ssanddemon

Bought my second shee used and it came with a louvered grill. First ride, it started burping after a hillclimb. I pulled the grill and stashed it in some dunegrass and kept riding. Couldn't overheat it without that grill, not even close. I probably should have bent that grill up but I just left it there; it's probably overheating someone else's bike now.

Gotta love some drama now and then! Seems like Endofitall9 thinks that the problems he has had when combining top of the line components like Hinson with bottom-of-the-barrel trash like Tusk have some value to those running an all stock or very lightly modified setup.

Ha! from your post title, I though you were trying to start a discussion about drugs.

You might try replacing the radiator cap, the spring can get weak over time and fail to hold the required pressure. This will cause the coolant to boil at a much lower temperature. Actually, the opposite is true... the less power the engine has, the harder it has to work to move the bike. When mine was new and stock it overheated like a sonovabitch. Making more power caused the motor to heat up less since it didn't have to rev to the moon and stay there to get to the top. Now mine never overheats even when climbing dunes nonstop in 100* heat, no engine ice needed.

Not many people using a tachometer on their banshee. Just shift gears when it starts running out of power- big rpm does not hurt the motor at all; it's a 2- stroke.

Well it grounds somewhere, and that's all I'm saying- check all the chasis grounds first, it's real common to have problems there. It could well be the CDI, but the only test for that is to install a known good one and see what happens.

My first thought is a poor ground off the coil. Do a good check of all electrical connections, make sure the coil mounts cleanly to the frame, and read this:Banshee electrical FAQ Guaranteed, your answer is somewhere in this page, it's very comprehensive.

You talkin about the clutch cable? You really do need that...

Something I have not seen mentioned yet is that degree keys suck. I have had one shear, and a buddy's did as well (and these were 4* keys). Best to ditch that key and do it right with a plate. Oh, and check the compression! P.S. Fegot to mention, I am running 7* with 160 psi compression at sea level. Runs OK with no pings on super (91) but responds really well to a 50/50 of 110.

I don't see where you mentioned the timing you are running. 18cc domes are pretty tight, and if you are also running bumped timing, the elevation changes could cause detonation problems and real jetting headaches no matter what the octane is. Some bigger displacement domes will keep your bike running better for longer, with just a little loss in bottom end, allowing well advanced timing with better jetting stability. P.S. 40:1 is a pretty good ratio for Klotz, I run it at 50:1 at sea level.

I just did a set of V3's on my spare bike (03 shee), along with a 4* timing bump. I knew to put in 27.5 pilots, but left the 300 mains it was previously running. It ended up being a bit lean on top. 310s made it run like a champ with no needle changes. My advice is to go with the 27.5 pilots to maximize the improved bottom end you will get, and run a step higher on the mains with no needle changes. That should put you pretty damn close.

Ditto. I modded the plate on my spare shee and it was a pain in the ass. Got the RS on my main ride and it is lots nicer with the marks in it and etc.

Oven cleaner is the real deal for getting boot plastic and etc. off the chrome.

I ran TR-6s on my mildly ported motor for a few years. I found that the bike had pretty poor bottom end and that it didn't rev up as high as the better flowing pipes did- I guess stock motors like a bit more backpressure. But it was OK, no big complaints. Decided to go with a set of PT Mids and I really like the change. Top end is about the same, it drops off about 10K; but the bottom is a lot stronger and dropped the start of the powerband down by about 2k- the whole motor feels better. My rationale on high revs is this anyway- I don't need to rev to the moon, I can keep hitting the band in the next gear, and the next...and the next...

I have the Extreme 9s and I will say this: IF you have the power to turn the tire, you better plan on an extended swingarm in the very near future. Mine has really decent power but without an extended arm, it just stands up in the steep stuff. For the real steeps I have gotta put em on backward to keep the front end down (and it actually climbs like a sonofabitch with the tires backward, believe it or not- I just use 2 higher gears and get monster wheelspin). The Extreme 9 on a stock arm is really not much good for dragging either; like I said it stands up and you can't lay all the power down. Helluva blast just farting around with the g/f tho. Effortless point and shoot wheelies, no wheelspin at all- it just bites and stands up.

Not to knock Noss products; they are hella nice quality parts. BUT my 03 with the shaved stock head runs cooler than the 03 with the 21cc Nosser. Again, I'm not at all trying to flame Noss or any other coolhead maker, just to say that the stockers can work really well. The main thing is to build power- the easier it is for the motor to move the bike, the cooler it will run.

My radiator is always full, no bottle. Keep in mind that the radiator caps on our bikes are not like those on a car. They are capable of holding much higher pressure and won't lose coolant like a car with no bottle does. BTW, have you noticed how 2-stroke dirt bikes never have a bottle? Cuz they don't need one, the system stays totally full unless there is a leak.

I would expect it to be gurgling after a run if it is overheating. Is your coolant level dropping or is any coolant coming from the overflow hose? If so, I would first replace the radiator cap. The spring can weaken over time and they won't hold pressure.

Kit it. Not as big a deal since you are gonna take the carbs apart for cleaning anyway. The only thing that is a pain is the drilling and tapping of the carbs for the idle stop screws. Just use lots of oil and go slow with the tap. I just killed the TORS last week on my spare shee, it wasn't a big deal. Edit: I guess there is some way to disconnect TORS without replacing the carb tops and installing idle stop screws, but it beats me how it would be done. Besides, the eliminator kits are cheap and a proper modification.

The carbs are real picky about dirt, specifically the slides- they fit reall snugly in the bores. It's very common for someone to ride thru a puddle and have one side or the other stick wide open. That's for starters. Sounds like you sucked up some water and grit and it got ito the carbs, and if you are running the factory filter shame on you!- On Yamaha, actually, since they make a $hitty filter. In any case, you should be running the full airbox with an afermarket filter adapter and filter installed. Pro Flow makes a good one. This will seal out any and all dirt, and of course the lid will need to be on, which will really kill the power but there is no help for that; maybe you could fab up a wide snokel of some kind that will still flow some air volume. But it also sounds as if there is debris in one or both carbs and possibly in the tank as well, so a good teardown and cleaning of carbs, tank and fuel oulet strainer sounds like a necessary step. Not really a big deal, just an easy 2 or 3 beer project. In a nutshell, the shee is not much of a mud bike, it needs lots of air to make power, and this is not easily accomplished. Edit: after seeing these other replies, I realised that you may still have TORS. KILL IT! You will be glad you did.

Heat cycle is a whole other can o worms with differing interpretations. Some guys think that by letting the motor warm up (gentle riding) then cooling down over and over will temper the metal parts in the motor. Obviously, this is BS- the manufacturers tempered the parts in the production process, a method which uses scientific formulas to dictate a slow and precise heating, then cooling of parts to optimize the strength and flexibility of a particular type of metal part.-Which varies widely as determined by the type of metal, thickness, and strength vs. hardness requirements. In no way will a bike motor recreate these conditions nor does it need to; it's been done before the parts were installed, at much, much higher temps. I do believe in a heat cyle as a way to properly seat gaskets (namely, the head gasket), causing it it to soften and conform, which then will usually require a retorque. This being a quick ride with some rpms and temps, then back to the truck and hitting EVERY available bolt or nut with a torque wrench or good rule-of-thumb tightness to make sure nothing is going to leak or rattle loose later. Then you are done, ride it hard. Tho it doesn't hurt to run the mix and jetting a bit rich when new!

Agree 100%! Did this when the bike was new, First teardown 2 yrs. later showed zero problems.

Something you can try: Cut the back off the stock airbox, just retaining the two top mounting bolts, and the back of the airbox with the two bottle mounting pegs sticking up. Holds the bottle just fine. Sturdy, free, decent-looking if you are somewhat careful with a hacksaw, and corrosion proof.

Sounds like the lines to the bottle are backward. The line from the radiator goes to the bottom of the bottle, not the top! But I lost my bottle a year or two back and you won't find its picture on a milk carton anywhere.

Me and everyone I ride with started with crappy tires: Geckos and the like. And ended up with Scat-Tracks. I guess the best thing to do is just buy a set and be done with it. If you stay off the pavement and gravel, they last forever. I have 9 paddle extremes and it takes a lot of power to turn em, plus I am looking at the sky a lot. 8 paddle Extremes are hard to beat on a modded bike, 9 paddle Haulers do about the same thing with a little smoother hookup, and I REALLY like the Scat Edges I have on the second shee I have. A very nice tire for a lightly modded bike.