Hey guys. i am new to the forum. i have just bought a 2001 Bayou 220, and it seems when you first take off the clutch slipps a little bit, kinda sluggish. when you are into the gas, it seems fine. If you come to a hill and you let you RPMs drop, it will not really move until you downshift back to say 1rst gear. Is there a way to adjust this from home??

 

If you are using synthetic oil i heard that this would cause your clutch to slip. But this is what i heard not sure if it is true or not.

 

Synthetic oil is fine...it's the newer "energy conserving 5/30 and 10/30 oils that have additives that can affect the clutch. Most synthetics and motorcyle specific oils don't have these additives.

If your clutch is truly slipping, you either need to adjust the clutch or your discs are shot. To adjust, take the little black plastic cover off of the right side of the engine (two philips head screws). Hold the center adjusting screw while you loosen the lock nut. Then turn the adjusting screw clockwise until it becomes hard to turn. Then turn the adjusting screw counter-clockwise until it becomes hard to turn. Then tighten the locknut without changing the adjusting screw position. That's straight from the factory service manual.

Hope that helps.

 

Sounds like good advice from others above me,and I would surely adjust the clutch.But,if this does not help,and since you probally don`t know if it has the wrong oil in it,I would get it warmed up,drain the oil out,put proper oil in,and try it.If this helps some,I would repeat the change again.
Good luck,Dizz

 

I have tried adjusting the clutch screw, and i am guess i am doin something wrong or it is messed up. When i got the 4 wheeler, the plate was alreay off the adjustment. and it is not a lock nut, just a reg. nut. but i have tried and i can not move the screw either way. is this normal??

 

what do you mean by "the plate was already off the adjustment"? The nut is a regular looking nut, but it serves as a lock nut to lock the screw in place. You have to hold the screw with a screwdriver while turning the lock nut counter clockwise a half turn or so to loosen it. Once the lock nut is loose, you should be able to turn the adjusting screw in and out a turn or two. Did you loosen the lock nut before attempting to turn the screw?

Please be detailed in your questions and responses...it will help me (and others) give you a detailed (and hopefully more correct) answer.

 

By the cover being off i mean the black cover with the 2 screws holding it on was off, just the screw and nut exposed. There is a regular nut but yes i have tried to loose the nut then the stud but it wont budge. neither way. i even tried to double nut it and loosen it that way and it still dont budge. i took the the oil cap off and that screw doesnt have and threads on it. is that right?? the stud and that piece with the stud is attached to moves back and forth if the nut is loose. hope this helps. like i said it only slips on take off, and if the RPM's are to low trying to go under a load. PLEASE help i am lost on this stuff

 

Gotcha on the black cover...i'm confused by what you are writing though. I'll be happy to help you...I know my way around these things pretty well and should be able to help you get this figured out. Several questions:

1. Do you have the nut loose? You said "i have tried to loose the nut then the stud but it wont budge. neither way. i even tried to double nut it and loosen it that way and it still dont budge." You also said "the stud and that piece with the stud is attached to moves back and forth if the nut is loose."

2. Assuming you did have the nut loose and you were double nutting the adjusting screw to get a better grip on the adj. screw, something is really goofed up. I have two Kawasakis that adjust the clutch in the same manner. That screw easily turns in and out a turn or so once you loosen the locknut. You also said "the stud and that piece with the stud is attached to moves back and forth if the nut is loose." How do you know it moves back and forth? Obviously if you can't turn the adjusting screw it didn't move back and forth that way. How did it move?

3. If you absolutely can't move the screw back and forth, and the nut is loose, then the next step is to take the right side cover off. If you haven't taken one off before though, you need a manual or something to show you how to put it back together. It's reasonably simple if you have a picture and an explanation, but if you have neither, you might be asking for troubles. (The cover supports part of the clutch release mechanism and you have to have it just right when you put the cover back on.)

Let me know a little more detail and then I'll try to answer back right away.

Good luck...

 

OK, First what i mean by "back and forth" is when you loosen the nut on the screw, you can slide the screw and the piece the screw is connected to inside the case. like slide it out toward you and in toward the motor. And yes the nut IS loose. I mean i have even taken it off one time, and used all my force and the stud WILL NOT turn. but like i said, if you take off the oil cap, and look down inside there, the screw part does no have any more threads down where it attatches to what ever peice it is inside. It has threads on the out side then about the time it goes thru the case, it is a solid shaft.sorry about all this trouble. i dont know what i am doing. i am only SLIGHTLY mechincly inclined on cars. nothing on ATV's

 

No worries here...just trying to understand what is going on. The adjusting screw is threaded on the end that is inside of the case. That end screws into a "clevis" like piece on the inside that attaches to a clutch release arm. The adjusting screw has to be able to turn inside that clevis to be able adjust the clevis in and out to take up slack. If you can't turn the screw, something is frozen up where the screw threads into that clevis. At this point it's looking like you need to pull the right side cover off to get at the "business" end of the screw and clevis. You will probably mess up your gasket when it comes off. Hopefully all you will need is a new gasket, o-ring that goes on the adjusting screw, the new screw and the clevis. I can't imagine how the screw and clevis can be locked together other than some gorilla used his muscles instead of his brain to adjust it.

While you are in there though, the clutch is right in front of you. I'd take it off and inspect the clutch discs while you are at it. If you're mechanically challenged like you say, you might want to enlist the help of a friend. There are a couple of nuts that hold everything on that can be kinda tight though. And...if you take the clutch pack apart, be super careful to lay everything out in the exact order you took it apart. Makes things simpler when you put it together. If you can get ahold of a manual it will simplify things.

Try this link for a pic of the clutch:

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://fiche.ronayers.com/Index.cfm/Module/Main/TypeID/3/Type/All-Terrain_Vehicle_(ATV)/MakeID/3/Make/Kawasaki/YearID/42/Year/2001/ModelID/4113/Model/Bayou_220/GroupID/129228/Group/Clutch
">http://fiche.ronayers.com/Inde...28/Group/Clutch
</a>

Just wish you lived across the street...it would be simple to help you then. Let me know what you find and good luck.