Bent steering stem?!

[400exstud]

I was just at my town's local OHV park and tried copying some of the dirt bikes. What I mean there is doing the 80+ foot table tops with a stock 400ex. I know that's not the smartest thing to do but I am only 14. Well one of the times I shorted it really bad and the bike got kicked sideways. When I came down I got away safely but the bike rolled all the way over. After checking over everything I realized that the steering stem was bent and the wheels where knocked in (toeing in). Is that normal for the steering stem to bent that easy?!:confused:

[sickmojave]

Yes the stock stem is easy to bend. the good thing is they are cheap to replace. ;)

[400exstud]

About how much is a new OEM one? Or should I get a aftermarket one? If I should which one. I am on a low budget however.:rolleyes:

[TC426EX]

Just get another OEM one... Aftermarket stems bend almost as easily. I have an Arens aftermarket stem and bent it recently first crash. I was going through a big whoop section and I tried to just gas it through it and skim over the tops when I should have been doubling/tripling them up and got dumped to the side midway. The quad BARELY rolled over on the bars and the stem was toast. Fortunately I know a guy who fabricates drag bike frames so I was able to get it bent back to within 10,000ths of an inch so Im happy... Especially if you are on a tight budget, go with another OEM or bend yours back if you have access to a hydraulic press... Aftermarket ones are made to bend too so that you dont trash your headstay on your frame. The one major advantage is that they have anti vibe mounts most of the time and most offer a tighter turning radius...

[Florida400EX]

just pick up another stock one, and take yours to a machine shop and get it straightened, and keep it as a spare. Also, check your bars for bends. It's always good to keep spares of parts that break soo easy.

[JRDrider22]

yea i gotta get my roll design straightened too. thanks for this post and i would of forgot

[Matt102]

I bent mine the other weekend at a race because I didnt have enough speed at some stupid little 15' double, and i cased it with my front tires. My fatbars wouldn't give, so my stem did. My freinds dad works at a machine shop, so he straitened and gusseted it for me. Heres the story: if you look, the upper mount part of the stem is pressed into the lower, long part. I bent mine right were these were pressed in. He took a 1/4" thick pipe and cut it in half and welded the two peices onto the part of the stem were I bent it. It looks really good. You cant make the gusset any thicker than 1/4" though, or else it will rub on your coolant overflow. I haven't rolled it since this was put on, but I'm guessing it's deffinitely gonna help.