davefrombc

You can download the owners manual for the 1994 Bayou 220 and the 1988 -2002 service manual from the forum's Downloads section. There are very likely some Youtube videos that may help you also.

You can check the ignition switch with a meter to see what it is doing , but I would suspect it is faulty. Possibly has corrosion in it. There is a possibility of a loose wire or connection , but I think you are right suspecting a new ignition switch is in order.

Reeds not seating properly could be a big reason for some of the loss of compression and very poor running . I wouldn't change the jets.. Just put in new reeds and rings.

You took out the oil filter plug. The screen goes in first, screen facing out . then the spring and finally the plug.. The other bolt you show is the right one .. Here is an excellent video of the drain and removal / replacement of the oil filter screen.

About all I can suggest is to read through the service manual to see what rebuilding the engine entails and whether you're comfortable tackling it. Have you tried starting it to see what the knock sounds like and where it appears to be coming from? The only way I know of to find out for certain what is causing the engine knock is to tear it down. From there, I would source out parts, price out a new or used engine and compare costs to decide which route you want to go.

Sorry , I couldn't say one way or another.. All I know is what I got from searches since I have no first hand knowledge of them myself. I would suspect from what I read there are no real differences, but as I say , I have no first hand experience with them. Since I am retired and have time to search , I don't mind trying to help others find information on their toys.

None that I found in searches .. Some sites did say the Linmax had the Suzuki motor. According to one , Suzuki sold them rights to build the Linmax copy of the earlier LT50 with the old suspension when Suzuki went to the new model with better suspension. Also supplied Linmax with engines , so if yours has the oil injection it is likely genuine Suzy engine in Linmax cloned frame. Onr thing not advertised by many auto and sport machines is many of their parts are actually jobber manufactured for them in Taiwan. You might buy a Polaris , Kawasaki, Yamaha quad , or some autos and find parts and accessories were actually made in Taiwan.. Kymco is one example of a company that builds their own quads, and parts for several other makes . It wouldn't surprise me if the Linmax maker also makes some parts for others .

I searched on your vin and got the same origin information. Following links to another forum and others found the same , so they suspect that particular model may be farmed out by Suzuki to a Chinese manufacturer in Taiwan ( Linmax ) According to information I found in the search all parts are identical and many, including the motor are genuine Suzuki. Someone may have put the Suzuki logos , or plastics on a Linmax made quad.

A 350 cc 4 wheeler is no small quad.. My old Honda 300FW carries my 260 pounds and still does 40 + MPH.. If you want to limit her top speed you'll have to rig up some sort of throttle stop to limit how much throttle she can give it . Even little 50 cc quads can get a kid (or some adults) into trouble. They don't lack power, just the kid size quads lack the suspension to carry the weight of an adult well.

I don't know about the starter on your Polaris, but I imagine it is very much like those on the Honda and Suzuki. I just rebuilt the one on my Honda. There are reasonably priced rebuild kits for them that have the new brush assembly and the bushings the rotor runs in as well as all the seals in the kit. There really should be no drag on the motor unless possibly one of the bushings / bearings holding the rotor is worn and allowing it to drag on the field. My Honda had permanent magnet fields that are very powerful and insert the rotor into the case unsupported and it grabs quite tightly to them .. The starter operates through a gear train to a one way bearing (sprag) to start the motor . There should be no drag on that gear train. If the starter was frozen before, I'd definitely recommend pulling it apart and installing a rebuild kit .

There is a download for the service manual for your quad in the forums download section

Put a meter on the battery when you try to start it hot. I suspect the battery may not have its full capacity and the extra load of trying to run the starter hot drops the voltage too low to fire the ignition properly.

I'd check for loose or corroded connectors in the ignition circuits first since it started after bouncing around . Check the voltage from rectifier to battery under idle and revved up. If you can borrow a compatible CDI box, you could try swapping it out. There is the service manual for the 1998 YMF250 in the downloads section of the forum . It will have all the resistance readings for the ignition components should you need to check the stator, pickup coil and ignition coils. Most likely the readings would all be the same for the 2001. Very little changes from year to year for the same series motors. Check components cold and warmed up. Sometimes they break down when hot but are fine cold. One tool that isn't expensive but is often overlooked when suspecting spark loss under load is an inline spark checker to see if the plug is firing properly under load. Here is an example of the spark checker https://www.harborfreight.com/90-in-line-spark-checker-69023.html

Glad you got it sorted out. I'll have to remember to get people to check the voltage regulator next time I try to help someone with what sounds for all the world to be a carburetion problem that they cabn't sort out .... And to not assume they have all the air filtration elements installed since the trouble with at least one other system seems to have stemmed from them leaving out one filtration element that was factory installed.. We all learn new things all the time .. Problem for us older ones is remembering what we learned.

The only way I know of if it doesn't stay on TDC when you set it there is to physically jam the motor from turning over. I have no idea what is making it move unless it is the magnets in the magneto. If that is the case , the motor is still close enough to TDC to set the valves.

Doesn't sound right to me . I wonder if there is a fault in the stator that is making it produce much higher voltages than normal. Something is making the regulator sink a lot more power than it's designed for. Foolish question , but is the battery installed right way around? I can't see ignition working if it is backwards, but stranger things happen sometimes .

Did you accidentally over fill it or tilt it enough you got oil spill into the air filter through the crankcase breather tube ? I can't think of any other reason for that after an oil change with nothing else done .

Many UPS batteries are designed to have a long , low amperage draw down.. They do not usually have the high discharge ability of starting batteries and are unsuitable for quads or bikes. Make sure if you go that route to check the CCA rating on them if you go that route . The batteries in the larger units would likely be fine if their dimensions fit the battery box. I'd suggest getting one of the new Lithium ion jump starters to take in your emergency kit on your quad. They are compact, lightweight and have the power to boost a car. They're a bit pricey , but handy to have for power peace of mind if you're out alone . Many of those jump starters also have a 5 v outlet that can be used to recharge a cell phone or any other accessory that uses USB recharging or operation.

The alternator will power all the electronics and recharge the battery . Yes, cold weather will make the quad draw more on starting cold. The CCA is the Cold Cranking Amps rating. it is less than what is available when warm. I searched on the 3 batteries . and found that yes, there is a 4 AH difference rather than 2 as I assumed from their part numbers . You'll notice the OEM battery has a 16 in its part number, but actually an 18 AH rating while the cheaper one with the 16 in its id is actually only 14 AH The expensive one has a 20 , but only 18 AH rating .. Manufacturers playing confusing games with their part numbers. The BS in the battery id means it is a sealed battery. About the only difference to me in the AH capacity of the batteries is in how long it will crank over the engine before it is depleted. Once running , the alternator will run the quad and recharge the battery. No quad maker makes one where the charging capacity is less than the power draw. To me , the only rating that makes much difference is the CCA. That is the one that determines whether it will start the motor in the cold

If the batteries are physically the same size , the loss of 2 Ah shouldn't make a lot of difference. More important is the cranking amps available for starting.

About all I can suggest is to make sure you're getting spark, ( you could try a new spark plug) and fuel. If it's getting both it should run. If there's no spark , you'll have to start checking ignition components . When you checked the carb out , did you turn the idle air screw in and out ? . It should be set about 1 1/2 to 2 turns out from lightly seated to start.. After it is running you can tweak it for best performance , not bogging or stumbling when you go to accelerate from idle.

The working of that sprag should have nothing to do with the speed the starter turns the motor over unless it was actually slipping when it should be bound tight. If the motor is slow to turn over on the starter it is more likely either a low battery , starter dragging or possibly just tight rings in the new cylinders .Are the piston and ring clearances on spec?.. It's possible for some binding there if they are too tight in the bore.

I can't if that is normal or not. It may be wearing a bit and binding but the only way I know of it to actually have it start the motor. When the motor starts the sprag should immediately release as the motor speed exceeds that of the starter gear train. It's very possible it is worn enough to bind a bit when the motor doesn't start but that hurts nothing as long as it instantly releases on motor starting. The special "rollers " in the sprag are actually either a figure 8 shape or could be a sort of half round shape so in the one direction turned by the starter they twist a bit in their slots and bind the inner and outer parts together . . When the outer part ( connected to the motor) spins faster than the inner, those rollers lay down and release the bind between them. There are tutorials on Youtube that explain how a sprag works much better than I can

The one way bearing is actually a sprag clutch. . It should lock to allow the starter to turn over the motor in one direction and free wheel in the other. This is so when you start the motor the revs of the motor do not feed back through the gearing and spin the starter to destruction. The starter should lock the sprag to turn the motor over. If it doesn't the stater will just spin free and nothing else happen. From your description the sprag is working properly. If it seizes when the motor starts it will spin the starter as I mentioned.. When the motor is running the sprag clutch is disengaged. The outer part spins with the motor. the inner part is where the special rollers are that lock the clutch when the starter is spinning the motor over.

Easiest way to clear it is to pull the plug and spin it over for a few seconds. The petcock failing open shouldn't make it flood though.The float in the carb is what limits the fuel flow into and the level in the carb. If the needle sticks slightly open then the vehicle will flood. . You should be able to leave the petcock open for days on end without it flooding. You may have a float or bad needle and seat for the float,or something as simple as a small piece of crud stopping the float needle from fully closing off the fuel when the carb is full.