Busted steering post, what to do?

Vmax Al

Vmax Al

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Joined
Dec 9, 2004
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213
Location
Farmington, MI
So is it possible to replace the steering post without moving the motor?

Anybody have recommendations on a "reinforced" version?

This luckily happened at low speed and on exit of a turn. Odd thing that it happened on straight, flat trails and I am very thankful for it!

Should I be taking this to Yamaha as an issue especially since the result could have been so much worse?
 

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thats why i hate risers,heard guy's putting a pipe in side to reinforce it then
welding everything back up..tough but can be done in sled.
 
Al your a lucky man your alive. WOW. Looks like you may have to remove the engine. I can't see how you would link it all together?
 
Fairly common when running a riser on them. You need to pull the motor to swap it unless you have three elbows and two wrists attached to a 9 month old's hand. Then maybe?? You can weld them up and put a rod/pipe in them to strengthen it before the break. I guess you could weld that one up if you wanted too.
 
I did the same thing last year, bought a used post from someone. I started to replace it and realized that I'd have to take out the motor. I called up a friend that does alot of welding. I brought it over to him, he placed some mats over the gas tank and we removed the wiring and put a pipe into the shaft and welded it back up. It took less than 1/2 hour.
 
Same here, I have a steering post sitting on a shelf because I bought it and then realized I had to pull the motor...(no way I said). I bought a pipe that fit snug in there and a shop close by my house weld it, it was a thick but not solid pipe...I paid 40 bucks for the labor.

Nick
 
That just happened to me last week... LIke sled said put some wet mats over the tank after you pull the front consol...get some 1 inch angle iron cut 1 inch pieces and weld them to either side of shaft making sure to weld to top plate.. your good to go....... and you boys with the risers should all do the same!!
 
I have been wondering about the risor's, did you have any risor's installed when the breakage happened? If not did you at one time really wrench on the handlebars? I would weld and reinforce with a sleeve tube going through top plate. Check for stress fractures on down tube. Al
 
I see now the vertical side bars. How much extra strain do you think is put on the neck of the steering post with risors?
 
Think of it like a bigger lever.

That would suck having to remove the motor for the repair. Good side of that would be you could clean it real good while it was out.
 
I had a 3/4" block for about 8000 miles.
I just added the 2.5" pivot and had 40 miles on perfectly flat trails with that set-up. I can't believe I didn't break it off when adding the riser if it broke under the steering load that it did. No matter I was lucky it went when it did.

I suppose it is still easier to swap than the front heat exchanger and I got through that.

Time to bang some knuckles I guess. With luck I can find the extra steering shaft I had and only be out time.
 
I heard that in '00 the sxr's got a steering shaft that was thicker due to the handlebar set up and posts breaking... Hey Al, if you need/want a hand welding that thing up I have a tig and am located in Warren. T
 
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Bandit, Thanks for the offer I may take you up on it.

Just curious, is the newer reinforced version look like the shaft in the middle of the pic with the "double" top?
 

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the pictures you have are of a mountain version, light weight, top is rx 1 or apex, middle is rx/apex stlye horizontal shaft, lower one is a mountain version for a pro action chassis.
 
Okay, I did a part number search and the V-max's, and Srx's, and Ventures have a pn# 8CR-23813-00-00 steering post and the Sx-r's have a 8ED-23813-00-00 part number just like the Mtn.max700. Just thought I post this to try to be helpful. Tracy
 
if you weld it back up add a little gusset on each side

Pat
 
same thing happened to me last spring, the sled was out of gas and i was trying to turn the bars in deep wet snow and pop she busted. i upgraded to the viper stem, much better design. also if you have the boost bottle mod or reed spacers the viper shaft doesnt rub on the carb float bowl like the straight sx one does.
 
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