Can any Banshee guys give me some advice on them?

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Back in the day when i had my first Tecate 3 my best friend got a banshee. Both of our bikes were stock. In a drag race I could beat him pretty handily until we started topping out then he would drive past me. When i rode his, it felt smooth and manageable but didn't seem to have that hard 2 stroke punch. Trouble is, my current Tecate 3 project is slow going because parts are hard to find and expensive. I am leaning toward getting a Banshee because they are common and have great aftermarket parts. I was thinking about a Tecate 4 but it will be the same issue with parts and expense and right now i just want something I can get and ride and just take m time on my T3 and do it up the right way. I have been checking around and I can find modded Banshees for about the same price as a Tecate 4. My question is, are Banshees with good pipes/silencers and reeds and a few performance add ons a good deal? Are they quite an upgrade from stock with minor mods? Are they reliable? For example, I found a blue one (I love that blue color too) a 2000 with these mods
boost bottle
custom skid plate (frame)
swingarm skid plate
fmf fatty pipes and silencers
pro flow billet air filter mount
k&n filter with outter wrap
renthal bars
saftey lanyard
boysen reeds
jet kit
wiseco pro lite piston kit .010 over
sprocket specialties f/r sprockets

i don't even know what some of those mods mean. lol (whats a boost bottle? etc.:lol:)

He is asking $2250 for it. Would this satisfy a Tecate guy like me who enjoys that hard punch the Tecates offer? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[dcreel]

A friend of mine bought an alcohol Banshee with all the mods.. The first ride I took on it was in the street in front of my house, and I can tell you when it hit the powerband, the front end stood straight up with a +6 swingarm on it. It was crazy fast.. Not long after he bought it it began falling apart, and eating spark plugs. He was out of his element (as was I) with the alcohol part of it. That's not saying anything about Banshees though.. I'd like to have one myself someday. The prices around me seem to be $2K for a real nice stock one with pipes. I have read that you can put on the 2 into 1 carb setup on it, and it will give more low end for trail riding. My buddys was good for one thing. Going very, very fast in a straight line though..

Here is a pic of it:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w182/dcreel/Riding%20pics/100_1802.jpg

I still have CPI burned into my left thigh from riding it with shorts on. :lol:

[200xranger]

they are great bikes when tuned right like any two stroke. a little harder to get tuned just the fact it has two of everything. i have a few buddies with them and they like them. with those mods it will have quite a bit more punch than stock however i have never ridden a tecate. dont know about your area but in st louis banshees are all over craigslist. just look around and you will get an idea of an average price. some people believe "i got a banshee its worth its weight in gold" and some people just see it as any other bike like i do. hope this helps!!! good luck

[cr480r]

the T4 will look better in your garage

[SUPERBEAST]

I say go with the banshee, you'll have an easier time finding parts for it.

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Thanks for the advice so far guys.

cr480r, I know the T4 would look better. Cosmetics is all a matter of opinion and in my opinion there has never been a quad built yet that looks better then a T4. They are downright to meanest most beautiful quads ever made. But I'm trying to go for something with easier parts availability and thats why I'm considering a Banshee. I greatly dislike the looks of TRX 250R's myself. They are just so plain looking so although they have good aftermarket as well, I'll take a Banshee over a 250R quad any day. Now 250R trikes are absolutely gorgeous in my opinion.

[cr480r]

well i see T4's out here quite often for 1200 bux.. 1500-2000 would probably buy one clean enough you would not need to do much parts searching.. and alot of t4's have been parted lately so alot parts in circulation... other than fancy exhaust its not hard to find tecate parts. repro parts or other substitutes have been worked out for most issues.. I like banshees too.. but they are best left as a sand machine imo... 250 singles provide plenty of fun versitile power. It takes a loooongg straight road or a tall steep sand dune for the banshee to show its dominance...

[Hoosier_Daddy]

well i see T4's out here quite often for 1200 bux.. 1500-2000 would probably buy one clean enough you would not need to do much parts searching.. and alot of t4's have been parted lately so alot parts in circulation... other than fancy exhaust its not hard to find tecate parts. repro parts or other substitutes have been worked out for most issues.. I like banshees too.. but they are best left as a sand machine imo... 250 singles provide plenty of fun versitile power. It takes a loooongg straight road or a tall steep sand dune for the banshee to show its dominance...
I find some nice T4's around here in the 1500 - 2000 range. But you kinda answered my question. I don't have ny dunes to ride in so maybe a nice T4 will be the better choice after all.

[cr480r]

banshees sound cool, they pull hard when there is traction, they are comfy, parts are easy to find(but not necessarily pay for), but they are just plain heavy.. I hate that. After owning trikes and a quadracer its hard for me to be happy with the weight of a banshee or 4 stroke in the woods.. or at the top of a hillclimb you didnt make.. hell even putting them in the truck is getting to be a chore as i get older.. 250's IMO have the perfect balance of tractability and snappy response.. Not to mention what would look better than a green t4 in your garage parked in between a T3 and a KX? They made banshees for nearly 20 years.. With so many of them made its much more likely that you will have an opportunuty to own one at a later date than it will be to find a good tecate later on..

[Dman450R]

I just sold my banshees and I know a lot of people who have them. They're great in a straight line and can be easily modded to go faster, but they do not handle well in the trails compared to my 250r or my 450. A boost bottle is a tube with a bottle on it that connects the two intake boots. The idea is that it catches fuel and air mixture in that bottle to assist with added low/mid response.

[Mosh]

I have owned many Shee's, and still own one..So forgive me for this book I am about to Write..But I have learned a ton about them over the last 17 years.
Most guys get one and start throwing a ton of parts on them and modding them out..This is really not needed unless you are a duner looking for max HP.. That is alos when the reliability problems start.
They come with an obscene amount of top end stock..IMO, if you are a trail rider, you need to focus on getting low end from them.

That boost bottle...Throw it at a stray dog..They are useless..Put the OEM balance tube back in..
If you ride trails...First thing you want to do is gear down..13 0r 12 tooth in the front..
They are inherant for sucking dirt and water into the engine thru the intake system..This is a easy fix, that I can explain later if you get it.
The stator covers get water and dirt in them..That gets in the crank seal and eventually chews up the crank and rusts out the stator. Again easy fix..
You want to attack the weak points of these before you ride them for maximum reliability..I have a ton of tips.
Every shee owner dumps a set of dual pipes on..( Mostly Toomeys) (Which IMO suck for stock engine in trail riding) And every banshee owner will berate me and call me stupid for saying that..But I don't care..
The Pro circuits are supposed to be good for all around power. I have not tried them.

I run DMC 916's..They give great mid and decent low end that really over rev on the top.
I love Motofast 2-1's pipes..These give a crap ton of low end..Almost 4 stroke low end, but kill the top end..But who needs to do 80 mph in the trails?
The stock carbs have suited me fine..But you need to install the Idle kits and caps..That Tors crap on the factory carbs makes the thumb throttle stiff and and hard to set the sync and idle..

Are they reliable...Well here ya go..

My wifes is a 89 engine that is ported...It has been rebuilt 2 times since 89..Yes 2 times..She will be getting her 3rd this spring due to a leaky headgasket.

My 96 was rebuilt 1 time between 1996 and 2007..It didnt blow it was down to 115 on compression..Stock they are 125-130.

My brothers Shee is a 93 engine..Ran great stock when we got it in 2005 at 118 psi. we rebuilt his in spring of 2007..One rebuild in 12 years..He still runs that same top end now.

I dont mod the crap out of them.. A set of Wisecos, shave the head 20 thousandths, some jetting, seal up the weak points and pick your pipe, tires, and gearing, for your riding style, and they are great machines..As said before..They are heavy in the front end.. The subframes will bend if you wheelie them out bad, or roll them down a hill..
If you have any questions specifically, I will help you..I have been messing with these for a long time..I love em..

My wifes before the 916's
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/cosmicquads/shee800.jpg
This the only pic I have right now of my 96.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m40/cosmicquads/sheeglow800.jpg

Here is a vid with the Motofast 2-1 pipe..They sound wicked.. This quad had so much low end it was sick with the set-up I had on it..As you can see for the type of ridind I do, I prefer that low end snap.
http://s478.photobucket.com/albums/rr149/vacationbucket/?action=view&current=P6220045.mp4

Here is My brothers..He runs Dmc 916s also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vO2NNW4oVM

You can get decent low hour 2004 mostly stock Banshee's around here for around 2000$ right now. If it looks clean and runs good, chances are it has been maintained..Personally, I like to get them as stock as possible..Then mod to my own content.

[dcreel]

I could listen to a 350 2 stroke twin go through the gears all day long. I love that sound.. I would love to have an rz350 or rd400 for that reason..

[3Razors]

Long live the banshee!! Superb machine designed for wide open spaces like dunes, desert, drags, and road tt. I wouldn't waste my time with one if I was trail riding or mx. Thats just not what it was built for or designed to shine with the topend oriented street based engine. Its like trying to make a Ferrari into a tractor puller. There are plenty of other machines that work better in that area. Be careful when buying one too, way too many pimple faced punks do all kinds of hack jobs messing things up.

[puggerton03]

That banshee sounds awesome. Thanks for the vid.

[RoscoW]

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=xhumeka#p/u/50/V5jjnBuHYFc

At about the 6.00 min mark turn it up and if that doesn't make you want a shee nothing will. I'd own one.

Ross..

[puggerton03]

WOW, that sounds great. What kind of pipes are those?

[tj-1bad250r]

Back in the day when i had my first Tecate 3 my best friend got a banshee. Both of our bikes were stock. In a drag race I could beat him pretty handily until we started topping out then he would drive past me. When i rode his, it felt smooth and manageable but didn't seem to have that hard 2 stroke punch. Trouble is, my current Tecate 3 project is slow going because parts are hard to find and expensive. I am leaning toward getting a Banshee because they are common and have great aftermarket parts. I was thinking about a Tecate 4 but it will be the same issue with parts and expense and right now i just want something I can get and ride and just take m time on my T3 and do it up the right way. I have been checking around and I can find modded Banshees for about the same price as a Tecate 4. My question is, are Banshees with good pipes/silencers and reeds and a few performance add ons a good deal? Are they quite an upgrade from stock with minor mods? Are they reliable? For example, I found a blue one (I love that blue color too) a 2000 with these mods
boost bottle
custom skid plate (frame)
swingarm skid plate
fmf fatty pipes and silencers
pro flow billet air filter mount
k&n filter with outter wrap
renthal bars
saftey lanyard
boysen reeds
jet kit
wiseco pro lite piston kit .010 over
sprocket specialties f/r sprockets

i don't even know what some of those mods mean. lol (whats a boost bottle? etc.:lol:)

He is asking $2250 for it. Would this satisfy a Tecate guy like me who enjoys that hard punch the Tecates offer? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

i got 3 shee,s the one i built pretty much same mods as the one your talkin about but i also milled my head and shaved the flywheel its a major differance and i only trail ride my bike and its very reliable i keep up on my maintainence and i really never go through plugs either just use a good 2stroke oil. i would post a pic but im not sure how too lol

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Thanks for the advice guys. I don't need a quad or trike to do 80MPH. I just want a good trail machine. If I pick up a Banshee I'll PM you Mosh for some advice on those low end mods. Thanks.

[84 r]

2400 MAX! for a mild modded banshee i.e piped,and bored and so on banshees stock are GUTLESS but put a set of fmf pipes on that banshee for all around riding they are fast heres a vid of my trail banshee
mods are
fmf sst pipes
boysen reed pedals
milled head
and all other bolt ons with no port work i run about 155psi per cyl in this vid it was like 115 so a weak topend aswell as a slipping clutch
http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/t-elkins/th_bansheedrags010.jpg (http://s559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/t-elkins/?action=view&current=bansheedrags010.mp4)
and another same only the clutch was a little better here
http://i559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/t-elkins/th_fun008.jpg (http://s559.photobucket.com/albums/ss35/t-elkins/?action=view&current=fun008.mp4)

[tri-shee]

I have a 1996 yamaha banshee with a 6" inch swingarm ,toomey T5's , Delta Force reeds , timing plate , tors removal . It has never been rebuilt and runs great . There is nothing like the ride and sound of two stroke power . They are very reliable . Later Blair

[Xhumeka]

WOW, that sounds great. What kind of pipes are those?

toomey t5's :)

Ross speaks the truth... that was the day that inspired me to buy my 2004 'shee :)

http://www.ragefaction.info/images/psych0/orv/maps/ganaraska/ganny_logo_banshee.jpg

[z400guy28]

I had a 96 Banshee and yes they can be trail ridden. Sure you have to clutch more and shift more than the 4 strokes but you can trail ride them. Alot of people say there only meant for the dunes but that's just BS. The only reason i had problems with mine is because of too many people messing with it when the bottom end went. As for the front end being to heavy trust me you'll like it better when your blasting up some steep hills. I rode with Raptor 660's 700's and alot of 400 sport quads and they have all had the front end pop up on the when they didn't want it to going up some steep hills, especially 400EX's and Raptors. I never had that problem on the SHEE. And i have owned a 400EX Z400 DS650 and a Banshee. Wish i still had the Banshee and DS 650, They were fast and the front ends would stay down and not come up unexpcted. Here's a few pics when i had the Banshee. Just make sure who ever works on it knows what there doing. By the way if anyone in the Albany NY area see's this Banshee or in the Mass,CT area it was stolen from my buddy who i sold it to about 3 years ago from the bed of his truck from Lebanon Valley Speedway. You can send me a message through here.

[Jeepermc]

I bought my 05 new. Haven't done a thing to it besides T5's and tuning. I did just convert to a single carb and am toying with going back to the stock dual... I'm not convinced I like it. Mine is sand only, only seen a dirt track once in it's life for about an hour. Plenty reliable and plenty of power...It hangs just fine with my cousins modded 700 raptor.

[ezmoney1979]

IMO I would spend a couple hundred more and get a newer 450 (TRX,YFZ,LTR seem to be the cheapest in that order)instead of a Banshee. These guys talking about trail riding them and all is crap, they suck in the woods. They have the least tractable powerband of nearly any motor built even if you smooth them out, but then what is the point of having a Banshee? The front end geometry is one of the worst on any sport/race quad ever made. Yes they are fast and can be very reliable but 99.9% of the time you will be faster on a 450 in all riding situations. Just so I wont get bashed too bad from Banshee lovers I will say that they rip in the dunes and I used to love killing my friends 250Rs on the beach when I owned one.

[NINJA]

I've owned 3 Banshees through the years. My first was an 87 and was bone stock aside from tires and a TORS eliminator kit. I finally blew it up back in 02, it had never been rebuilt prior to that. It did eat a CDI box in 00, but that's it. Then I got a brand new 03 shortly after. The 03 I put FMF Gnarly pipes on, The DG dual 34 PJ carb kit, shaved the head .015", cleaned up the ports, geared down a tooth on the front sprocket, and fitted it with Maxxis RAZRs. This was an excellent trail quad in the thick northwoods of WI, I miss it. My third shee was a limited edition 05, bone stock, only rode it on the lakes in the winter, I only owned it for around 6 months. Then I moved back to CO.
In my experience, Banshees are very reliable and can be an excellent trail quad when setup for it. The reason they get a bad rap is because they attract the retards that don't do maintenance, don't wear helmets, don't respect any rules, and try to race everybody everywhere ( you know "bros"). Now it seems those tards ride 700 raptors these days. A lot of people who bash on Banshees have either never owned one, had their asses handed to them by one, or bought some blinged out or hammered POS that wasn't taken care of.
There's my .02

[cr480r]

moving the pegs back or a shorter swingarm helps some too.

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Great advice guys. I really appreciate all the input. Mosh's Shee and the other vids make them look really good to me. Everybody here basically knows how much I love my Tecates but this time I just want something with good aftermarket and good and dependable. I think I have made up my mind that a Banshee will be my next purchase. I feel confident after reading the advice here that I will be very happy with one. Again, thanks guys.