rjvoight

You are looking at a limited edition, good choice. There really is not really any bad about it. I have ridden them all, banshee, raptor, warrior, 300ex 400ex, YFZ40 and the suzuki. They all have strengths, but the Banshee will do almost everything the others do with the added bonus of a Killer Powerband. Once you learn where the bikes sweet spots are you will be totally pleased. The other thing is, once you go to the dunes, you will be hooked and I doubt you will really want to ride anywhere else. With that being the probable truth, the Banshee is the way to go. If you want to hear someone rip the Banshee, pick up an issue of ATV Rider. Actually there is a thread here with the entire article and our responses. Being the bike is a limited edition and assuming you get a good deal on it you can not go wrong. RJV

hats off to lee, this site has walked me through so many banshee related issues and it has been entertaining at other times. I am glad it is here and hope it is here to stay. RJV

My little brother just showed up and asked to use the Banshee this weekend. I gave him a hard time asking why he doesn't take his beloved CRF and then said sure, asking where he was going. Come to find out both little bros leave today for GLAMIS and won't be coming home till monday!!! My 'shee is going to Glamis without me!!!! Some things are just not right. Anyway, they are taking a digital camera and video so I will post pic when they get back. Later guys..... RJV

I just saw Vanhalen/Vanhagar last week. Sammy was on his game, sounded great and during his solo time he was all over the ol' guitar. Eddie, Michael and Alex all brought the A-Game to. they had been on a two week vacation prior to our show in Portland so they were rested and played a good two hours. It was stellar. I hope to see them at an outdoor venue sometime, I think they would be great. later RJV

You guys aer not doing anything wrong from what you have said. It comes and goes. We have been married 8 years and do pretty well together, DINK, Double income no kids, but sometimes things just take a dump. My Bronco took a crap, fixed that, the wifes car took a dump, fixed that. No big deal, kinda wiped out our savings but we were not to worried. Then another 300.00 goes out to my dad....long story and a couple little things and wham. Broke. Yesterday I dropped the cell phone now it is in two pieces and i don't have two hundred bucks to replace it. Keep your chin up and most importantly, DO NOT LET MONEY INTERFERE WITH YOUR RELATIONSHIP!!!! If you guys find yourself fighting about it, point it out and stop it. Fighting won't make more money it just makes more stress. RJV

old school two stroke will not last as long as an old school 4 stroke without maintenance. the high performance fourstrokes still need to be proven.

There you go, muddyin' the waters, but good point. Nice bikes, real smooth power and great components. I wouln't be afraid of one. RJV

I was a die hard two stroke racer. I argued with every magazine, every person that bought the YZ400F and on and on. Then my brother bought the Honda. I still argued with him. Then I rode it for an extended period of time. Lap after lap after lap, the more I rode it the more fun I had and the faster I went. My lap times were about the same but I was not.........NO WAY NO HOW........working near as hard. Since that day, when he asks me if I want to ride his bike I say "HELL NO" because I can't afford to buy a new CRF at this time (new house, Banshee last year, Raptor this year and the KX in 03, to many toys at one time, so the wife says, I don't really understand how she could say that) and if I keep riding it I will get in a lot of trouble. Besides when I ride the KX I don't know any difference. RJV

I've ridden both. If you are buying it for a dune bike, go with the Yamaha. If you are buying it for anything else, go with the Honda. Grab a couple different magz, Dirtbike and Dirt Rider are both good. They both say the Yamaha just hits to hard and violently for MX. They are right. The Honda is just as powerful and has a strong hit but is predictable. It also feels lighter in the air and rails through corners. The forks are stiff for my taste in stock form but that is an idividual thing. Most of the guys I ride with say my forks are set to soft. I race an 02 KX250 and the next new bike I buy will be the Honda. For what it is worth, they are both great bikes and you will probabally be happy with either. RJV

I have to give some props to U2. Saw them on the "Pop" tour with the wife. I drug my feet a little going in but they are a talented group and the show was amazing. Again, a group that has been around so long, there was not a bad song in the set.

Went to Vanhalen last night. Sammy can sing, Eddie plays like nobody I have ever seen, Alex on the drums and Michael Anthony on bass, it was incredible. They played for two hours and had so many songs it was amazing. They sounded great, the only way it could have been better is if it was in August outdoors and if David Lee Roth and Sammy could have shared the stage, alternating back and forth, but that won't happen. I have seen a lot of shows but this is right up with the best of the best. Sammy was dead on, sounded great and did the old music well. What great concerts have you all seen? Who is the best live show?

So you are not going to tell me where it is.............fine. RJV

I run it in my Banshee and My KX. I have never had a problem in either. Good Stuff.

Look, we all hold police at a higher standard. We demand more from them and when they fail, they get crucified. Personally, I don't want someone who lied to the cops, ran from the cops and calls the person who told the cops who he was a rat, investigating me or a case for me. They are suppossed to find the truth, not try to make the truth what they want it to be. As to making stupid mistakes, you are right, and we have to live with those decisions. RJV

Are you not the one who ran from the cops? Are you not the one who lied about who you were and what you were doing? Are you not the one who is angry at you "friend" for telling the police what you did? Are you not the one who was so desparate to not get caught that you sold your bike for a fraction of what it was worth so you would not get caught? Are you kidding me? You are a security guard???? A business or some person trusts you to protect their property! And they are going to give you a gun, OC and a baton? What is going on. Let me tell you something. Go pick up that light of yours. Take the batteries out and take the lens housing off. Now look at it. It is a hollow metal pipe. Pretty light weight. Now stick those batteries back in and put it back together. Pretty heavy, solid. When you hit someone with it and cause a serious injury, a defense attorney is going to get a hold of that light. They are going to present it to the jury not as a flash light but as a loaded metal pipe. They will tell the jury that you, a person who has ran from the cops, lied about what they have done, shown no regard for rules and regulations attacked his client for no reason with a loaded steel pipe. You may beat the criminal assault charge because you were "on the job" but come time for civil liability , you will be toast. I am sure you are really a good guy, but the decisions you make worry me. I don't think you have any business being a security guard and you definately have no buisness being a police officer. I wonder what you prospective boss would think about your "think your fast" thread. You are going to hurt yourself or someone else. If you hurt someone else, you can't be trusted take responsibility for it. I think you would be a cop that if things were in the gray area you would lie to make a case. You would mess with people. You will be one of the cops that people on this thread hate. One that gives police a bad name. One that causes case law that makes it impossible for police to even do there job effectively. And ultimatley you will get caught and ruin your entire life and the lives of those around you. Do us all a favor, hang up the mag light and find a new career. RJV

I am not sure where you are talking about. Directions and do you have any pictures of the area?

Bet your glad the Police were awake at 3am patroling your neighborhood. Cops get a bad rap to much of the time. We all forget the hours they work, the things they have to deal with, the paperwork something like a street full of vandalized cars generates for them. RJV

I know there are some former and maybe even a current moto-cross rider in here. I went and hit the local track for the last time this season. 70 degrees, sticky dirt, and a well designed track. I left the banshee in the garage and put the kx in the trailer. Man, there is just something about riding a machine where it was built and designed to be ridden. A mx bike is incredible when you get into a groove and find the perfect line around a track. When you hit the whoops in the perfect rythem, when you clear the table top with the front of the bike landing perfectly on the down slope, when you lay that bike on its side and rail a low berm into a step up. Everything else just fades out and you become one with the machine. It is just an extentsion of you.....there is nothing like it. Got me to thinkin a little bout the banshee and the beating she has taken from the magazines lately, ATV Rider and Dirtwheels both blasted the old girl. But you know what, they are wrong. Just like my KX, the Banshee was built for one purpose, to be ridden fast across the dunes. In stock form, the bike screams. So it won't put around with the new fourstrokes, so what? that is not what the 'shee was built for. We all know what it is like to open that bike up on the sand. To feel it pull hard through 3rd, 4th and 5th as you climb a hill, carve a bowl, pull the front wheels up down the flats....its that same feeling you get on a track. Everything is working perfectly, the bike is doing what it was built to do and has become part of you. Work fades, stress fades, girl problems fade, all that matters is you and the next turn, hill, jump corner or climb. This is why we ride, it is why we sit at the computer and talk about it with other riders. It is why I ride. Anyway, have a good one.....till the next time RJV

I know, how about taking responsibility for your actions, you jackass. some how it is your friends fault this happened, or the cops fault, or the fact the banshee had the wrong sprocket and you couldn't get away. Dude, you got what you deserved. You know, I don't care you were riding on the road, it is pretty much harmless, but when you get caught stop. Take your lumps and move on. You put yourself at risk, the cop, who was doing his job at risk, and who knows who else. What if your buddy did die? What if you died? You are a selfish child. We all do stupid things, the difference between a boy and a man is what you do after you make the mistake, you take no responsibility.....you are a boy...not a man. You don't deserve the bike you had and I hope you never get another one....who knows what you will do next time. RJV

Set your "clickers" on both ends in the middle....count them out..... and go from there. Typically a bike comes from the factory in the middle positions and that makes them good for the average rider. You are a little bigger than what the company figures is an average rider but you have compensated by putting the heavier spring on to support. For whooped out trail riding you don't want to bottom out every time and you want the shock to get back in position before you hit the next whoop. I would say ride it and maybe stiffen the top but I bet the stock setting will be good for you. Good Luck RJV

If you ar buying it for trail riding, go with any of the new 250 MX Four Strokes, ie KX250F or CRF250. If you are going to moto-x and want to race in the 250 class, go with the Honda CRF450. I race a KX 250 and it is a great bike, but the 4-bangers have come so far, they are just flat out easier to ride, especially if you have limited experiance. I would avoid a 125, you will out grow it. If money is an issue, look for a YZ400F, they are still stellar bikes and with the 426 and 450 now out you can pick one up at a good price. If you are hell bent on a two-stroke, and again if you are mainly going to ride it off road on trails and in the woods, I would go with a KTM EXC 250. Out of all of these bikes, if I was buying a new one now, I would by the CRF450 hands down. It is the strongest motor, best suspended and bes handling, but then again, my first love is MX...... Good Luck RJV

I've been to spinreel 2 times and never made it to horsefall cuz of some mechanical problems one of the guys was having with his raptor. But, I rode the spinreel area for a good two days worth and I was not that impressed. Real average dunes and I never really found a lot of tree shots or hills that went down by any water at all. Granted, I don't know the area and never had a chance to really go and explore. It was a big group with a lot of newbies....is it really better than Florence? I know it is longer but it seems pretty narrow.... RJV

Got to love Florence, a little bit of everything, nice hills good sand, throw in a couple jumps and a trail or two makes for the perfect day......anyway, that is my riding place of choice, but I really want to ride at Winchester, never been there before and i hear the dunes are huge and something about Banshee Hill....? It's kinda sad, i've been riding over there since I was about 8... I would have made it to Winchester at least once. Is it worth it? RJ

With all of the politics going on, the job thread, and the bickering back and forth on other various threads, I just want get on the 'shee, find a couple of the tallest dunes, a couple winding high banked berms, a long straight and a good jump or two and just let the bike do the yelling and "screaming" for me...there has been to much stress going on around here, what is going to be is going to be. I'll put my vote in, that is all I can do. So throw the bike in the trailer, and head to florence or wherever you ride and find yourself a little political peace. Ride on Brothers and Sisters!!!!!!!!!!!!! RJV PS: and after a long ride grab a pizza and a pitcher of your favorite beverage and realize just how good we have it in this country. God is Good.............

It is not just NASCAR that is falling prey to the "lets hold hands" mentality. Early in last years supercross season, Windham and Vullimen bump into eachother once, next corner Windham holds his line and Vullimen gets pushed of the track because he refuesed to let off, boom point deduction and a fine! What ever happened to good old racing? RJV