Spoke to a local Kawasaki dealer, El Paso, rep over the phone this afternoon and he stated that the Doo-Hickey was re-engineered / improved starting on the '08 models and would not need to be replaced like on the previous years models.

Any truth to this?

Yes, the doo is better, though not perfect, it will not break. The spring tension is probably inadequate. I would count on doing the spring and if $50 or so is handy get the EM doo with torsion spring.

The Gen2 stock doohickey is better that the stock Gen1 doohickey though nothing near the Eagle Doohickey. The Gen2 doohickey is made from cast metal then machined and could break though the loose tolerances would most likely cause it to bind long before a breakage occured.

The Eagle doohickey is CNC'd from a stronger metal, fit to the smallest tolerances, and indexed for a stronger pull. The Eagle spring(s) are not an accident and are engineered for a long life. Eagle stands behing their products. Contact EagleMike if you want the full story.

Hope this helps.

As mentioned the Doo is better but fitment on the shaft isn't the best. The factory spring is crap so I would at least replace it. However to replace the spring you need to remove Doohickey so may as well get the best and then forget about it. Torsion spring is the way to go too.

I just replaced the Doo on my 09 . It is built better than the old ones but it is still very loose on the shaft and the spring had no tension. It's worth taking the time to change

Got the kit for my '09 with the torsion spring. It's on my list of things to do - or is that things to doo???

;-)