Steering very unstable at slow speeds and seems to catch and make turning dangerous and difficult. This is a known problem with this model and Kawasaki has admitted that the steering nut was overtorqued and the bearings were installed improperly but dealers say there’s nothing wrong.
2023 Kawasaki KLR650 steering complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 16 of 16, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The steering nut for the handlebars of the motorcycle seem to have been overtightened. This causes a noticeable catch in the steering at low speeds, especially when making a turn from a stop. This causes unsafe handling characteristics in the motorcycle as it makes the operator oversteer in slow speed situations. Kawasaki has claimed that they do not know about this problem, although there have been many reports from consumers and service centers. While I personally have not taken the vehicle to a service center yet (I am scheduled to do this on 09/01/2023), several other 2023 KLR650 owners with this problem have and the dealerships were told exactly how to fix the problem by Kawasaki. Reportedly, the steering nut was over torqued in the 2023 manufactured bikes (not all) and some of them have had their bearings crushed due to this error. There are also reports that the bearings were not greased. The symptoms were present when I bought the vehicle, but I thought that it was due to new tires. My motorcycle has less than 600 miles on it.
Driving at low speeds the steering has a pull to it. Kawasaki has acknowledged the stem is overtorqued from factory but has yet to issue a recall and I still haven't heard back about them fixing it. This is a serious problem as I've almost been brought into a curb on several occasion even spraining my ankle trying to save it one time. This needs to be a recalled from forums the it is clear this is a consitant problem with the 2023 klr 650 s
Unknown Multiple people reported to have issue with stiff steering during low speed including my motorcycle because of defective steering head bearings. Critical safety issues. No recall have been done .
The vehicle has a dangerous steering issue. While in a slower speed turn, the vehicle's steering becomes restricted, and then unexpectedly free's up, which almost causes a crash. Some are referring to this a the "steering notch issue". There are multiple references to this issue in online forums. The Kawasaki dealer says that they have not been informed of any steering issues. This bike will kill me unless this issue is resolved. I will be taking it back to the dealer for service.
Motorcycle with ML serial numbers have been overtorqued steering bearing nuts from factory, multiple problems showing up. Steering on mine locked up in a turn, but was able to force it to straighten out. Kawasaki is aware they overtorqued (via multiple sources) but has not released a tech bulletin, or service recall on a dangerous situation. Slow speeds steering will have a tight bind at the 12" position, and will have a hard time turning left or right out of the tight spot. Occasionally, turning back into the 12 position will cause a bind/catch causing loss of low speed control.
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