ski alignment??

.... unless you had a loose spindle and bounced off a tree, curb, railraod track, ext...


I'd double check the spindles and make sure the bolts are tight.

I have almost no play between the ski and spindle. There should be a little play in between the handlebars and spindle, but what you describe sounds excessive (and possibly dangerous). Take a look at your tie rod ends for wear. There should be no play in them at all. Then look at the steering "knuckle" (where the three steering rods meet), and see if that moves back and forth while you move the handlebars. And lastly, your handlebar mount (below the engine, hard to get to). Make sure that all four bolts are tight, and hit that zerk with some grease. Otherwise, you also have 2 bushings above and below the spindle, they may have wear and are allowin the spindle itself to move, and it won't hold grease too well. Hope this helps tighten her up.

By outer bolts, I am assuming that you mean the bolts that go through the tie rod ends. There is a collar on the tie rod ends that will allow those bolts to be tightened up fairly tight. If you are going to replace them, I'd also replace the outer tie rod ends as well. The tie rod ends will be threaded for right hand and left hand, which allows you to turn the tie rod to adjust toe in or out. I think that they are around $15.00 each. If those are bad, you might want to look at the radius rods as well. The upper and lower rods have tie rod ends that wear out also. These will be found behind the 'knuckle' under the belly pan. Be careful when removing the lower ends (larger diameter) from the radius rod. They have a tendency to break off in the radius rod. If they are really stuck, take a torch and heat them up until they are glowing red. The tie rod end will turn out with out breaking off. If it does break off, grind it down, drill it, and tap it out.

Good Luck