Love/Hate Relationship

[yaegerb]

Been locked up in the garage for a spell working on my new project.....Yes, I went to the darkside and decided that I needed to fulfill my want from the teenage years and bought a Banshee.

Long story short, I ended up looking high and low and finally found one for a reasonable price fairly close to home. Got there, guy said he sheared the key off in the ignition and it hadn't been ran for a couple years. Aesthetically it looked pretty good. Cylinder compression was a little low and after putting some gas in, ran decent but felt, acted and idled like a carb problem. So I got a good deal and brought her home. 2003 Limited Edition Banshee

IMG_0878.JPG

Did my research and decided to remove the bulky TORS. Bought the delete kit, shindy carb rebuild kits, new ignition, new filter, new boyesen reeds and yay problems over or so I thought. (by the way...anyone wonder why the carbs were filled full of crap? I love the rubber band and zip tie on the old filter...as if the design wasn't bad enough)

Before.jpgIdle Screw Mod.jpgNew Reeds.jpgAirbox_2.jpgAirbox Compare.jpg

Everything went back on, fired her up and to my surprise it still ran like total crap....tinkered for hours trying to figure it out. Decided it was time for a pressure test which turned out to NOT be the culprit. Knowing that the cylinders were low on compression I pulled the cylinders and found this. Also, the compression rings were pretty much fused to both pistons...what a mess.
Piston Failure.jpg

I couldn't find the other half of the piston, so I decided to break the cases down.....
IMG_0912 (00000002).jpg

The crank is currently getting trued/welded, cylinders bored and tranny being inspected by FAST racing. Also got a ton of parts coming back in. In the mean time, I decided to fix my sandblaster (been down for a couple months) and get the cases ready for assembly.
Sandblast Prep.jpgCases Done.jpg

Nothing like a good project to pass those winter days.....LOL

[oldskool83]

And you see why I was so pissed off at mine....your having nearly all the same problems.

A word of advise:

Buy a kompulsiveconcepts drag/race wiring harness (no key, lights, VR, torrs...all junk eliminated) He makes other ones with torrs and key removed to delete lot of electrical issues.
Relocate your harness up front at your nose...CDI's and VR's do not need to be smaked by rocks from the rear wheels
put 1983-1984 ATC250R or 1983-1985 ATC200X rear hubs on it, they Bolton and will give your some free width and a Honda bolt pattern.

I see you did the predesign foam filter and billet mod...the OEM is 100% junk.

Throw on a 2007+ YFZ450 front mastster cylinder which is a huge upgrade.

A baseline for jetting with your filter, no air box lid and full exhaust is 30pilot and 280 main.

I just lost all spark on mine again. Only run OEM coil, Stator, CDI. Harness can be aftermarket and is a lot nicer then the horrible stock one. Also if you add a few washer by the end of your silencers they should space your headers back away from the air box...I haven't seen 1 banshee with out a melted air box.

Enjoy. Now you see why I had so much into mine. One thing after another.

[yaegerb]

And you see why I was so pissed off at mine....your having nearly all the same problems.

A word of advise:

Buy a kompulsiveconcepts drag/race wiring harness (no key, lights, VR, torrs...all junk eliminated) He makes other ones with torrs and key removed to delete lot of electrical issues.
Relocate your harness up front at your nose...CDI's and VR's do not need to be smaked by rocks from the rear wheels
put 1983-1984 ATC250R or 1983-1985 ATC200X rear hubs on it, they Bolton and will give your some free width and a Honda bolt pattern.

I see you did the predesign foam filter and billet mod...the OEM is 100% junk.

Throw on a 2007+ YFZ450 front mastster cylinder which is a huge upgrade.

A baseline for jetting with your filter, no air box lid and full exhaust is 30pilot and 280 main.

I just lost all spark on mine again. Only run OEM coil, Stator, CDI. Harness can be aftermarket and is a lot nicer then the horrible stock one. Also if you add a few washer by the end of your silencers they should space your headers back away from the air box...I haven't seen 1 banshee with out a melted air box.

Enjoy. Now you see why I had so much into mine. One thing after another.

Hey Aaron, I have been watching your posts over on Banshee HQ. Sorry to hear about all the problems with yours. Something I forgot to mention was I inspected my entire harness after reading about your problems and everything spec'd out correctly and the spark is decent. If I have any electrical issues once all this is done I will PM you. I pretty much figure that most banshee's have had the everloving crap ridden out of them and this one is no exception. I new I would eventually have to do a bore job just didn't think it would be this soon and this bad. Also, thanks for the tips!

I forgot to mention that this is probably the easiest case I have ever broken down. I had it out of the bike and torn down in 1.5 hours...new record. I WILL NOT be timing myself putting it back together...LOL

[shortline10]

Nice ! Money pits but their fun , did a 421 stroker motor not to long ago , wicked fast so be careful

[yaegerb]

Nice ! Money pits but their fun , did a 421 stroker motor not to long ago , wicked fast so be careful

Nice Mike!!! is that a cub or serval? Money Pits is 100% true!

[shortline10]

Yes the ones in the picture are Cubs with big bore blaster pistons .
I since changed it over to a Athena big bore set up , guy keeps Mixing the gas incorrect an insist on 50-1 mix ratio lol .

Nice Mike!!! is that a cub or serval? Money Pits is 100% true!

[oldskool83]

I do like the how the case opens up like a clam shell. BansheeHQ is a hard form to be a member on, everyone yells and said F-off or your a pussy. I try an limit my posting there. Only went on due to some issues.

[yaegerb]

Yes the ones in the picture are Cubs with big bore blaster pistons .
I since changed it over to a Athena big bore set up , guy keeps Mixing the gas incorrect an insist on 50-1 mix ratio lol .

50:1...ummmm, yeah, that's a little too lean for my blood.

[yaegerb]

I do like the how the case opens up like a clam shell. BansheeHQ is a hard form to be a member on, everyone yells and said F-off or your a pussy. I try an limit my posting there. Only went on due to some issues.

Yeah, I created a profile and I just read articles to bring myself up to speed on the do's/dont's. Mosdef a hardcore website and doubt I will be posting much over there. I like the atmosphere here better and guys are just as knowledgeable. Two stroke's a two stroke.

[yaegerb]

I won't be going hardcore on this one out of the gate. I am just making it reliable right now for Little Sahara this spring and down the road I will add some goodies.

This spring's setup is as follows:
1. Stock stroke (crank welded/trued) and .25 overbore
2. +4 timing advance
3. Updated shift kit (star/shift shaft and spring)
4. Stock Pipes (if I run into some money I may get T-5's or SLP's)
5. .020 Milled head
6. Rebuilt, stock carbs
7. Updated reeds
8. Updated filter
9. Updated Water Impeller
10. Temperature Gauge (I hear these things are notorious for getting uber hot)

Even when it ran like crap it still brought a smile to my face...can't wait to feel it once its running smooth again.

[oldskool83]

Keep plenty of M6 helicoils on hand. I ran into nearly half dozen holes once reassembling things just never got tight again. Water pump impellor covers are one area. I went with a billet cover on mine.

[Mosh]

Money pits my ass....I have banshees with 10 years on the top ends and still pushing 135PSI...

I take the old stock filter cage, cut it off and leave that 1/2 ring at the front, buy a K/N clamp on filter, cut a groove in the front of the plate about 1/8th deep with a dremmel, and use a car gas tank sending unit 3/16ths rubber O-ring with weatherstrip adhesive, to glue into into the groove I cut...Then drill 2 holes in the plate and front of the airbox, and clamp it all together. Do all mine that way.. Costs like 25$ including the new filter..Never get dirt in. Also, take that front airbox adapter with the 2 snouts held on by those six screws and take it apart..Peel those chincy rubber seals (if it has em even) out, and RTV that groove real good and reassemble or the air filter set-up does nothing for dirt...

Look at the DMC 916s..Dont let the internet forums preaching Toomey this and that sway you over....

Why you got her down, do the clutch pressure plate bearing upgrade..Totally worth it....And Barnett Dirt Digger clutches are the way to go....

Also run vacuum tees off your carb vents..Vent one hose down off each side of each carb, and run 2 long ones up off each carb to under the seat. When you cross creeks, those vents draw so much vacuum when you it, it will actually suck water up those hoses into the carbs..

also search my threads (never lose your seat bushings again...) or you will, then the seat rubs the frames up front and tears the vinyl..

Better attack the swingarm pivots now, drill ( 2-) 1/8th inch holes in the swinger bolt near each end of the bolt where it rides on the pivot tube, then put zerk fittings in the end of the swinger bolt...Keep grease in there every few rides and they will not seize as easy..Also dump that ghetto front chain roller and get a UPP slide set..

[yaegerb]

Thanks Rob...I totally forgot that you are a Banshee nut. I may pick your brain down the road on some ideas and thanks for the tips.

For the "clutch pressure plate bearing upgrade" are you referring to the newer "pancake bearing" that everyone refers to?

I have not seen many opinions on the DMC 916's....everyone is hot on CPI, Shearer or T-5. Are the 916's a low to mid pipe and 2 into 1, correct?

[shortline10]

Money pits my ass....I have banshees with 10 years on the top ends and still pushing 135PSI...

When I was referring to money pits I wasn't talking about top end rebuilds or motor issues lol , the banshee in the picture I posted has 12 grand plus into it and he will never see even half of that back if he ever decided to sell .

[yaegerb]

When I was referring to money pits I wasn't talking about top end rebuilds or motor issues lol , the banshee in the picture I posted has 12 grand plus into it and he will never see even half of that back if he ever decided to sell .

holy...yeah, don't think mine will ever have that kind of money into it.