well, i have been wanting another ATV since i sold my Honda a few years ago... stopped at a dealer in Glens Falls NY and bought a 2005 Kawasaki Bayou 250... not a bad price- $1800 and the thing is mint.

Posted by Samurai well, i have been wanting another ATV since i sold my Honda a few years ago... stopped at a dealer in Glens Falls NY and bought a 2005 Kawasaki Bayou 250... not a bad price- $1800 and the thing is mint.

My friend had one a lot like this, and a Honda. He liked the Honda better, but never had a solid reason why.

Posted by velcrozeppelin My friend had one a lot like this, and a Honda. He liked the Honda better, but never had a solid reason why.

i loved my Honda... it was rock simple, rugged, reliable, impossible to get stuck, but getting hard to get fixed. The carburetor just fucking died. I got tired of fucking around with it and sold it for what I paid for it. As far as I know, it's still being ridden. This Kawasaki felt alot like my Honda... engine, transmission, brakes... but this one felt a little zippier through 2nd and 3rd. 4th was a little 'i'm all out of cam now' and 5th was, well, it was fifth.

i don't have any pics scanned of my bike, but this was what it looked like save for i had evil mud tires on the back of mine:

I busted my pelvic bone years ago on a 4x4 bayou. Sweet little machine... I'm mostly into dual sport bikes, but I get good usage out of my quad too. Have fun and be safe.

I got an open invitation to pickup a friend's three wheeler for free but only because he does not know what is wrong with it.

Just buy a Suzuki Samurai. Same money and trust me, fun as hell to get air with. Plus it would be Sams Sam.

Posted by jeepdave Just buy a Suzuki Samurai. Same money and trust me, fun as hell to get air with. Plus it would be Sams Sam.

i live in the northeast.
samurais did not last here.

samruai buying hondas and kawasaki? has the world ended?

Posted by Samurai i live in the northeast. samurais did not last here.

Hell roadtrip. We gots em cheap with no rust. I find rusted frames to be more fun. Never know when the taco cometh

Posted by jeepdave Never know when the taco cometh

LOL.... that's pretty epic.

My cousin has one of those, nice little quad. Have fun!

Nice I've heard pretty good things about the Bayou, and $1800? shit that is a pretty good deal...

it's been a long time since I have fucked around with small engines.
let me give you the rundown on what the little Bayou is doing...

last wednesday, went for a trail ride with my friends (josh was on a Yamaha Big Bear 400 and Danny was on a Honda Foreman 400). Anyways, we hit some snow and headed down the mountain into westport. I'm riding 4th and 5th down the hill, you know, so I didn't have to ride the brakes. I get to the road, where the trail breaks 6 different ways and the bike won't idle... it's missing, chugging and then quits. It starts back up hard and smelled like it was flooding. Hit the sand pit and it seemed to run fine... Head back up the mountain, again, ran fine... throttle was working right, engine was at power... Head down into the Mineville side, again riding 3rd, 4th and 5th to stay off the brakes. Get to the beginning of the next trail (danny needed a beer break) and the bike quit again. This time, it started hard and did not want to climb the hill full throttle. Got it refired and nursed it up the hill and it seemed to clear up... and really didn't act up again the rest of the ride.

I've got some thoughts, but want to get some input from you guys. Here's what I think so far.
old/worn out plug
bad air filter
stuck float in the carb
water in the gas

Anyone?
I'd like to take care of it before this weekend as we're doing a twilight ride after everyone gets done work (we're all on days that week)

Think your on the right track with float. If its only going down hill and in gear I would wonder if the needle is seatin properly. Just a thought Sam but same thing happens off road in some carbed vehicles if you may have dirt in the bowl keepin the needle/seat from sealing. Good luck.

I'd start with the plug route since they're cheap and usually (key word, usually) easy access. It sounds like you have unburnt fuel. Second guess would be Dave's recommendation with the float/needle valve. Is there any gas coming out of the vent tubes? I just picked up a Keyster carb rebuild kit for one of my machines for about $25 if you have to go that route. The dealer wanted $54 for JUST the needle valve...

I have an XL350 acting similarly. The only thing I haven't done is a new plug.

i don't smell gas and nothing is coming out of the carb as far as I can tell. I am thinking that maybe when I washed it, i got some water in the gas (i forgot to put the cap back on when I filled it), or got the filter wet. The fact that the bike cleans itself out and runs fine makes me think that it's the plug...

never had a bike do this, even my Fourtrax didn't do it when the carb was fuxored.

As your coasting down the hill in 5th, the float or needle valve issue is allowing all that overage of fuel to be pulled into the combustion chamber, and then being pushed out with the exhaust pulse. That's why you're not seeing it come out the overflow tubes, it's just passing thru as unburned vapor. You're lucky it's not a two stroke, without an extra plug, you're buddy would have had to tow yo' ass home.

Stay safe out there, and enjoy you're new toy.

Posted by cr400 As your coasting down the hill in 5th, the float or needle valve issue is allowing all that overage of fuel to be pulled into the combustion chamber, and then being pushed out with the exhaust pulse. That's why you're not seeing it come out the overflow tubes, it's just passing thru as unburned vapor. You're lucky it's not a two stroke, without an extra plug, you're buddy would have had to tow yo' ass home. Stay safe out there, and enjoy you're new toy.

So if it is the needle and seat, how do I fix it?

Might just be some crud or goo keeping the needle from seating properly, float tang could be bent, thus changing the float level, could be the main jet not sealing when the throttle is closed. I had this happen on my 750, the brass seat would lift with the pin as throttle was applied, this in turn made a hole the size of a pencil that allowed fuel into the combustion chamber.
it would only lift while running. Took awhile to figure that one out.

Some times just unhooking the air cleaner and lookin' down the throat as you run it will reveal problems. Listen for sputtering, and fuel misting or spraying out of the carburetor.

You might be able to run a few tanks with carb cleaner additive, this could clean out the goo.

You might need to pull off the carb and spread it out on your bench and clean it by hand.

Good luck with it.

could this be caused from the big sitting for four or five months and having mystery 87 octane ethanol shit gas being run through it?
i switched it over to non-ethanol 93 octane on this ride.
It makes me wonder because once the bike gets run out hard, it runs fine...

i'm going to run a whole bottle of fuel system cleaner through it before work tomorrow, see if that helps any.
i won't be able to take it on a long ride until friday (my day off)