[Ambar]

Today I took the afternoon off to take a long ride around. 120km total.
About 100km in I noticed something incredibly strange. I was lacking the left side bolt that anchors the engine to the frame.
I’m positive it was there before I left. I went straight back home being extra cautious not to hit any bumps or pots holes in fear that the second one could also snap as well. FYI: I had a frame slider installed by the folks at Kawasaki.
Before anybody asks.. yes. The threaded part of the bolt is still inside the engine block! ��
My question is, how can this be? Could the bolts have been torqued incorrectly? Has this happened to anybody else?

I’ll go ahead and also ask for an engine guard recommendations as I’ll be uninstalling this frame slider and shopping for another option. Looking for something more robust.

 

[oldenslow]

If your dealer installed the sliders I think you need to have a word with the folks in the service department. I think -- not sure -- they installed the sliders wrong. There is a left-side slider and a right-side slider, and they are NOT the same. The remaining right-side slider looks like it might be the one that should have been on the left. But again, I could be seeing it wrong.

 

[czrlaker]

Man that's scary. That's one of the reasons why I prefer to work on my on own bike. I'm a bit OCD with torque. I torque and double check, always to the suggested torque spec. Then after about 100 miles I check again. That little situation could have been really bad if you hadn't noticed it. They (dealer) better handle this right. It's been like 9000 miles since I installed my sliders. Makes me want to check that they are properly tightened when I get home.

 

[Ambar]

I'm truly disappointed with my Kawasaki dealership.
They pretty much left me hanging out to dry.
They could not remove the bolt and would not touch it. They won't take responsibility for this. Chief mechanic tried to convince me that someone hit the bike and broke the bolt when there's not much as a dust spec on the entire bike with every thing being peachy squeaky clean.
The entire frame had started bending from the engine weight and force.
I managed to find a fabricating mechanic who after 3 hours worth of work and several attempts and strategies, managed to remove the bolt and install a new one.
The dealership wouldn't even cover the metal spacer. Charged me 11 dollars for one.

They lost a client. I'm never going back there again. Even if I buy another Kawasaki bike, I'll be driving 300miles to the next closest dealership.
This is the last and latest of a somewhat long series of problems with the post-sales folks there, but unfortunately they are the only Kawasaki dealership in the city. I requested they execute the final warranty required routine maintenance so don't need to see them anymore.

Sorry for off loading this here guys and gals.. I had a truly ruff day with my Zbaby today.

Ps: my bike has 3600miles on it.

 

[czrlaker]

I would have contacted Kawasaki directly. This is unacceptable, gets me angry just reading your message. I would have looked for legal representation, you could have been seriously injured. They should have at the very least fix the situation at no charge.

 

[nedfromPA]

I'm confused. I've got Kawa OEM frame sliders on my Z650, and they have nothing to do with the engine bolt. The slider slips into the frame and is secured from the side with a small machine screw.

 

[czrlaker]

The after market OES ones attach to the engine bolts. If I remember correctly they provide a longer bolt. Had them since June 2017 11000+ miles never had a problem.

 

[Ambar]

Yep! Thats the bolt I had a problem with.
I'm going to reach out to Kawasaki about this. Thanks czrlaker!