Just have 2-3 hours on machine. Is this normal for brake-in or A problem. Any body else have this happen to them??? Thanks John

 

Minor smoke when you first start it up is normal for alot of quads. I don't remember seeing an Ozark with this though.

You need to carry it back to your dealer ASAP and have them go over it either way.

 

Me and two of my riding buddies have ozarks. There's smoked some also, but only when they threw the throttle forward in a quick manner. In other words they did not smoke while idling only when they got on the throttle, you would see a small puff of smoke and that would then disappear. This went away after the initial break in, when the thin break in oil was changed out with normal weight oil. You may want to take a look at your spark plug, check to see if it is fouled (black in color), if it is fouled clean it off or replace it with a new one. The plugs will foul if your creeping around at little more than idle speed. You will also want to make sure you follow the instructions for your break in period, don't get on it too much, also don't run around at idle speed either, you kind of need to go at a mediocre pace until the rings seat.

 

THANKS FOR YOUR REPLIES! It is a small puff of blue smoke at the end of deceleration or just back on the throttle say around a turn. From about 20-25 MPH down to 3-4 MPH and back on the throttle again. I can't tell wether it is actually on decell or just at loading the throttle again I did check the plug looks okay at this point and no smoke at startup or idling at all. It's just that I have never seen any smoke from other 4 strokes even at brake-in unless there is a problem. I hope it will go away soon or I will have to head back to the dealer which I dread.

 

My Recon, Bayou and Ozark all puff a tiny bit of blue smoke on hard decel only. The Z and LT230 {new piston and rings} don't. I ride with 3 guys with 400exs and 1 out of the 3 smokes even more than my little quads. I changed to 20w50 oil for the summer {from 10w40} and it seems to help. I use Honda GN4 on all of them. It is not excessive and we do ride them hard. No plug fouling at all. I change oil at 10 hours religiously. Some small amount of puff is normal on most any 4 stroke motor. You should keep a close eye on it however.

 

The Ozark manual says to change the oil every six months. I think in that 10 hrs is a bit over kill unless you got water in it.

 

Wouldn't get water in the oil as I use a boat for traversing water, my quads stay on the land as they were designed to. As a long time veteran of the car business I would highly recommend changing oil well ahead of any manufactuers schedule. Especially if you intend on keeping the vehicles long term as I usually do. Condition of the oil is even more critical as the engine gets older. Smaller {atv} and high revving engines benefit from more frequent oil changes. I have seen manufactuers brag in ads about long servicing intervals as a selling point. That makes me very skeptical about their servicing intervals. Sales departments will say anything to get a sale. Warranties expire but you still have the vehicle and are responsible for it. I can afford the cost and don't mind servicing my vehicles and that has already paid off for me as I have always gotten top dollar for any vehicle I have sold. It's your money and your quads so do what you want but speaking from experience, change atv oil often. It can't hurt.

 

I agree but every 10 hrs is still a bit much that can be after a day or a weekend of riding. I run Mobil 4XT or V-twin oil for motorcycles and if I where to do that it would come out the same color that it went in. I don't agree with the every six month thing either. I plan on puting an hour meter on the Ozark that way I can keep closer eye on it.

 

remember heat and dirt are the biggest oil problems, quads that are air cooled need the oil changed more ofter also if you do not have a spin on type oil filter then the small internal motorcycle units clog up pretty quickly then bypass ( I do not knoe what the 250 has) so changing you oil often it always cheep insurance.
The smoke could be b/c your valves or youe rings have not seated in but I would have the dealer check so if it is something else at least it is documented so if you have a problem down the road you have a paper trail.

 

My Ozark smoked a bit BEFORE the first service. It doesn't seem to do it now. My friends Ozark also smokes, hopefully the first service will fix this also!