Recently the proud owner of an '09 Big Bear 400. So after I take delivery and get it home I'm giving the bike a good going ove rin my garage and I notice that off the carb there is a vacuum line which goes to a "Y" splitter, and that both end of the lines coming form the splitter are open. One went to a small clip underneath the seat and the second was just kind of hanging and ended up laying on top of the engine casing. Is this normal? My though is that tis line that is hanging, if going through mud or water, can just suck up just about anything. I was always under the impression these things should be capped off. I went back to the dealer next day and asked then about it, and the guy told me it was normal, they are there for ventilation.(This was the initial salesman I had spoke to when I puchased the quad, but quite frankly I found his knowledge suspect so I got someone else -unfortunaly that day was the only guy available for me to speak with) I looked at the floor model they had and it was pretty much set up that same way.

Anybody have any ideas? is this something I should be worrying about, or is it really normal?

 

It's normal and it is indeed a vent line.

 

It shouldn't be a problem then, if I re-route the line that is hanging to somewhere up under the seat so I don't have to worry about it sucking up mud and water?

 

It sounds to me as though you are describing the overflow hose. If that is the case you don't want to route it up under the seat. It does not have any suction to it, and it won't affect anything.

 

Believe it or not, those vent hoses are actually specially designed to prevent backflow. They have a one way check valve within the hose to prevent backflow of mud, water, or any other problem causers. If you ever lose one or need to replace one, be sure to use an OEM replacement or you will lose that feature.