I have had little problems with it. If I did receive a letter, it probably got x-filed as I am always getting credit offers and such from Kawasaki.
Anyway, I took the bike in to my dealer - SouthEastern Motorsports in Hammond, LA. These people are great. The service manager, Ryan, told me everything would be taken care of. I told him to go ahead and do a complete once over, changing all the oils, filters, etc. the entire cost out of pocket was around $300, but that was work that needed to be done anyway. The recall kit and everything related to the failure was fixed for free. I got the bike back last Saturday and planned to go riding but ended up having to work Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday I was off and took the bike around my property for a test drive. As soon as I started going the 4wd light started flashing and would not go into 4wd. I called them back and took it in. They narrowed it down to the belt and changed it. After about 4 hours of trying to get the lights to reset they finally called me to pick it up Friday. It was running fine before we loaded it up and it looked like it was fixed. Saturday I was riding with some friends and the light started flashing again, but this time it would go into 4wd. I haven't called them back about it yet, but I plan on taking it back in again.
I am posting this to not only get ideas as to what the problem may be, but to let all of you know the dangers of recalls and lack of maintenance. I had no idea about the faulty knuckles, and I feel Kawasaki should have made a better effort at notifying me about it, but I can't fully blame them. On their site there is a listing of every recall notice ever issued for anyone to see. Just select your ride and it will pull up anything related. It never crossed my mind to check this before, but that is my point here. Learn from my adventure and check for any problems, recalls or not, that may be common for your machine. I am still having problems with mine after the repairs, which may or may not be related to the accident even though I never had this problem before then. The good thing is nobody was hurt and I have a great dealership that stands behind their product and their work.

Thanks,

 

cdover73,

First off welcome to the forum. This topic has been discussed numerous times on this site and that is one reasons I actively participate in it. I am sorry to hear about your misfourtune and yes it is great that your dealer is standing behind it. I am not aware of any other recalls at this time for your 360 I keep up on it regularly.

The 4x4 light flashing is intresting to me because I had the same problem but mine turned out to be a loose wire at the selector switch. I found it and fixed it myself. I have not ever heard of the 4x4 light flashing and it being belt related. The only thing I think that the belt relates to is the check belt light, not the 4x4 light. We might want to get some more opinions on this one???

Welcome again great info in this site,

Mud

 

Thanks for the welcome, madmuddin1.

There is actually one more recall, but it is on the Warn winch contactor. Something about it causing fires. If you don't have the winch then it doesn't apply. If you do, your dealer will replace it for free.

I was also looking at them strange when they said it was the belt. I knew it was wearing a little because it was starting to slip more than normal. But they told me it was tripping the switch in the cover and causing the light to come on. They also said Kawasakis are famous for electrical problems with these lights and solenoids and once something trips them it can make the whole system go haywire and affect the belt light or the 4wd light. You have to keep resetting them kind of on trial and error using different combinations of plugging and unpugging until you get it right. I thought that was strange as well because I know how to reset the belt light and it works every time. Let me give you the whole run down so it will be easier to keep up with me.

I had the wreck that tore the whole front end off my bike, ripping the left side CV joint out, breaking a piece off the housing, twisting the a-arm and folding the tire under the floorboard. The bike was running fine before this. I took it in for the replacement kit and a complete front to back service, which I paid for and was due anyway. I picked the bike up and everything seemed fine. The first time I ran it the 4wd light started flashing and the bike would not switch into 4wd. I could turn it off and restart it and get it to work fine sometimes, but the next time I ran it it would flash again. I took the bike back in for the 4wd light flashing. The belt light was not flashing at this time. After a couple of hours of not getting it reset they said it was the belt. They changed it and instead of the 4wd light going off, the belt light started flashing as well. He started trying different methods of swapping the plugs and still couldn't get it. He finally got the belt light to stop but the 4wd light was still flashing. He removed the 4wd actuator from the front end and re-clocked it by rotating it to different positions and putting it back in. That still didn't work so he kept the bike overnight and called me the next day around 11:00 saying it was ready. It ran fine while we were there, but as soon as I started riding it at home the 4wd light started flashing again. This time it would go into 4wd but the light would still flash with the 4wd light lit.

All of this tells me something is still wrong somewhere. It's not the belt, it's not the solenoid, and he said the switch was fine when he checked it with a multimeter. I will call them today and probably have to bring it back in. Again, if they were a substandard dealer I think I would be having way more problems than a flashing light right now! They have been great working with me on this and didn't even charge me for labor when they changed the belt. However, it is frustrating to keep having to take time to carry my bike 40 miles just to have it come back with the same problems. None of this started until the front end got ripped out when the knuckle seperated, which I do blame Kawasake for. If they knew they had this problem they should have put in a little extra effort into contacting the owners. A simple plain envelope, in which they send everything including junk mail, is not extra effort in my book. I don't know if I ever got that notice, but if it had said on the front in big red letters "RECALL NOTICE - DO NOT THROW AWAY", I think that would have gotten my attention.

I will keep you updated as to what they find.

Thanks,

 

We have an 05 Prairie 360 that also has the flashing 4x4 light. My son called one of the local dealers and was told it was related to the engine brake system. We have not yet had the opportunity to take it in so this has not been confirmed. I'll be interested in seeing any further info on this condition.