Overview

They all do it. It would be better if they didn't but it's a terrible design. Shoot em full of grease and roll on.

Thought I'd throw this one in the club section to help raise the lack of activity here. I'm fixing up a '00 Bayou 220 that I picked up last weekend; needs the carb rebuilt, at least that's all I was hoping it needed. Anyways, decided to check the battery, starter, spark, all that jazz so I was good to go when I got the carb fixed.. and that's when I found an intermittent short in the start switch as well as the headlight switch. So I removed the switch housing from the handlebar to find this: I dismantled the entire assembly, blew it all out with compressed air, cleaned everything including the corroded contacts, and then reassembled it all making sure to put dielectric grease on all the exposed electrical. It looks 1000x better than before and everything works as it should (though I think I installed the kill switch backwards lol). My question is this: Is that good enough? As a former auto mechanic, I'd always seal any external electronics to prevent dirt, moisture, etc from getting in. However, the design of the housing doesn't really make this possible. I'm not trying to make this thing 100% submersible, but with the switch being old/original I'd like to know it won't fail on me if I get caught in a downpour or something.

I just bought a 1993 220 for 200.00 in good condition. Went thru it from top to bottom, replaced all the wheel bearings and brakes shoes. Rebuilt carb, new battery and replaced a few screws missing. The front king pins move up and down a lot is that normal? I have looked at a few other bayou 220 and they seem to be loose as well. Just wonder before I spend 40-50 per side for parts.

Hello Kawasaki Bayou 220 Restoration and Repairs Club! I just updated your club forum and removed a duplicate topic section. You can also add a files and gallery section to make it club specific. 😁