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11-17-2001, 10:26 AM
i am buying a banshee soon and i want to know what people think about it. i love the 400 ex, but my friend has one so i want to get something different so i decided on the banshee.

XxxTRiPxxX
11-17-2001, 11:40 AM
i was going to do the same as u cuz everyone around here has a 400 so i wanted the banshee ended up getting talked into the 400ex and i luv it. a bit better price then banshee and i think it rides alot better. but it all depends on what u wnat to use it for. ride each and decide for urself

Nausty
11-18-2001, 01:10 PM
I would only suggest a banshee if your into dunes or drag racing other than that go with a 400ex or 660r

Quadracer5
11-19-2001, 07:52 PM
I've owned 3 banshee's in my life now, and I love them! Once you get used to them they are great for any type of riding. The 400EX is a completely different machine, both are fun, both will do the same things for you, albeit somewhat differently. You'll love the shee if you decide to get one.

Kyle

11-21-2001, 09:18 PM
banshee's are great if you have the skills to work on engines. i have heard that the rings needs to be replaced quite frequently.

WyoDuner
11-22-2001, 08:10 AM
Why is it that everybody who DOESN'T own a Banshee think you have to work on them all of the time??? You don't. They don't foul plugs, don't need rebuilds every 6 months and are NOT high maintenance.

They ARE fast, dependable and have a LOT of potential for serious HP.

They (according to popular opinion) don't have the best suspension but my guess is that 90% or the riders out there don't race MX or anything like that anyway.

You do need to understand how 2 strokes work otherwise you will have problems; that's where the bad rap comes from.

Funny, I never hear people say that 250Rs are high maintenance... They're 2 strokes too, right.

beerock
11-22-2001, 08:40 AM
heh banshees reliable?
yamaha motorcycle shops make more revenue than a honda dealer striclty because there bikes BREAK more.

My friend owns a repair/hop up shop and he says if it wasnt for banshees he wouldnt be able to keep his shop open.

he says, hondas come in for hop ups. banshees come in for repairs and hop ups.

its funny though, he works/builds $20,000 banshees but yet he rides a 400ex.

which I might add ALMOST keeps up with my 250r.

I use to love banshees to, but then I wisened up.

two pistons= twice the cost
two carbs= twice the headache
two pipes= too much weight
100 Ibs heavier than a 250r

oh did i mention that they cost twice as much as a 250r to rebuild?

If you put 2 and 2 togethewr maybe one day youll realize that banshees are a money pit.

If I put the same amount of money in my 250r dollar for dollar I would beat a banshee every time.

out on the dunes, the big bore 250r's rule

hey man banshees are fun, but you gotta think about maintenece when you go buy a bike too and banshees just arent that good at keeping the cost down.

Just because everyone has a 400ex one might be telling you that they are reliable.
Just make yours stand out form thiers!

also if everyone has the same bike and you bend or snap something, you might be riding it again faster, cuz maybe your 400ex friends hasve a spare whatever(set of bars rims).

11-22-2001, 12:54 PM
well i love banshees, my friendfs have had them for a while, one for over 11 years and has never had to rebuild the engine or do any major repairs so i would consider them reliable

trx400ex
11-22-2001, 02:03 PM
banshees are awesome,,,,,,,,but i think it would be healthy to give an 11 year old banshee thats never had a rebuild a rebuild :huh :huh :huh :huh

11-22-2001, 03:40 PM
true, but he takes really good care of it, every year he polishes the cylinder and changes oil regularry and keeps it clean

beerock
11-22-2001, 04:39 PM
thats one way to find out how much money it cost to rebuild a complete bottom end and top end of a banshee. never check the ring wear.

Or another quick way to blow them is by not warming them up and stomping on the gas right after starting it.
Kaboom

Chef
11-22-2001, 05:56 PM
a banshee is 100 pounds heavier than a stock 250R? wow, i didnt know the 250R lost so much weight since the last time i checked, and the banshee gained so much. :huh

canadian400ex
11-22-2001, 06:07 PM
I just looked it up and I thought that they weighed about the same but to my surprise there is 70 pounds difference.....Actual wet weight, w/ one galon of fuel----1988 trx250r : 337lbs, 2000 banshee : 407lbs. I read this in 4-wheel atv action but I thought the 'r' weighed more than this????:huh

Quadracer5
11-22-2001, 06:32 PM
Beerock, why must you talk down banshee's so much? Its true that its takes a bit of practice and skill to ride a banshee properly, but thats no reason to trash it. Yes, there is 2 of most everything, but big deal. Maybe we banshee riders like it that way. I don't think you would like us talking trash about the 250R or 400EX would you? Now let it be known that I have nothing against either quads, in fact I worked as a honda service technician for several years. But I have ridden banshee's through most of it. I had a 400ex, and I did enjoy riding it, but it was stolen last year. My point is, whether you ride a 4ooex, 250r, banshee, quadzilla, or a polaris sportsman 500, if you are having fun riding who gives a rats a#$ what your riding. I love my banshee, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Its set up the way I want it to be for the riding I do and I have no complaints. What happened to having fun riding and talking about it?!? I miss that part of it.

Kyle

11-22-2001, 08:23 PM
your friend hasnt rebuilt a 2-stroke motor in 11 years and its still running?

Guy400
11-22-2001, 08:57 PM
Originally posted by beerock
out on the dunes, the big bore 250r's rule
Hmm, maybe you should check out Little Sahara or Glamis and then tell us who rules. The tricked Shee's are the ticket on the sand. This isn't an opinion, just a fact. And once again you talk about how your R is 100lbs. lighter than a Shee. Didn't this get discussed in another thread and it was verified that an R IS NOT 100lbs. lighter? You must be riding the aluminum framed version or something.
[QUOTE]yamaha motorcycle shops make more revenue than a honda dealer striclty because there bikes BREAK more.

My friend owns a repair/hop up shop and he says if it wasnt for banshees he wouldnt be able to keep his shop open. [QUOTE]Nice blanket statement... Do you know for a fact that ALL Yamaha dealerships make more money than Honda because they're always breaking or are you just going by what your one repair buddy says who can't drum up enough business outside of Shee's? You must be Yamaha's highest ranking financial consultant to have numbers like that.
[QUOTE]Or another quick way to blow them is by not warming them up and stomping on the gas right after starting it.
Kaboom[QUOTE]This is a risk for all 2-strokes. This isn't a problem associated only with the Banshee.
[QUOTE]two pistons= twice the cost
two carbs= twice the headache
two pipes= too much weight [QUOTE]Prices per Rocky Mountain ATV: 250R piston kit=$82.99, Banshee piston kit=$62.99. You can do the math, it's not twice the cost. Why are two carbs twice the headache? There's rarely a problem with them and you only need to rejet when engine mods are performed. It takes longer to remove plastic than it does to actually jet the carbs. If an extra 4lbs. really matters to you that much as far as carrying a 2nd pipe goes you could just skip the meal before the race and make that weight up.

Don't get me wrong, the 250R is an awesome quad but it isn't the king of everything. The Shee has it's place where it's supreme and it's no more troublesome than any other 2-stroke when properly maintained.

trx400ex
11-22-2001, 09:24 PM
you said it guy

beerock
11-22-2001, 09:34 PM
When I said 100 pds I meant around 100 pounds, and 70 pds is heavy enough to off the top of the head sayabout 100 pds heavier WHICH IT IS. 70 to be EXACT

guy 660r , please stop trying to start arguments. You argued with me about something that made you eat your words.This is my opinion.Ive ridden honda my whole life.I know they hold up better,

Yeah so what If I wasnt exact on my weight difference, but I was close enough.

and to answer you question about a 4pd banshee pipe, I WOULD never race on a empty stomach. I need all the carb's i can get.

I dont think your price on pistons is right by any means.

you can argue and argue with me I still have my opinion, and thats where I stand.

Ive ridden banshees there fun ,like I said its my opinion.

I have never liked yamahas quads QUALITY. I love there yz 250 and yz426, they are built alot better though.


there are alchohol burnin big bore 250r's that smoke everything. nothing is faster, unless you switch the engine. to a street bike motor.

the banahees do scream though.

Guy400
11-22-2001, 09:50 PM
I'm not trying to start arguments, simply offering a rebuttal. If you think 70lbs. is close enough to 100lbs. for arguments sake than we'll just say your 330lb. R weighs 360lbs.

Those piston prices came right off Rocky Mountain's web page. You can choose to accept it or not, those are the facts.

And like I said before, go out to Little Sahara or Glamis to the dunes and see what all the big guns are riding, alcohol powered Shees. Not that the 250R's aren't capable dune machines but the winningest draggers are on Shee's.

I'm not trying to change your opinion on the Shee but you played it off as fact that all Yamaha dealerships are more profitable because their bikes break down more often. Do you have the numbers to support this claim?

11-23-2001, 05:14 PM
the motor is running in top shape, he beats it up pretty bad sometimes to. the thing with warming up a 2 stroke engine i learned the hard way with my blaster( which is my first quad) i just got back the head after having sent it out to be bored out a 5th time.

Leo
11-23-2001, 08:07 PM
An 11 year old banshee that's never even been freshend up.. c'mon.. what's it do, spend 364 days a year in the garage serving as a makeshift shelving unit?

Leo

Quadracer5
11-23-2001, 08:44 PM
I highly doubt a banshee will run that long without a rebuild, but banshee's really don't need to be rebuilt as often as most think. I just rebuilt a '97 shee for a good friend of mine, a complete top end rebuild kit was $180, which included 2 wiseco ultra-lite pistons, rings, wrist pin bearings and clips, a top end gasket set, and a set of FMF torque reeds(not part of a top end rebuild, but we put them in too.) he bought his shee 3 months ago for $2,500, and its in average condition with a few mods. Now he still has under $3,000 in hs toy and it runs better than a new one! We have fun riding, so its good enough for us.

Kyle

11-24-2001, 09:53 AM
if you dont believe me thats ok but its true, it depends on the rider and how you take care of it, we go riding once or twice a week and after he cleans it, checks it does a whole lot of stuff to it.

beerock
11-25-2001, 08:04 AM
Guy its a fact , I dont have numbers, but my friend owns a repair and hop up shop and he works on all banshees. honda come in for hops ups banshees come in for fixes and hop ups.

I even talked to an engineer that said that the quality of the metal that yamaha uses on there quad frames are garabage.

I have seen this personnally cracked upper frame supports ETC

not to say that the 86-879 dont have frame problems(they crack too) but usually they crack when your riding it REAL HARD on a track through whoops, or botch a landing up.

But I can say this, if any yamah rode as hard as a 250r could on a track the frame would cracxk way before the honda would.

BUt you really cant ride a banshee as hard as a 250r on a track.]

If you can beat 250r on a track with a banshee its probably because of the other riders.


here is some info that you guys may appreciate.

two strokes cylinders expand and contract ALOT more than a 4 stroke engine.

with that in mind take into consideration that installing a FORGED piston into a 2 stroke engine SHORTENS the life of the bore.

The reason you ask??

Forged pistons do not expand and contract as quickly as a CAST PISTON(like a nix pro-x, yamaha, honda pistons).Forged pistons make the clearances tighter when the engine is cooling down from high rpms, which in turns wears the bore out faster because it takes more time for the Forged piston to contract than the cylinder.

Actually nix pro-x pistons is made by ART and ART makes the pistons for HONDA so nix pro-x pistons essentially are HONDA genuine parts.

four strokes are totaly different, since there clearances have to be tight ,running a forged piston is better for them.

Guy400
11-25-2001, 05:06 PM
Originally posted by Leo
An 11 year old banshee that's never even been freshend up.. c'mon.. what's it do, spend 364 days a year in the garage serving as a makeshift shelving unit?

Leo To be totally honest, my uncle has a 1986 LT250R that has never been touched. It's 100% original; motor's never been opened, original plastic and it's still on the original tires. Fourstrokefan can vouch for it and my uncle beats the piss out of it. Granted, it does sit more than it moves. He rode it pretty often the 1st 3-4 years but since then it only comes out about 6-7 times a year. I'm as amazed as the next guy is about how his seemed to last so long. But, with that said I never had to do any sort of motor work to any of my Zuk's (and I've had 5 of them, 3 LT250R's and 2 LT230S's). My last one, a '92 250, did have a complete overhaul performed by the guy who owned it before me and I rode it hard for 2 years before selling it without anything but putting gas in it and changing the oil.

beerock
11-25-2001, 09:04 PM
heh, that sounds like my 93 cr125 i had. all i did was put gas in it and I put a pro circuit jeremy mcgrath replica kit on it (the old school days when jeremy rode a pro circuit cr 125)- I might add he WHIPPED everyones *** back in those days!!

I bought my bike for 1800, and sold it for 1800 and rode it and raced it for 2 years.

I loved that bike.

I sold it for a lift/rims/ tires for my jeep when I turned 17

edit:
I also had a 89 cr80 which tore *** and never broke.I sold that for 800 and bought that cr125. :)

irfrenchfry
07-14-2005, 01:49 PM
I am 14 and i have been riding since i was two. I ride a 350 Banshee. It is the bomb. Iride up in oregon dunes and my baanshee rips :) . Me and my whole family have banshees. They ride like catellacs. I dont think that i would use a banshee for dirt riding. I would probably use 660 Raptor. Sand Riding then GET THE BANSHEE . Yea you do need to know kind of how the 2 strokes work. When you get a banshee though, you can ask the mechanics how it works and what you need to do :confused: . In conclusion, GET THE BANSHEE FOR DUNE RIDING

rmw7949
07-15-2005, 12:25 PM
[i]Originally posted by beerock


there are alchohol burnin big bore 250r's that smoke everything. nothing is faster, unless you switch the engine. to a street bike motor.

the banahees do scream though. [/B] Dude, I agree w/ your opinion somewhat, I sold my shee cause I was tyred of workin on it but........ That statement is not true at all. Banshee motors are the fastest when It comes to a real 300ft Drag. Want proof, go to PlanetSand.com or ASDA. and you will find more proof than you will ever need. I've seen some pretty fast single bores but if your talkin world record holders your outa your mind. Now at the dunes, some street bike based draggers run pretty good but the problem being that the power to wieght ratio usually kills em. Alot of top speed but theres usually not enuff room to get it done thats why no, I MEAN NO top drag racers use them. Like I said go to one of those sites and get the facts, Even at the Memorial Day Drags at Sand Mt. Nevada the "King of the Hill" was a banshee based moter built by K&T. And there was plenty of street bike motors and single bore motors out there. Little rumor tough, Dustin's 2stroke tech in Oregon is workin on a new head 4 the 250r that's supposed to be over 500cc! How's the water jackets gonna work? Maybe that motor will change the FACTS!!!

07-17-2005, 05:06 PM
Originally posted by beerock



100 Ibs heavier than a 250r

just when you thought you heard it all:rolleyes:

Yamaha_Rules22
07-19-2005, 04:32 PM
I've never owned a 2stroke and i was wondering if you have to drve it like a motocross bike..like not holding the throttle down and stuff..so do ya?:confused:

SheeRider
07-22-2005, 12:37 AM
Originally posted by irfrenchfry They ride like catellacs.
http://www.bansheehq.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/yelrotflmao.gif stock banshee's dont compare the the yfz450. Ive had the factory top end for almost two years now. beerock, dont be ignorant, those people your talking about are probley dumbass's who never clean there airfilter, run cheap *** oil @ 50:1, and run there banshee WOT in 6th gear for 30 seconds at a time. How often you clean your airfilter, the quailty of oil you use, and how you ride your bike are all factors of how long your topend will last. I have seen banshee's top ends last for 10 years, and mine should also the way I take care of it.

gwadabanshee
07-30-2005, 11:58 PM
to me the 2 stroke feelin different compare to the 4 stroke .but when u get dat feelin u goin love 2 stroke 4 ever .no matter wich brand it is they all feel the same .i got a banshee and i don t want nothing else if it s not a 2 stroke .

Jake250ex
08-02-2005, 11:02 PM
banshee arent unreliable... unless you buy one beat the hell up

and for the record, they arent ball bustingly fast. The thinkg about a 2 stroke is you feel like you are going twice as fast as you really are. Dont acuse me of being an outsider, I have one myself :cool:

b4e2r0t
08-31-2005, 09:18 PM
i for one am a big two stroke/banshee fan. i have ridden all of the newest 4 strokes out including the new 700 raptor. ill stick with my banshee, the thing fits me like a glove.

as for maintaining a banshee i go over mine every ride and look for loose nuts and bolts because they turn hosrepower when worked, like "any" quad.

one thing that sold me on buying another banshee was my budys 86 banshee, the first year they came out, he just redid his rings last year, it ran great untill then he just decided it was "time" lol.

something i would of never thought could be possible was one night he ran out of two stroke oil for it and really wanted to ride, so he found some citronella (not sure on spelling) oil for misquitos mixed it with some gas and road into the night, what a great running machine, kept the misquitos away to, rofl.

p.s. the banshee has been out since 1986, correct? they are still selling them to this date, correct? what has been change on them since they came out? where did the 250r go?

yamaha > all

thanks come again.

icecold_shee
09-24-2005, 07:18 AM
I own a banshee and its all in how its set up, i currently have a 2000 banshee that i have close to 150 hrs on the factory top end, still holds 140psi in both cylinders. Ill agree that 4 strokes r better suited for woods, but with does just fine for me. The only downside of a banshee is that it can't ride slow wheelies, but them are for wusses. grow some balls and stand it up in 4th and 5th. Plus, when you get out to the dunes, bye bye 4 pokes. So what im tryin to say, if you set up a banshee right, you can get great performance and reliability from it, and with the sound of one, its just an awesome quad, so don't dog em.

Mxjunkie
09-25-2005, 11:06 PM
This thread makes me laugh, as I tell everyone else, till you own one stfu :)

I can ride my banshee in the woods, at the mx track and around the house and it doesnt let me down at all.

The nose dive rumor- Psh, I've jumped mine and I havent had ONE time that its nose dive.

2 of everything? my 409 stroker was about a grand less then a built up 4 stroke motor to build!

The carbs are so easy to tune and jet

I've done a frame up rebuild on a banshee, I can pretty much put one togather if you hand me the parts. If you ask me people say alot about them but they dont know a damn thing.

If you ask me I'd take a banshee over a 400ex any day of the week.

JDiablo
09-28-2005, 02:18 PM
THIS THREAD IS ANCIENT!

Chef
09-28-2005, 07:04 PM
I never really had any nose dive problems with my Banshee when jumping...its actually alot of fun to jump...WFO and it flys pretty good.

Mxjunkie
09-28-2005, 10:25 PM
;)

Mxjunkie
09-28-2005, 10:28 PM
keeping up with a yfz.. them pos shees cant do that..


or can they :devil:

weekendracer91
11-23-2005, 11:08 AM
Originally posted by WyoDuner
Why is it that everybody who DOESN'T own a Banshee think you have to work on them all of the time??? You don't. They don't foul plugs, don't need rebuilds every 6 months and are NOT high maintenance.

They ARE fast, dependable and have a LOT of potential for serious HP.

They (according to popular opinion) don't have the best suspension but my guess is that 90% or the riders out there don't race MX or anything like that anyway.

You do need to understand how 2 strokes work otherwise you will have problems; that's where the bad rap comes from.

Funny, I never hear people say that 250Rs are high maintenance... They're 2 strokes too, right.

i like the way he thinks i have a banshee to and never had to do a da*n thing except ur usual maintence