Hey everyone, new ATV owner here... got this for my daughter (she's 15), our first ATV ever. I'm comfortable around farm tractors and car engines, but never owned an ATV before.

Starts and drives; looks like I may need to tinker with the choke lever a little, and the front lights look mismatched. The seat latch does not catch, looks like I need to somehow turn it backwards and then make it stay backwards I guess. Or replace it

 

The Bayou is a good little quad, great first quad for a beginner. Looks like its pretty clean too. More power than you would think for a little 220cc engine because its so small and light and benefits from having the semi-auto 5 speed instead of a cvt. Plenty of power for trail riding and light work. I had trouble with the seat latch on a Grizzly before. It would stay latched as long as I was sitting on it but it wasn't a solid connection. I stretched bungy cords across the seat whenever I hauled it to make sure I didn't lose the seat, a new seat is pretty expensive, about $300 for a Grizzly I think so I didn't want to lose it.

 

(I had to create another username -- didn't want to use the Facebook one)

The seat latch problem turned out to just be the sticking release cable. Once I got enough lubricant in there, it started working just fine.

Daughter loves it!!

 

Sounds like everyone is happy then. You found a good, inexpensive quad for her and she likes it. A win-win.

 

Now you may want to buy one for yourself, as you said this is the first for your family. Another tip when hauling that I use that I noticed in your pic. I use a couple of blocks of wood to chock the front tires to keep the bumper from smashing my back window in my truck. An old tire like you used will work but the chunks of wood would let you roll it a little farther forward and probably be able to close the tailgate. A couple of short pieces of 4x4 lumber or something of similar size would work. I had to resort to something a little bigger on my Brute as the front bumper sticks out too far. I still can't close the tailgate on my shortbed Chevy Silverado but I just make sure I keep it good and tied down with parking brake set and its not a problem. The Grizzly I had previous would just fit with tailgate closed as the front bumper was smaller and tucked in farther, even with a winch on it. I was able to use the smaller chunks of wood and it had enough clearance from the rear window.

 

LOL already done -- found a pretty good deal on a 2003 polaris already repaired the leaking valve cover seal and did all the fluids in it. These things are so easy and fun to work on!