fast87

check the oil on the dipstick to see if it's dark gray with clutch material..tis an easy fix tho, if you do it right...i did mine in a few hours on the trailer at the dunes...luckily the wind was down that day so no sand flew into my motor that i know of..keep rags handy and drain all the fluids first, actually first go buy a clymers manual you won't regret it(so i hear, i still don't have one..) ~Mark~

philly i thikn you are my brother from another mother!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol but seriousely i'm not kidding...i have a toyota just like yours(in your sig), and a banshee like yours also...well ok they're better but still insanely close...tomorrow i'll snap some pics of my 87 banshee and 89 black toyota pick up like yours for you to see...lol this is really weird.....anyway too much 2 druink i'll snapper pics soon ~Mark~

i run 14/43 and it works great for me, in the 300ft i barely hit 5th gear, and have a good launch in 2nd...unfortnately i'm getting beat by too many people...time for upgrades!! and a job!! ~Mark~

if you need to replace the head gasket i would recommend a stock OEM one, but for that PSI of compression the cometic should be fine, PM me if you need one, i have 3 spares..also it shoulden't effect your compression very much, could be time for a rebuild or maybe just the head gasket is leaking on that side causing a lower reading....also i made solid exhaust hangers all around with no problems, the stock rubber is there to reduce vibration and wear out...if you can CNC machine some billet ones for cheapish i'm sure a lot of HQ'ers would love a set, mine are made from a piece of flat steel that i bent, drilled 2 holes in, then spray painted...some billet ones would really stand out with the mud and crap on my bike ~Mark~

the new ones will be much stiffer than stock, so use at least 3 new and 3 stock if you're not riding real hard or your bike is mostly stock..my bike isn't stock, but not all that fast either, i stuck in all 6 new heavier springs because i have a strong wrist and want my clutch to last longer and grab harder, it will be a little harder to pull in but it's worth the extra life of the new discs ~Mark~

replace your plugs before you tear into your engine, had the same problem with my 2:1 intake system and it was just too rich after the rebuild(i opened up the add-on "powervalve" thingy on the side of the carb), and would only foul out the left side..go figure...leaned it out tiwh the adjustable main jet thingy and now it's gravy, don't worry i'm still on the rich side by a longshot...because i do a lot of WOT running mainly. But check your plugs, relpace them...if that doesn't help then switch spark plug wires(it doesn't matter which side they go on) and see if the problem goes to the other cylinder...if it does then replace the spark plug wires, the stock wires have a steel braided type core, but i used some old automotive wires and it works great, i just electrical taped the hell out of em where they go into the coil so they never come out, works great so far, good luck and it's probably something simple ~Mark~

Actually the big roller goes on bottom and the small one on top, if you want proof check out their chain rollers section, the smaller 34mm one is top and the 39 or 42mm ones are bottom...linky- http://www.uppracing.com/index.php?cid=65, Also if anyone can't find a price the whole pack is 79.95 from UPP, here's the linky for that-http://www.uppracing.com/index.php?cid=69 Good luck and i'm gonna cut my cascade front slider like that and stick a wood screw through it because i can't get my swingarm pivot bolt out ~Mark~

and his trailer doesn't have air brakes, yet another reason why he doesn't need a CDL, cops care, but not THAT much ~Mark~

when you say small crack in the cylinder, what do you mean?? is it actually a crack or just a ding/scrape?? take it to the guy who will be working ont he jugs, he can tell you what to do next..if all else fails i have a set of unported .020" over cylinders you can buy, they should be bored to .030" over just to clean it up, one side broke a ring but the grooves are not that deep, pics if you want, good uck ~Mark~

i run 20" haulers(10 paddle) on my slightly modified shee, stock porting, cool head w/21cc domes, toomey T5's, graydon proline 2:1 carb kit with 35mm keihin, +4 swingarm, etc...but anyway my gearing is 14/43 andi really like it, i went up from a 13t front sprocket because i was topping it out too much on the logging roads, and at the dunes(oregon dunes so you know the hills are big) i have no bogging problems starting out in second, and can hit 4th gear going up banshee hill at winchester bay...works great for me i woulden't want any higher. ~Mark~

i don't see how the hell you guys run 60:1 and especially 80:1 and your bikes still last a long time, i run cheapo oil at 32:1 and it has tons of power, should i start mixing 40:1? i know the quality of the oil will allow it to lubricate more with less oil(if thta makes sense) but damn, 80:1 is barely any oil at all ~Mark~

i run a "power jet" (as the previous owner calls it), it's basically an adjustable main jet...anyway it's on the side of my single 35mm keihin carb, and works GREAT, i don't understand why so many people complain about em, but i think people shoulden't knock this product till they try it, at the dunes for playing around i richen it up about 1/4 turn, then for serious racing i lean it out a little, so i crank it in about 1/2 turn, then back whatever amount for whatever riding i'm doing, but usually i leave it one spot, and read my plugs(without chopping them, as a base line) when they have about 20min on them to check for the color..i know it's not the proper way but it's the way i do it, if you don't like my way then stick to changing jets all the time, lol....i HIGHLY recommend this adjustable jet, just don't forget it's there after a rebuild, or accidentally unscrew it a few turns wondering what the hell it is...if run too rich and let sit to cool down, it will foul your plugs i noticed..lol, i now know my lesson but my shee is stil on the rich side....sorry for the long run on it's late and i need shleep, i say buy this adjustable jet, it's fricken great!!! i have the brass one that bolts to the side of my carby, good luck ~Mark~

there was a company called tricklicks at the oregon dunefest this year, do a search for their website and see what you find, they had a KILLER all carbon fiber front and rear set all for 1,000 bucks, he made it all himself and runs it on his and buddies banshees, the front weighs in at exactly 2lbs without the radiator cover, and the rear was a little over 2lbs, so all in all i think both shaved front and rear fenders were like 6-7lbs, very light a tough shit!! but he did say after 2 very hard wrecks between him and his business partner, they broke 2 rear carbon fiber fenders..lol, anyway good luck, they sell a bunch of other stuff too like nice billet shifters, etc...so look em up, the guy is very easy to deal with too ~Mark~

thanks guys for the replies, i only ride logging roads where i'm WOT about 40% of the time, i realize i'm cheap and the oil sucks, so i'm a little more careful when riding, i also haven't heard of someone blowing their engine because of cheap oil, so i'll continue to use it till i get some major engine work done and have a good job, right now my porting is stock, with a few engine mods, if it blows now it's not a huge deal to rebuild it....Thanks for the input it is appreciated :drink ~Mark~

It's all i've ever ran in my banshee with no problems related to the oil(caught a ring on a transfer port that wasn't chamferred on the edges), it's under 7 bucks a GALLON. and works good for me, i ran out at the dunes and bought some real good stuff for 7 bucks a quart, and didn't notice a difference except a little less smoke(it was "smokeless"), i also run my mix at 32:1, Any input would be great, i'm cheap so this is working good for me, and yes i do care about my banshee, but i care about gas money and my truck even more ~Mark~

i cut the bottom off of a water bottle that was the same size as my single 35mm keihin, and used the clamp to hold it on, it doesn't leak much water (if any) past it, maybe a drop or two. I just keep that handy so i can clean it real good anytime, without messing with a plastic bag, plus you can pressure wash the water bottle bottom, a plastic bag will tear easily, allowing lots of water into your engine...a bad thing for sure ~Mark~

87 cents says it's electical, but to make sure it's not the twist throttle, make sure the slides are almost closed, or even put the thumb throttle back on...anyway back to electrical, since i tore everything down this last couple months, it sometimes acts the same way on cold startup, it starts first kick, revvs up alittle as usual, then totally cuts out like i hit the kill switch(it's done it a couple times when hot too, but luckily i wasn't drag racing at the times), when it does it hot the next kick fires it up and is good to go, but when it does that while the engine is cold from overnight sitting, i kick it and the engine turns over a couple times(like it's running) then stops like i hit the kill switch, it will do this for up to 8-10 kicks. But when it does stay running it's good for the day...try swapping out electric components with a different banshee to fix the problem, if you find it out please let me know, from the few times it does that, it has backfired also, and people give me this weird look and assume my beloved banshee is a piecer..so i show em up on the dunes!! anyway good luck with your problem, i was thinking stator or CDI box, or even coil, maybe there's tests you can or a dealer can do on em ~Mark~

sounds to me like it's running very lean, or your fuel filter is plugged, etc... because it seems your carburetor bowl is running dry with all thw WOT running, which shoulden't be done in the first place...your banshee should never run the bowls dry, after you let it sit for a few seconds the bowls fill up and it's good to go for a few more minutes...check your fiel petcock, remove the tank, tip it upside-down, and remove the on/off valbve on the bottom of your tank, the screens might be dirty...make sure the filter flows good too...good luck ~Mark~

man.....you guys looked overt he obvious and probably the culprit of the WOT sputter...AIR FILTER!!!!!!!! clean it!! even if it looks clean, still clean it again!! ~Mark~

lol thanks man...anyway i did finally get the problem fixed, and it SCREAMS now!!! , after all that it turned out to be a faulty spark plug, i guess sitting over night made it take a crap on me , so it was a combination of bad plug caps, 1 bad plug, and it was running so rich because my "adjustabe power jet" was set too rich, like 3-4 turns too rich, lol, anyway i got it figured out, and if any of you are thinking about buying one of those add-on adjustable jets, i HIGHLY recommend it , with 1/4 turn of the dial i can feel an immediate difference, so now i can run slightly rich when i'm screwin around, and when i wanna race or get all the HP out of bike, i simply turn in the dial 1/8 or 1/4 turn...just gotta be areful not to over-lean your machine ~Mark~

wow those pics are HUGE (if mods have a problem i will delete em), anyway as you can see the green one on the bottom had a little water there for a while, it was all cracked at one end, when i lifted on a piece of it it just flaked off..lol, both the plastic sleeves that cover the bulbs(they look like fuses) are melted to the bulb, and both are burnt out..so i guess they were no good anyway, hopefully this will help someone fix their misfiring problem, also does the banshee use 5mm, or 8mm spark plug wires?? and if they're the same size an automotive wire will be fine i assume.. ~Mark~

~Mark~

i figured it out!! , it was those damn red lighted spark plug caps, i paid like 20 bucks for them at a harley shop about a year ago, and now it came back to bite my in the ass..anyway the bulbs in em were burnt out, one was all corroded and green, and on the other, the screw at the end that goes into my spark plug wire just fell out when i tried to unscrew it..lol..now i'm gonna go down to the bike shop and pick up some regular ones, the red flashing lights looked sweet on top of my motor and i'm gonna miss em, but now i bet there will be less resistance in the caps, so that equals more spark!! Thanks to everyone who didn't reply , i'll post a pic too so oyu know which caps NOT to buy ~Mark~

i had my reeds out 2 days ago while i was building it and they looked prefect, i don't know the brand but i think they're 4 petal, 1 big petal with 2 smaller ones on eah side, stock cages, they looked fine then but i can check if i must, i also run a keihin 35mm carb with a graydon 2:1 carb adapter, with a K&N filter...i pulled out the choke 1 time and it didn't make a difference, if anything it ran a little worse.. Thanks in advance for the help ~Mark~

I need help ASAP, i am goint to the oregon dunes and dunefest very soon(leaving this sat.),a nd suddenly had this problem, it started on the first kick as usual(after the rebuild a couple days ago), it has a little over an hour on the new top end, using stock virgin jugs(off of a 2005) with wiseco pro lites, i did four, 5 minute heat cycles, slowly adding mopre throttle each time, did a couple 3/4 passes after the heat cycles, ran fine but a little rich on the top end(bought a bigger main and the add-on "power jet" knob was richened 1.5 turns from where it was), so i expected that...anyway i rode it yesterday for about 45min total(2 rides), it ran great, lots of power up till the top end, and i parked it..today i go to start it, started on the first kick, ran poorly but i assumed it did that because it was cold, let it idle for a few seconds, sat there and revved it up a bit, then slowly rode to the top of the hill so i could clear it out without pissing off the neighbors, and it didn't clear out like usual, i felt the exhaust with my hand and the right side was very hot(unusual for a motor that's been running for 2-3min) with lots of pressure, and the left side was almost cold with hardly any pressure...so i idled down the hill and parked it immediately, took out the plugs and cleaned em(nothing unusual, some oil but no metal fragments), tightened the caps to the wires a little, re-tried with no luck...i guess i should check compression next, but i have to remove the tank for my tester to fit...man i'm REALLY fucked if i broke a ring and wasted 700.00 and 5 months that it took to get this far, somebody please help!!! i'm about to if this is a serious problem, i can also remove ym cool head to check for detonation, my timing plate is a modded stocker, i don't know how many degrees it is set at, so i put it a tiny bit past where it was.. ~Mark~