i originally posted this in a private board for the off road folks, but figured you guys could appreciate it as well. It was a demonstrator as to why i spent money I really didn't have on an ATV. It really is therapy for me... I always feel so much better after a ride, especially if I go by myself.

ah tis the season...

got my Kawasaki Bayou 250 out of storage the other week and since the snow was starting to go away here, decided to go for a ride with my brother yesterday. \
We went into the woods as far as we could before the remaining snow got too deep. He has a 2003 Honda Foreman 400 4x4 with bald tires and I have the aforementioned 05 Bayou 250 4x2 with a winch... ;)

Anyways, he couldn't go riding today, so i set off scouting some other trails; One that caught my eye followed the powerlines and all was good once I got on to it, but after following it for maybe a mile, i dropped down a hill and into one of the worst mud bogs I have ever been in... the mud was easily over 2 feet deep. To start the show, I high centered the ATV and hung the axles. Luckily, a 250 4x2 is pretty light so when I got off, I managed to get it back on to a high spot and dead man it off to the side of the bog... where I rode it back into the mud pit and hung it again on a root.
By this time, i'm in deep... i mean, DEEP. I've got the factory knobbies on it which have as much grip as a wet dick... so i'm spinning and throwing mud, but manged to get off to the left side of the trail where I managed to get free...

That was the first close encounter with mud, the second was by the football field... I dropped into an innocent-looking puddle and the front of the bike just disappeared! I kept the throttle pinned in 2nd gear (it's a 5 speed w/reverse) and kept the wheelspeed up enough where I made it through the 150yard long mud run... some guys on their 4x4's were laughing their ass off at this little 4x2 hammering along with this fat guy on it... i was smiles all the way.

This is why we buy these damn things... an ATV is money well spent.
(i just need better tires... lol)

Any suggestions for tires?
A few years ago, I had Dick Cepek Spider Tracs on my 87 Honda TRX250 Fourtrax and the bike went anywhere... hoping to find an pissed off tread like that again.

I've been looking to get an ATV so I can be on the quad team with the SAR group I am in the process of joining.

Have you looked into a "bigfoot" kit for it Sam? You may go through bearings a little more often, but the ground clearance and larger tires are well worth the money. I have a 92 Polaris ( poor, poor, thing ) and my dad has an Suzuki Edgier (sp) 4x4. Both are a blast. I think riding ATV's in my youth led to my Jeep facination. And I think of that as a good thing

Posted by jeepdave Have you looked into a "bigfoot" kit for it Sam? You may go through bearings a little more often, but the ground clearance and larger tires are well worth the money. I have a 92 Polaris ( poor, poor, thing ) and my dad has an Suzuki Edgier (sp) 4x4. Both are a blast. I think riding ATV's in my youth led to my Jeep facination. And I think of that as a good thing

a Polaris? you are a sucker for punishment!
where I bought my Bayou used, the guy was trying to sell me a Suzuki Eiger and a Vinson... i wanted the little 250. The 250 is just handier, I guess. You bury it, it comes out without a fight whereas a bigger machine, you might as well call a skidder to come and tow you out.
The ATV I had before this one, an 87 Honda Fourtrax TRX250 was like that... with those tires on it, I would scamper around the bigger machines laughing the whole time.

Yep... it's a blast.

I have a few acres behind my house that get pretty muddy. My brother and I started out doing some trail riding, but we ended up spending most of Saturday in the mud behind the house. He was on my '85 XL350, and I switched between my quad ('07 Grizzly 450) and one of my other bikes ('89 TW200.) We ended up covered in mud, but it was oh so worth it.

I've had that XL since about '97. I hammer the hell out of it, and it refuses to die.

I'll have to see what the tires are on the Grizzly. They've held up pretty well.

i was looking at Kawasakis' website... the 2010 Bayou looks just like the 2005, except the graphics are sweeter. So the bike must be a tough, reliable bastard to not have changed.