2004 Kawasaki Bayou® 250

I inherited one of these from my father in law about ten years ago and all I can say is it one reliable machine. It's a bit on the small side if you're looking to plow snow or pull a disk. I have plowed snow with mine but I had to put an additional 200 pounds on the back and it still struggled. It's ... only a two wheel drive. Like I said, if you're wanting to do heavy work with a four wheeler, this one might not suit you. I pull a small DR field and brush mower with mine that weighs about 350 lbs and it's all the four wheeler wants if there's much of a slope. The best thing I did for this machine was put swamp fox tires on it. They set me back about $300 but they were well worth it. I figured I might as well get all the traction I could from the two wheel drive and those tires accomplished that. I use mine dragging deer out or for getting around when it's too wet for a truck to be in the field. I've drug telephone poles around with it. I put a 2 inch hitch ball on it and I can pull my 16 foot trailer around if I need to reposition it and I don't want to get the truck out. My kids are starting to ride it a little and it's a great little machine for them. My youngest is 9 and my oldest is 15 and they can all manage it ok. The electric start is nice. I've never had any trouble with it being hard to start. It lost its ground connection once and I had to pull start it for a while till I had time to figure it out but other than that, all I've had to do to it from a maintenance stand point is change oil. It still has the original spark plug. Anyway, this is a good little machine for someone looking for a light duty four wheeler. If I hadn't inherited it, I'd probably have bought a larger four wheel drive machine that had a winch. This one doesn't have one and after market stuff that fits is hard to find as this machine isn't really designed to have a winch. Overall, I've been happy with it and will likely keep it til it dies or I do. The way it's been running, it may well outlast me.

I bought this bike 1-2 years ago and overall im impressed, this bike just falls short, mainly because my skills have improved. For a beginner its dead on, especially if your hoping to move on to a sport bike later. It has plenty of power to pull any one around and can haul a decent amount of cargo ... for its size. It has lower gears than many other atvs of its class, which is fine for utility but falls short on sportiness. The engine has decent pep the front end can easily be lofted over bigger logs and other obstacles. The only complaint i have is the suspension, which is a single a-arm set up. It wants to swap way to easy on fire roads and cant handle jumping. Even with low gearing the atv achieves a top speed of 40mph, in a short distance. For beginners its great but if u have experience and are hoping to jump and/or wheely steer clear.