[airborne194]

That fix makes sense and I was devising a similar fix myself. However, I didn't just spend 20,000 Canuckistan Pesos to be fixing a design flaw on a brand new machine. As I mentioned in the post earlier the unit is now back at the dealer and Kawasaki is working on a buy out offer. I will update this thread if they don't make me sign an NDA.

 

[T. Lipp]

Bought my 2020 STX 160 on August 10th. We put 17 hrs on it and yesterday my son was riding it with a friend on the Lake. They made a turn and drove through their own wake and the front lid/cover broke off and hit my sign in the forehead. See attached photos. I contacted the Dealer and then Kawasaki. Definitely a faulty design and dangerous at that. Cheap plastic.Kawasaki needs to do a recall asap.

 

[KingKrab]

Yikes. I called my dealer about this and while they acknowledged they knew about this problem, they stated they can’t facilitate a warranty replacement until my hood latch showed signs of breaking. I find it odd that we have to put ourselves at risk of getting hit with a flying hood out in the water and/or having the vessel take on water when the hood comes off and possibly capsize completely to get the hood fixed. Is this the best Kawasaki can do?

 

[T. Lipp]

Yep. I agree. I am completing the owner contact sent to me by Kawasaki. I advised them that an immediate Recall is needed and that this is dangerous to the operator. I also shared my experience and photos on Instagram/Facebook

 

[KingKrab]

I did the same. Is there a line of contact with Kawasaki directly? Not loving the idea of putting myself at risk with north east waters getting pretty nasty this time of year.

 

[T. Lipp]

I called Kawasaki directly at 866-802-9381.

 

[T. Lipp]

About a week ago we took out jet skis out in the water and the front lid of one of them came off. I have read different forums and facebook groups that made me realize this is a common malfunction on the 2020 Kawasaki STX 160LX, I have to say I am very disappointed at how easily that hood came off, I had people ask if we were jumping wakes or going too fast, and my answer is we were on a no wake zone, had just unloaded it from the trailer and hit a small wake from one of the boats near by.
After watching videos from other people, I am just glad that hood did not hit anyone's face.
We are currently waiting for a new one since it seems like they are on backorder, they wanted us to just buy a new one like this was our fault and i was like, ahhhhh no, I would have no problem paying for a damage we made, now there's no way i am willing to pay for a damage that apparently happens daily with these jet skis. Our dealer submitted pictures to kawasaki, which I silt did not get a answer from. I asked if we could epoxy it back on together so we could use the jet ski wait until we get an answer from kawasaki, it has been about 2 weeks now and my ski is sitting outside while our summer goes by.

Has anyone here experienced the same? if so, how did you handle it?
Looking forward to having this issued fixed while at the same time, anxious that this will happen to our other ski.

View attachment 18978

What was the end result with the lid replacement or repair. Kawasaki told me that they plan on putting velcro on the replacement lid. That doesn't sound like a good fix.

 

[KingKrab]

How would Velcro prevent forced water into the front hood gap? That’s almost laughable

 

[Michael Cornell]

Bought my 2020 STX 160 on August 10th. We put 17 hrs on it and yesterday my son was riding it with a friend on the Lake. They made a turn and drove through their own wake and the front lid/cover broke off and hit my sign in the forehead. See attached photos. I contacted the Dealer and then Kawasaki. Definitely a faulty design and dangerous at that. Cheap plastic.Kawasaki needs to do a recall asap. View attachment 19212 View attachment 19213 View attachment 19214

I had the exact same thing happen to me. I bought the jet ski on 7/1/20 and it happened on 7/3. The part wasn't available until after the first of September. I just went to the marina to pick up part and they tried to charge me. I will be calling kawasaki on Monday.

 

[Cdalton]

recall was issued with this. My hood also broke off with my son riding. I got the recall letter today in the mail

 

[Limshady88]

Got the recall letter for both my STX160 and STX160LX today as well. However, recall only states to “STOP RIDING.” Kawasaki has not figured a remedy for the recall as yet. Seasons winding down but I still have my 100lb test fishing line attached to the lid and ski for now.

 

[KingKrab]

Lost my lid yesterday on the second to last ride of the season, the fishing line did not help unfortunately. The line was still there after the lid blew off, because what fails is the plastic shell shattering and not the bolts, they’re intact.

Consecutive large boats gunning it perpendicular to me created large wake, which instantly, violently blew my lid off. The lid came up with a wall of water and hit me right in the face, however I wear a helmet + goggles now so I felt little. Tried to circle back for the lid twice while it was afloat but the boat chop and jet ski wash made it impossible to lean and grab without capsizing, plus it took tons of water almost instantly and I had to find a place to dock before sinking completely. Not a good time.

Guess this is the damage my dealer needs to facilitate the warranty now since they wouldn’t do it prior to any damage/wear being shown.

 

[Limshady88]

Oh no! Glad you are ok. I’m sad to hear the fishing line didn’t work. I guess I should not depend on it as well. Maybe I should call it a season and not risk losing the lid or at worst have a serious accident with a flying lid. Keep us posted on the replacement. Was it the same outcome were the lid ripped off lit T Lipp picture?

 

[KingKrab]

Thanks. Yes, it’s almost identical break to T.Lipp’s pics. I’ll update this post with pics this afternoon.

 

[KingKrab]

 

[Limshady88]

Kingkrab thanks for posting your picture. I know you said the fishing line did not work 1. Which bolt did you attach it to and 2. Did the line break or came apart from the bolt it was attached to? Here is what I did to both my STX160 and STX160LX

 

[KingKrab]

The line didn’t break. I had it attached to the same bolt as you on the craft, but a different one on the lid. The bolt I used is one of the 4 (top right) right where the break was, as my initial thinking is that the plastic stem would snap instead lol.

I took my other ski out of the water for the season today, they’re both going to the dealer tomorrow.

 

[Limshady88]

Hi KingKrab, checking to see the status of your ski. All fixed or dealer still waiting for Kawasaki?

 

[KingKrab]

Hey Limshady, nothing fixed on mine yet. Dealer expects to hear from Kawi at the end of October. My dealer has no replacement hoods or parts, was told mine was the now the 5th STX that had a hood fly off.

They’re also still waiting on replacement speakers since mine died about 2 weeks in lol.

 

[Limshady88]

Dead speakers, stuck radio, ripped off lid..... wow. Took both skis out today. LI Sound was close to being glass. Zipped around for about an hour before calling it quits. Keep us posted 👍