Kawasaki Bayou 220 - 2001 - Used - Not in perfect condittion but ran very well for 7 hours straight on froday.

Today something went very wrong...

I was riding thru a ton of mud spinnin my wheeles and having a big ol' time when I decided to hit a big puddle full speed. Shortly after, I started losing power. After just a few minutes, I came to a 30 foot high hill and I couldnt make it. It kept stalling out as soon as I demanded any amount of power. It would start, go into fisrt gear, but as soon as I would try to get a little speed up, it would stall. After waiting and trying several times, I found I could get it to go if I held the choke all the way over. But at substantially reduced power.

I was talking to a fellow rider who said there is a common problem with Kawasakis and a stuck breaking switch. He said even when you are not breaking, this switch can get stuck thinking you are breaking and it limits the ammount of rpms you can get from the engine.

Can anyone confirm this? Where is the switch and how can I clean it out or at least check it out? I had a similar problem last year with power fall-off after going thru a puddle. But I think that was related to a stuck choke which has since been fixed. If it matters, I checked the air filter. It was dry and clean.

 

Ive had the foot brake switch stick on my 400 prarie,but I still had full power, went on long enough to melt my light housing. Thats the switch I would look at first, its down low and in the goo. However doesnt sound right to me that your bike would cut power due to a brake switch.

 

He specifically said something about this switch being able to somehow limit the RPMs. I just wish I could find it so I would know exactly what to try to clean in the future. This happened after I was riding for only an hour or so and the day was shot!

 

The two dont have anything to do with each other...Rob