Hoping for some guidance on how to get my Bike working.

Just bought it. Got it real cheap. Overall its in good shape. I will post a pic of it soon. For the age of it I would give everything but the engine a 8 out of 10.

Definitely have some engine issues though.

In no particular order:

Engine smokes. Blue smoke. Smokes on cold start. When driving normally it smokes a bit but not too bad. Get on her & she smokes quite bad. -

Clutch either needs adjusting or needs replacing. She goes into all gears fine but you can feel it slipping. I tried adjusting the clutch & made no difference but I really don't know what am doing so it may just be me. My gut is telling me the clutch is shot.

Won't idle right, starts hard & stalls, & sometimes after getting one her it stalls & won't start. Let her sit for a while & it will start again.

As of today though she won't start at all. I am pretty sure its my fault. Think I did something pretty stupid. I checked the oil level by opening the oil fill cap. Didn't see any oil. Since it is smoking blue smoke I know it is burning oil so I wasn't surprised. So I filled it up. Almost to the top of where the oil cap screws on. I have since realized that is probably WAY too much oil. I now see the oil level sight glass. So after putting in too much oil she ran for a while but started running rough, backfiring, stalling, smoking & now won't start at all. There was smoke coming off the exhaust pipe under the seat. I'm guessing that was oil in the exhaust. I pulled the spark plug & it's as black as the ace of spades.

So have I done major damage? I can lower the oil level to where it should be & put a new spark plug but is it already too late?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

With luck, you may only have sooted the plug. Try it and see.

Kawasakis, and most of the other Japanese engined Quads, have fairly "soft" piston rings, you can often get away with fitting new rings to cure the blue smoke. They can also get glazed clutch plates, a good local Quad or Motorcycle shop could check both rings and clutch for wear. This involves quite a lot of work so won't be cheap.

 

Thanks for the response.

I haven't had much time to work on my bike. I have drained the oil down to where it should be. Tried to start it & no go. Changed the plug & still no go. Checked to see if the plug has spark & it does. Could engine oil got into the carb & messed it up? I have ordered a carb kit so will be taking the carb off soon to see what's up. Is there anything else that might be keeping her from running?

Regarding the clutch, How do I adjust it? There is two adjustment screws. Is one for the primary clutch & the other for the secondary clutch? If so which one is which? I'm guessing the top screw is what I should be adjusting. Also how to I know if it is the primary or secondary clutch that is bad?

 

If the clutch was slipping, generally you will just need to replace the plates. You may get away with just fiber plates, but if the steels are warped or warn out of spec they need to be replaced also.

As for the extra oil, you probably had a lot of crankcase pressure. Check your airbox, I bet you have oil in there if the crankcase vents there like many of them do. I am wondering if your rings may have given up. Any way you can do a compression test?

 

The 300 will only have one adjusting screw for the clutch, it is under a cover just above the site glass. The workshop manual says:-"loosen the locknut, turn the screw clockwise until it becomes hard to turn, then anti-clockwise until it becomes hard to turn. Tighten the locknut."
I would agree about the airbox. If the filter has become oiled up squeeze excess oil out. It may be advisable to leave it off until you get the bike started, to let the carb and intake clear itself.

 

Mine has two adjusting screws. I am assuming the one on the top is the one I adjust.

 

Well I got my carb off cleaned it up & installed the kit. Carb was pretty dirty.

Got her back together & she fired right up. Running & idling pretty good so far.

As far as the clutch goes I think I understand how to adjust it now. But it is still slipping. I tried putting the bike in low range & she works better. Still slipping but not as bad. Does that make sense? But still needs replacing.

I think I am going to run her for a few days before I invest any more $$$ in her.

Thanks for the advice. I will update when I put the clutch in.

 

Hey there. Im new here. I saw your post about your issues on your bayou. I also have a 300 and I would like to help you a bit if I can. These are very stout machines. Your going to have to put some money in that machine but it might be worth it. Ist thing is your clutch friction discs and plates are most likely worn and or glazed. I had the same EXACT symptom with mine and I replaced those parts plus the 4 springs for the clutch and it functions great now. My kawasaki dealer ordered all the parts plus the seal after you split the case. Hardest thing was breaking loose the centrifical clutch nut. I had to heat it with a torch and had to use an impact wrench to break it loose.
Your smoking issue: most likely are the piston rings. This is a relatively easy fix BUT your head will be off. A valve job might be in order. Also, your timing chain is there and probably stretched. And the cam chain tensioner is probably worn to. So you are looking at some money. How much....? I don't have time to add it up but your looking at 2 or 3 hundred easy for just that. Clutch parts were 140.00 . Now your carborator. Rebuild kit is 30 dollars. It must be cleaned out super good. The smallest orfice jn the carb is the idle jet so its the first to clog. My cleaned up perfect. Next thing in carb is the diaphragm which is made of rubber. If this has a pin hole in it or is torn, this is around 75 to 100 to fix. I sorry if this sounds like a lot. I dont want to burst your bubble either. These are bullet proof machines that really rock. You very rarely ever recover the money you put in toys but yiu will get a heck of alot of enjoyment out of it. Pardon my long post. I have been restoring my 1999 300 Bayou 4x4 for a year and half and have put a chunk of money in it. The result is a damn good machine. Im not a pro mechanic but have been working on motorcycles and Atvs for awhile. Good luck.
mike

 

Thanks for the input.

I think I have the stalling/rough idle fixed with cleaning the carb & installing the kit. So far it starts & idles pretty good. I need a few more days of problem free starting & running to be sure.

Assuming the bike stays running good I have to do the clutch asap. As for now it is good enough for the kids to burn around the yard with it.

As for the smoking I have not had the bike long enough & run it enough to determine how big of an issue this is. I am willing to do rings & whatever else it needs but only if its really bad. I probably won't tackle this until I have to. If it smokes a little fine. If it smokes alot & eats oil then I will have no choice.

Something else I have noticed is after running her pretty hard I see some smoke coming from under the seat. Looks like I have an exhaust leak there where 2 pipes join together. This makes sense cause the bike is louder then it should be. I also see some smoke from where the exhaust pipe connects to the head. Not 100% sure what's going on there. Perhaps exhaust manifold gasket is leaking. I am also wondering if bad rings is letting oil up into the exhaust pipe & then getting burnt off. Not sure yet.

I paid 1000 bucks for the bike & have put 140 into it so far. If I have to put some more $$$ into it I will still have a good bike for under 2 grand. With the amount of driving I will do with it this bike could last me for a lot of years. So that's pretty cheap really.

 

Stopped into my local atv shop this morning to get a price on replacement clutch parts. I told him I wanted to get the fiber & steel plates. He asked me how the bike was working & when I told he was pretty confident that its the centrifugal clutch that is bad. He said most likely a clutch that is slipping as bad as mine is will require a new clutch assembly & a new drum. Those parts are about 500 bucks. Not what I wanted to here. But I want a second opinion before I go forward.

So here's what its doing: Put her in gear , give her gas & she rev's up & very slowly starts moving forward. Once you get her rolling & let off the gas a bit she starts picking up & you feel the clutch grab & then she will run ok. Let off the gas & she starts slipping again. Seems to work better in low range & in reverse. I have tried adjusting the clutch screw & it helps none.

Is this enough info to determine what I need? Fiber & metal plates or centrifugal clutch? Bet you can guess what I'm hoping for. lol