We are considering buying our grandaughter an ATV of some type. She is 12 years old and about 5'6" tall. Average strength and dexterity. She has been riding her uncle's Raptor and our Prairie 360 and been able to handle them OK but has been restricted on speed and terrain by close adult supervision.

Has anyone had any experiance with using the Bayou 250 as a "first" ATV? Keeping in mind that the Bayou would only be used on our private property and under the watchful eye of her folks or other family adults do you think this would be a reasonable ATV to buy?

I have looked at other, smaller, Quads but considering our grandaughters size I don't believe they are big enough for her.

Any suggestions or opinions?

 

A bayou would be a great quad to start out on. If she has been riding a prarie and a raptor then she would be fine on a bayou. If she has trouble shifting it is a great quad to learn on. The bayou does not have flying speed so you wouldnt have to worry about taht. They prolly get up to 45. If you keep your eyes on her then you shouuld have no problem with it. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

Thanks KAWS for your input. We will probably go with this machine.

 

Went to our dealership today and checked out a number of quads. Ended up buying the Bayou 250, red, along with a helmet and other rideing gear. Going to be fun taking it to it's new home next week. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

We bought ours for are daughter two years ago when they first became a 250. She was ten then and twelve now.

I've owned many quads and bikes thru the years and I always comment about the 250 to be the best buy and machine we ever owned. The many uses this machine has had in the past two years is unbelievable.

The second day we had it we went trail riding and my oldest daughter drove it into a lake, and I mean a big lake, sunk the hole quad. We cleaned out the carb and changed the oil, still have had no problems ever with this machine.

You will find just like I did, this is a good choice of a machine.

Wish I could help you on the little problems with it, but thus far we just never had any problems.

 

Early Press Release

2003-Kawasaki-Bayou-250-and-the-Prairie-360

The Honda Recon is the Bayou's equal and has better handling capacities because of the front end design.

 

tencubed
I think you will be very happy with the 250. I bought a 220 for my daughter when she was 12.

Tim

 

I spent some time "breaking in the engine" on the 250 today. Rotten job but somebody has to do it.

Nice ride, plenty of power for what it's for and really easy to operate. Only running about half throttle and not working it hard but it seems to be very smooth and responsive.

Even got the wife to try it out. Think she is going to stick to the car and air conditioning.

 

I have been using my 1990 220 for 14 yrs.....never had a problem nor have I had to spend a lot of money on it besides regular maintenance stuff.

It handles great, very nimble, light steering.

Its a great bike ....not too bad in avg mud either....and if you do get stuck easy to walk or lift out.

Im just letting my 13 yr old drive it in the yard for now with throttle limited.

Just gotta watch it on trails with kids....I don't think kids rationalize the same way adults do if faced with a bad situation. If it flips because they are going off camber or whatever, there is 400 lbs of machine going on top of them.