mat

I don't mind the cold. But I don't want to deal with a big crowd. Do they normally get real busy on the opening weekend?

Happy B-day!

Led, for the past 2 months I've been though some similar stuff with my wife of 8 1/2 years. I know how you are feeling. I've talked to a lot of people about my situation and have gotten a lot of advice. Most of the things posted above are good advice. But I was told one thing by a 47 year old guy that works for me that stands out above all of the rest. He said "...you are not a failure." I didn't even realize that I felt that way until he said that. I absolutely hate losing or failing at anything that I do. I was putting as much effort into my wife and marriage as it sounds like you were, then this shit comes out of the blue. Wow, what a hit. I'm thinking: did I really spend the last 10+ years of my life working at something so hard only to fail? I have had a lot more time to think about it than you, but I now realize that I'm not a failure. I wasn't perfect, but I was damn good and if our marriage ends, it is her loss. It sounds like you didn't fail either, she just quit. Just keep taking it one day at a time. Things will get better.

Take it to a car wash. The pressure washer will probably take them right off.

Try to isolate your problem first, then work on the solution. It sounds like you have a problem with the left carb. But find out for sure by swaping sides with the carbs. Put the right carb on the left cylinder and visa-versa. You will need to plug off the holes where the choke tube goes. If the problem moves to the right cylinder, then you know that the carb is the problem. If it stays on the left cylinder, then you need to be looking at other things. One thing to keep in mind is that there are two magnets on the flywheel. One triggers the spark for the left cylinder, one triggers the spark for the right cylinder. But anytime either magnet passes by the mag pick-up it fires both spark plugs. One piston is at the top of the compression stroke and that cylinder fires. The other piston is at the bottom of it's stroke and that spark is wasted. But, half of a crank revolution later, the other magnet passes by the mag pick-up and fires both plugs again. This time the other cylinder fires and spark is wasted in the cylinder that burned half a revolution ago. I point this out because if one of the magnets was missing or had lost its magnitude (from a hammer strike or something similar) there would be spark from both wires, but it would only be timed properly for one cylinder to burn. So upon initial inspection it would look like both cylinders are getting spark when they really aren't. The best way to check for this is by borrowing a flywheel that is known to be good. It would be very rare for a magnet be damaged, but it is possible.

What he said.

As long as the weather stays above 20

Maybe. I'll have to check my calendar and the forecast.

First of all, SuperChris, thanks for the offer, that was very generous. But I was able to buy a set of stock carbs from an HQ member for a good price. Secondly I wanted to follow up with the solution to my problem. I took the right carb that I bought, cleaned it up and installed the jets from my old carb. I used the needle and slide from the purchased carb and installed it on my Banshee. Problem was solved. It once again ran like a raped ape! What is the problem with my old carb? That I don't know. I swaped out the guts and it still caused problems. The only thing that I can think of is that there is a hairline crack in the casting or some type of damage to the area where the needle drops in above the main jet. At this point in time, I don't care. I'm going riding. As soon as the rain stops, anyway.

How fresh is your gas? If it is in question, then drain your tank and buy some new stuff first. Next, remove one of your spark plug caps (aka boot or elbow). It will unscrew off of the wire. Hold the end of the wire near a head bolt and have a friend kick the motor over. The spark should jump a gap at least 1/4" wide and the spark should be fat and blue. If the spark looks good, then swap cylinders with your carbs and see if the same cylinder is still misfiring. If the missing cylinder switches sides, then you know the problem is with the carb. If the carb isn't the problem, then swap sides with the reed blocks and see if the problem moves with the reed blocks. If none of the above tests identify the problem, then perform a leak down test and see if you have any air leaks in the motor.

Glad to hear that it is fixed. You obviously aren't the first one to do this.

How did you remove the parking brake? If you just unplugged the wires from the clutch perch, then that is your problem. You need to follow the wires back to near the steering stem and disconnect them there.

Have you checked your compression lately? How about a leak down test? I agree with what was stated before, the backfire could be caused by a lean condition, such as an air leak. The leak down test will tell you if this is the problem.

I'm pretty sure that your coil could not have been damaged by this.

The general theory is that you should only polish the exhaust ports. Any of the ports that the fuel/air mixture travels through should be slightly rough. This is so that the air is turbulent and keeps the fuel in suspension.

Don't waste your money on another pipe. The PSI pipes that you already have are good for the woods. Your money will be better spent elsewhere.

I have experienced three stators go bad on various quads/bikes. All three tested out fine according to the book, but once I replaced the stators, all problems were fixed. If possible, borrow a stator that you know if good and put it on your quad to see if your problem goes away. The testing specs for the coil in Clymers is way way off. I don't know what the proper specs are, but a brand new coil won't even test anywhere near the values listed in Clymers.

I spent some more time trying to figure this out last night. I am now totally convinced that there is something wrong with the right carb. I just can't figure it out. I have now begun the search for another set of carbs. Here is what I did last night, and the results. Cleaned right carb again. Removed needle and seat. Inspected seat seal, seat, and needle. Everything looked good, so I cleaned them again and reinstalled the carb, making sure that the choke tube was installed properly. Results: It ran the same. Idled OK, but right side cut out when I would throttle it up and smoked really bad. Not a single drop of gas flowed out of the overflow tube and it idled OK, so I am relatively certain that the float/needle/seat isn't the problem. But, I continued to investigate this possibility. Removed both carbs and switched floats, needles, and seats. Basically swapping the guts between the two carbs. So now the left carb has the needle, seat, and floats from the right carb. I figured that if the problem was with any of these components the problem would switch to the left cylinder. Results: It ran exacly the same as before. The right side continued to be the problem. So this eliminates the floats, needle, and seat as my problem. Next, I swapped carbs again. I did not open them up again. I just put the right carb on the left cylinder and the left carb on the right cylinder. I put caps over the choke tube holes. Results: Now the left cylinder was acting up. It immediately fouled a plug. So I replaced the plug and started it back up. Again, it idled OK, but when I got on the throttle, the left side would cut out and smoke like a chimney. Since the problem switched cylinders when I switched carbs, I feel that this eliminates any possible problems with the top end. Anybody got a cheap set of stock carbs?

Are these still for sale?

I checked the pilot jet and it had a little bit of crud in it. I cleaned it out and now it idles better. But this didn't affect my major problem at all. I dropped 4 jet sizes on the troublesome carb and it made no difference. I know that my silencers need repacking, so I put my stock ones back on to make sure that this wasn't causing any problems. This resulted in no change, except that it is quieter now. I have adjusted my needle and it makes no difference. I plugged the ports where the choke tube would go. I don't think that my float is sticking or that my needle is leaking because the carb doesn't leak any gas. The only thing that I can think of, that I haven't tried yet, is new gas. The gas that is in the tank isn't but a couple of months old, but I am out of other options. Does anybody have any other ideas?

Yep, and it still is. I haven't had enough time to work on it this week, so I probably won't make it out there on Sunday. Have fun. And roost the EXRider guys.

My local Sears does not carry impact drivers. I had to go to an autoparts store to find one. If I remember right, PepBoys is where I finally found one.

I didn't look through it. I assumed that since it idled that the pilot was OK. I'll double check this tomorrow.

I have been fighting a weird problem with my Banshee for the past few weeks. It hasn't been running right, it just won't clean out and run good. I checked compression and it was fine. I performed a leak down test, results were good. I haven't touched the jetting since it was 70

thank you. that is about where I had mine set.