Hey I hang out on the sport quad end of things, but my dad is looking at a pair of inexpensive 2wd utility quads. He had a couple old Suzuki LT230's and they were stolen out of his shed. Soooo....

I see the Kawasaki Bayou 250 goes for under 3 grand new. Appears to be just fine for what he wants, electric start no clutch shaft drive etc. Anybody have any comments on this machine? He'll use it to run around his ranch, strap a chain saw or weed spray tube on the back, pretty much light duty stuff. Just checking in case there's anything I need to look out for.

Thanks,

Shady [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

One of my buddies has a Bayou. They are a fine 250. Pretty zippy due to its light weight. It would be perfect for chores around the house. Pretty reliable and the one weak link we found with them is the brakes, but only if you will be riding it in mud/water. If this is the case, just plan on pulling the drum off and cleaning them as a regular part of maintainence.

 

There great for crusing around and they pull a lot of there size. My friend bought one for moving broken cars around at his shop.

 

For what your dad wants, the Bayou will serve him well. Its a fun reliable machine. I use to have one. Its not quiet in the class of the Ozark or Recon. My daughter has the Ozark and wife has the Recon. If your dad was going to do some serious trail riding he'd be better off with one of those two machines. But from what you said of your dad's needs, he'd be alright with the Bayou.

 

I had a 220 and think they are the same as a 250 except for the engine. Used it on the ranch and it was ok but traded it for a couple of reasons. #1-the transmission jumped out of 2nd gear at times, #2-the engine put out a lot of heat making it uncomfortable to ride at slow speeds trailing cows or in the brush spraying weeds. The engine would get so hot that it would seize. The engine always restarted and I would have to go run it around to cool it off, then after a short while of slow speed riding it would seize up again, #3-the front a-arms were soft and bent fairly easy. True, the price at $2995 is right but think Kawasaki would have done a little better. A neighbor still has his Kawasaki 220, used it so it looks horrible and he also had the jumping out of 2nd gear problem, and also bend a front a-arm. Have had none of the above problems with any of the other 3 ATV's that I have had. The Honda Recon engine does not put out near as much heat, the Honda Rancher either. Maybe I had a lemon, maybe for someone who didn't need to drive a low speeds the 250 would be ok.

 

I ran 20w-50 in the Bayou during the summer and 10w-40 in the winter. Yeah, it will still get hot if you ride too slow. It wasn't often that I rode slow but when I did I could feel the heat coming up between my legs. The Recon and Ozark are definitely better ATVs.

 

I use to have a bayou 250 and it was a great little quad. What your dad is going to be doing with it it is more than enough, it's a great quad at a perfect price. I had mine for a few months and moved up to my quad now cuz what i was doing (tracks, and hard core wood racing) with the bayou it was not right. The bayou is great for slow trail riding, and lots of work anywhere. Mine was also pretty sick in the mud! It's also a very reliable quad and will last forever.

 

i had a bayou, and like everyone else said, they are fun, reliable, and pretty quick for their size. the brakes are the biggest problem i ever had with it...i think that the cables stretched more than the brakes actually wore out...but i never checked, i sold it about a year of beating(i took it off/up/over everything) and to upgrade to a 4x4 for the trails..it always started and ran fine for me