I've had my Kodaik now for about three months and am wondering if anyone has this issue. The steering column seems to have a bit of free play in it. When I got down in there it looks like the plastic bushing that yamaha gives you gets worn after a bit of riding which allows the handlebars to have a little freeplay. Anyone else have this prblem? Is there an aftermarket bushing/lock that I can replace the plastic one with to eliminate this freeplay in the handlebars?

Thanks for any info.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

I have a 05 with 150 miles on it and my steering is the same way.

 

I have the same thing on my 2005. It looks more like the ball joints, or tie rods have become worn. I will have to check this bushing on the steering column out.

 

I am going to break mine down this weekend and see if i can figure out what exactly is causing it. If you figure anything out let me know. My buddy has an '04 Grizzly and he does not have this problem but a friend with an '05 does so I wonder if it is just on the 2005 models. I will also check with my dealer and keep you posted.

 

yup, I had the same prob on our 2003 kodiak 400. Check on the bottom of the steering stem. there is a nut with a pin in it. the stock ones seem to loosen up all the time. tighten it up and check if play disappears. i did this several times and after a few rides it gradually got loose again. when i removed the nut completely all the threads were greased, i sprayed them down with brake cleaner then blue loctited the nut back on. was good for a few hundred kms, then started to loosen again. i didn't want to loctite it to the point of having a hard time if i had to remove it. I removed the nut and went to an industrial hardware store and got a self locking replacement nut, loctited it on and have put 800km on the bike and the there is no play in the steering. Sorry i can't remeber the size of the nut though.

best of luck

If only i could spend less time fixing the Yamaha and more time riding my Honda.