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Yesterday, while trail riding, I tried to ride through a "mudhole". It turned out to be a bit too deep. When the engine cut off, the muddy water was up to the bottom of the seat. I did not attempt to restart it, due to fear that water got in the air box and / or exhaust. I've never dealt with this before and need advice about how to make sure there's no water in the engine before I try to start it.

Pull the spark plug before you do anything else - water doesn't compress much and will screw things up if its in combustion chamber. Tip the bike up to empty most of the water out of the exhaust. Check you air box and filter. Empty your float bowl. Check your engine oil for water - turns milky or foamy. Crank the engine with the spark plug out so you blow all the water out. Install plug and run it for a little while and then check the oil again or just change it. Then run it again and check things out one more time. If it did get in the exhaust - your want to run it until it get hot enough to vaporize all the moisture.

I appreciate your reply. Thought I'd provide an update...After pulling the spark plug, I stood the bike up so the exhaust opening was pointed toward the ground. (Lots of water and mud drained out.) I wound up removing the silencer so I could get all the mud out. Then I moved on to the airbox. It had almost two inches of mud / silt in the bottom. I completely removed the airbox, including the connection to the carburetor, and thoroughly cleaned all parts. Next, I stood the bike up again and opened the throttle. Mud and dirty water drained from the carburetor and from the hose that runs from the airbox to the engine, near the oil dipstick. That's as far as I've gotten so far. I'll remove the carb float bowl next and clean it out. Based on the amount of water and mud I've found, I'm pretty sure there's more in the engine oil. At this point, I'm wondering if I need to pull off the cylinder head to make sure there's no mud in there...?

A good way to keep mud out of your bike is to not go through it