I recently purchased a used 2001 Bayou 220. It seems to run fine, no real issues. A general inspection left me with the feeling that it was fairly well taken care of.

Customary any time I buy used bikes, I go through a full maintenance round. Oil change, valve set, carb clean and set, etc. With this quad, the oil level check is done with the peep site on the side of the casing. When I changed the oil, it seemed a bit lil sludgy, like it had been in need of a change for a while. After changing the oil and replacing the filter, I fired it up to let it run through the new oil and re check the levels. I put 2 qts, and roughly an 1/8 quart prior to starting to bring it to the upper level line. After I ran the engine for about a minute and killed it, i noticed that no oil showed up in the peep site.

I figured it would take a few mins to settle, so I went ahead and knocked out the differential oil change. After finishing that, I noticed there a barely enough oil to be visible in the peep site. I added about 1/4 of a quart to bring it to the upper line again. I started the engine and ran it in a minute. After killing it i noticed the same thing, very little immediately showed up. After a few minutes, more oil showed up and it is half way between the upper and lower marks (good according to the service manual).

This is my first quad with a peep site for an oil level check. Is this normal? Should I be concerned about a possible clog?

 

With a small sump it takes quite a bit of oil to fill the filter. When you started it up you filled the filter and that is where the oil went. Just fill it up to where it needs to be and call it good.