Greetings Kawi kings,

I am new to this forum and decided to join here after reading so many fantastic posts by the informedn crew here. I hope to share as much in my "Brute" journey. I recently purchased my first Kawasaki ATV. An 08 Brute Force no less! I have had 5 motorcycles and two other ATV's (Suki's). I am the third owner of this unit, it has 390 miles on it with some minor scratches and a cracked floorboard. The crack is about 1/2 length of the floorspace and runs near the outside rail...from looking at the mold underneath, this does seem like a bit of weakness in the design. But funny, the only crack I seem to notice is the one from my neck when I hit the throttle

On to my issue. From the description, I think it is safe to say that the machine is used...how hard I really do not know. I have inspected nearly everything visually and things seem in order. Thanks to this forum - I believe I will be changing all the diff fluids just to be sure. However, one minor thing I did notice is that their seems to be a 1 or 2 degree of play in the steering.

When I grab a wheel with two hands and turn back and forth in the steering arc, I get a very slight "tick" or "Click" at the beginning of direction change. I have held the tie-rods as I have done this and certain the click is there, but I can not determin if it is at the heel of the wheel or the steering column. It is almost impossible to notice by simple watching the handlebars at the time of movement, because they always seem to move precisely when the wheel is moved.

If I sit on it, engine off, and steer back and forth a bit in the garage I also can feel the Click. I never notice this while riding.

Should I be worried? Is some play normal after a few hundred miles. Should I simply try to adjust the tie-rods?

FYI, I will leave it to you folks to determine how well I did, but the unit also came with a 2nd set of wheels with 28in Vampires, winch, and 60 inch Dozer plow. I paid 7400 for all.

My new brute has a little vertical play in the hub bearings. The tie rods were tight. All makers use cheesy rod joints. My Rinny was loose at 500 miles and felt the same at 1800 miles. Either live with it or buy a set of heavy duty cross country joints off eBay. There are about three different grades of them. I would get the middle grade. I think they were 109, 159, and 199...

yeah make sure on the tie rods, i heard they come loose on all brutes, i haven't had any problems but switch to ASR rods and ends since near new

also, i get a slight tick, and mine has about 300 miles, but has really done it since new, not sure what it is as I have replaced my tie rods, but nothing to worry about