1999 kawasaki bayou 220. Will not accelerate at full throttle.Mid range is ok. It idles great. Bogs at full throttle and will not accelerate until you let off the throttle. Does the battery have to be fully charged for the engine to run correctly or is the battery just used to start it? The battery will not charge all the way on the charger and only shows 10 volts while the engine is idling. This started all of a sudden,not a gradual problem. Thanks for any help!!

 

In theory, no as the 220 is AC ignition, it has a separate coil on the alternator which produces the voltage that powers the CDI. In practice a bike that isn't charging, or charges too high can to affect the ignition if the neutral light wire goes to the CDI. If the bike isn't charging when running, between 12.7v and 14.5v, I would sort that out, could be a faulty voltage regulator, or bad connection between regulator and battery (including earth). Once you get that right, if it still runs badly, clean the carb out, which should cure the running problem.

 

ok. Silly question. Where is the voltage regulator?

 

Not sure on a 220, but Kawasaki usually put them just outside the battery box, it is heavily finned, and most are about 3" x 3" x 1" thick so fairly easy to spot, have you checked if it is charging with a decent battery? As a bad battery would give false readings on the voltmeter.

 

well,I don't think it is a voltage problem causing it to run bad. I jumped it with cables with my lawn mower battery and it ran the same way. Guess I'll see how much fun it is to pull the carb.