Not sure if i should trade for a banshee

[Bwetzel55]

I'm thinking about trading my honda foreman for a banshee one mostly stock. But im not sure if i should sell it to get one cause im worried bout the relibilty. everbody i know who has a banshee dumped boat loads of cash into their to keep them runnin good. heres a pic of my foreman its a 98 es with only 1700 miles on it has 25in exacutioners on it other than that its all stock. Think i'll be able to get enough for it to get a nice banshee or be able to trade it for one theirs always banshees for sale where im from.

[Hondamaster5505]

What kind of riding do you do? That's the biggest factor.

My father used to be the same way back when banshee's first came out. A couple of his friends bought them, and it seemed like they always had problems.

Fast forward to a couple years ago, he had a chance to buy a really clean one from a friend, and he was tired of how slow his warrior was. So he made the switch. All I can say, is he's a full blown banshee convert. And it gave me a new love for them also. They're actually very reliable quads. People like to pick on them saying they're unreliable because it's a 2-stroke, but they aren't.

We haven't had ANY issues with either of ours. The motor is so simple to work on also. The key is proper tuning. If you don't have it tuned in correctly, you'll have nothing but problems. But when they're tuned, they gave almost no problems.

As long as it has good compression, get some pipes, intake, and reeds, and tune it properly. You'll have a great running bike that's pretty damn quick.

As far as what you can get, I don't know much about those foremans, sorry.

[yamahahaha]

i would say there real reliable. but depending what riding you do you may love it or HATE it. when im in a rough trail (which i avoid as much as possible) i dont like it... i do like 2% rough trail riding tho so like went on a rough trail twice lol

[Bwetzel55]

I ride on just about everything but i have a 400ex to for the slow rough trail rides. I'll mostly be riding in the open and on lots of hill climbs. herd they can do almost any hill if you know how to ride it

[Hondamaster5505]

**** for wide open areas and hill climbs, you would be stupid not to buy a banshee. haha. That's the same set up I had, my 400ex for trails and banshee for coalmines/hills/wide-open. Now the 400 is gone and I use it for everything.

A nice dune or MX porting on the stock cylinders, with a decent set of pipes and intake, will allow you to pretty much climb everything in site. haha. Banshee's are a hell of a hill climber. Even without porting they'll tackle some HUGE hills the 400ex wouldn't dream of.

Not to mention the straight line power;)


I honestly think you will end up like I did.. You will get addicted to the power, and want to upgrade the banshee. I'm talking porting, suspension, the whole nine yards. That's why when people buy banshee's, they say "Welcome to the Addiction"

You'll find with some decent suspension and porting, you'll never want to ride the 400ex anymore. That's what happened to me:ermm:

[Bwetzel55]

Think that im gonna find one that needs alot of work. something for a project so i can trick it out my way from the ground up lol. What do guys usually pay for pretty much a rolling chassis with an engine

[Hondamaster5505]

Originally posted by Bwetzel55
Think that im gonna find one that needs alot of work. something for a project so i can trick it out my way from the ground up lol. What do guys usually pay for pretty much a rolling chassis with an engine

I bought my 89' for $500. Had a blown motor.
So anywhere from 500-900

[Bwetzel55]

Well i found a very nice 86 250r that only has 2 hours on the rebuild and its bored to a 280. My friend wants to get rid of it soon so he said he'd sell it to me for 500. Dont have a pic of it but its really nice for 500 bucks plastics are a little faded but not cracked. I figured i'd sell a little down the road and hopefully get enough to buy a nice banshee.

[Hondamaster5505]

Originally posted by Bwetzel55
Well i found a very nice 86 250r that only has 2 hours on the rebuild and its bored to a 280. My friend wants to get rid of it soon so he said he'd sell it to me for 500. Dont have a pic of it but its really nice for 500 bucks plastics are a little faded but not cracked. I figured i'd sell a little down the road and hopefully get enough to buy a nice banshee.

You can do that, and I would buy it in a heartbeat for $500, but i'll tell you this, the 250r is like a slightly faster 2-stroke 400ex. It will not be as fast or as good of a hill climber as the banshee. Still an awesome machine though.

[Bwetzel55]

the only reason i'm buyin it is cuz of the price $500 never could turn a deal like that down lol. Probly woult ride it much just make it a little bit nicer so i can get a good price for it once i sell it to get a banshee. its bored to a 280 with a hot rod crank or something like that and he says he has to run it on jet fuel? should i run race fuel or would 92 be fine. Dont want to blow it up so i'll be fine to spend the 8 bucks a gallon for jet fuel but do i really need to. He has some other engine work done to it but i cant rember off the top of my head

[Hondamaster5505]

Originally posted by Bwetzel55
the only reason i'm buyin it is cuz of the price $500 never could turn a deal like that down lol. Probly woult ride it much just make it a little bit nicer so i can get a good price for it once i sell it to get a banshee. its bored to a 280 with a hot rod crank or something like that and he says he has to run it on jet fuel? should i run race fuel or would 92 be fine. Dont want to blow it up so i'll be fine to spend the 8 bucks a gallon for jet fuel but do i really need to. He has some other engine work done to it but i cant rember off the top of my head

Well if it's ported, and high compression, the thing might actually rip pretty hard. I mean don't get me wrong, the 250R's are excellent quads, and definitely handle better then the banshee. But I was under the impression it was fairly stock. Stock they aren't anything special. If it truly is ported though with high compression, it would probably be able to keep up with a piped banshee no problem whatsoever.
Either way, $500 is a steal. lol.

If it's high compression and runs on jet fuel (race fuel) then you most likely will have to keep it that way. Usually it's a mix of pump & race fuel. I don't know too much about the whole fuel thing though.
It's most likely high compression due to an aftermarket head. If it's aftermarket, you can probably swap out the dome for a lower compression one that will run on high-test.

[Bwetzel55]

ok im still going to sell the 250r its a 86 atc but i aint sure what to get a banshee or 450r. I know all you guys are going to lean to the 450r. But i want a machine thats goin to eat hills my 400ex cant. I rode a 450r bored to a 480 this weekend i did bunch of hills on it. But everybody says the banshee is one of the best hill climbers but does it have the low end grunt like the 450 and does only have good power in the power band. I have never rode or owned a 2 stroke so thats why im leaning towards the 450. Can you guys give me some info on the subject thanks

[Hondamaster5505]

Originally posted by Bwetzel55
ok im still going to sell the 250r its a 86 atc but i aint sure what to get a banshee or 450r. I know all you guys are going to lean to the 450r. But i want a machine thats goin to eat hills my 400ex cant. I rode a 450r bored to a 480 this weekend i did bunch of hills on it. But everybody says the banshee is one of the best hill climbers but does it have the low end grunt like the 450 and does only have good power in the power band. I have never rode or owned a 2 stroke so thats why im leaning towards the 450. Can you guys give me some info on the subject thanks

Personally, I would go with the banshee. Don't get me wrong, modern 450's are amazing machines and I'm sure that 480 flew... But there's nothing like the rush of a twin 2-stroke.
I've ridden multiple 450's and like my banshee more.. I've actually had opportunities to trade for an LTR, 450R, etc and turned them down.

The banshee will not have low end grunt like the 450.. that's all there is to it. BUT, depending on the pipes you run, the powerband comes on very soon and rev's out nicely.

I personally like FMF's.. they are very snappy pipes that come on early.

Get a piped banshee, get it ported, and climb some hills:cool: Ported banshee's are a rush.

[Bwetzel55]

if i get a banshee with pipes and ported how long should get on the engine. I dont know much about 2strokes and i dont want something that needs rebuilt each year

[Hondamaster5505]

Originally posted by Bwetzel55
if i get a banshee with pipes and ported how long should get on the engine. I dont know much about 2strokes and i dont want something that needs rebuilt each year

Depends how often you ride. They actually last quite a while.

If you ride often, but not a whole lot, you can get 2-3 years (seasons) out of them. If you rode like every day and pretty hard every weekend, maybe a year. If you only ride every once in a while, they can go a long time. Just use quality two-stroke oil, don't cheap out with junk.

On the other hand, the life-span of the 450's isn't much better, and cost's a LOT more to rebuild... Those motors are so stressed they only last 2-3 years of decent riding before getting tired. They aren't exactly like a 400ex lol.

The banshee is just a simple bore job with different pistons, it's much cheaper then a 450 and extremely easy to do.

Just don't go too crazy with the porting, a simple MX port or mild dune port would be fine. If you go any bigger it shortens the life of the motor.

Long story short, the banshee's life span isn't much shorter then a 450's, and your 400ex would out-last both of them.

[lukey]

any banshee will last and scream for years they run like3 a habussa for years test them out and you will now the price to pay for it 1800 the blue book price for stock on a 2002 in mint condition:mad: