I bought a new 2004 left over ozark yesterday for 3200.00 out the door. My question is for the first 10 minutes it ran like crap, would die ,and smoked a little. Now it runs great, was this just because it was a new engine or maybe because the gas in it was old?

Also in order to get it to clear up I had to open it up a little will this hurt my engine since its not broke in?

 

Was the choke left on? Or was the choke not used, at all?
Could have been old crappy gas...if its ok now, dont worry about it.
The worst thing on a new motor is excessive idling, anything else will be fine.
Welcome to the forums

 

My 05 Ozark did the same thing. I had to bump the idle up just a bit cause it was dying when I came to a stop.


As far as the break in, you're fine as long as it was fully up to temp before you hit the gas hard. I broke mine in by riding it hard and letting the motor slow the quad down(not using the brakes). I changed the oil the first day I rode it, then 4 weeks later I changed it again. It runs incredible now!! I've been able to outrun a friend's Polaris Trailboss 2 stroke 250 cc and the same friends 4 stroke 330 cc Trailboss!!