2003LimitedBanshee

Well my bid on eBay got blasted, but luckily I've got another set locked on YFZCentral and another pending. God I can't wait to get the spindles in the mail! I just don't know if they'll get here in time for my first test ride in a week and a half. Well, can't wait to test out the arms/shocks even if the spindles don't quite make it. I've got another weekend mid-May at the worst. Come on UPS!!

Well put for basic definitions. Nice work on the l and \ . Didn't think of that. Michael, you can do that and if you already have shocks designed for +2 banshee arms that may be the best route. Keep in mind that what is being talked about in some of the other threads is a total package, designed to work with the parts for that package. Your comment kind of made me think you feel it is a bad package, it isn't. It's just that as with anything, it works best when all the parts designed to be used in conjunction are. If I misread your comment... :beer:

No not forward but laying on it's side. So from the center of the bike the bottom mount is further from the centerline than the top. If the shock was vertical, no difference from centerline top or bottom, you are not maximizing the suspension travel with that shock.

Technically yes it will make it wider. However, you will likely (depends on where in the a-arm arc it causes the suspension to fall) see decreased suspension travel. As far as softness, I believe it should also make it softer. I don't know what the geometry is going to end up like, but I might be concerned with maxing out the ball joints... :ermm:

Not that he needs any more bolstering around here, but I wanted to throw another good word in for Dave Noss. Like I said above my '06 came with the larger tie rod sleeves, so I ordered a set through NOSS at 12:45 today, by just after 2:00 I received an email saying that the UPS had been generated for it!! Plus the sleeves are super tough and not at all expensive. :thumbsup:

I did have the 450 shocks mounted as well and the bike was sitting at ride height. Sorry I should have mentioned that... EDIT: Also, from your first post I forgot to address the shock angle question you posed. The primary reason for moving the lower shock mount out is that you can achieve longer travel at the spindle from the same length shock as compared to a more vertical mounting. If you think about a shock being mounted exactly vertical you travel is limited to the stroke of your shock, directly. However, if you lay the shock over slightly, since you are now moving in an arc, you get more spindle travel from the same shock travel. It's can be kind of hard to invision if you haven't worked with suspension to a good extent, so hopefully that makes sense. If so, I'm not trying to insult anyone by the last statement, I just know it took me a while to grasp when I started working with suspension.

When I converted mine over I found basically +2.25" difference between the stock side and the 450 side. I made this measurement by measuring from frame rail out to the inside edge of the wheel on both sides. I haven't measured, but I could compare to another stock bike, the length from the frame rail to the lower shock mount (horizontally, not including drop) to determine shock position. I can tell you just from the angle of the shock that it is farther out than stock, but how much or compared to Banshee +2 arms I'm not sure. We'd need someone with +2 Banshee arms giving the same measurement to determine that. Unfortunately, even if we compare shock length that doesn't guarantee that it will work because of that lower shock mount position.

Definitely, if you are going to be upgrading a J-arm frame, since your creating the mounts, go for a 450 setup. You'll want to get some measurements from another bike so you can locate the bottom mounts appropriately, but beyond that it's no harder than converting to banshee a-arms. Might as well go for the better package from the start,

I have mine 450 arms trimmed within about 1/32" of the stock weld and it is a snug fit to the frame brackets. At least on mine there is no conceivable way to trim them enough to fit the dust caps.

Great! I was eyeing your pictures Ben and I was pretty sure they looked exactly the same, but you know how pictures can be. Unfortunatley my bid only covers the spindles and not the calipers etc. However, I only ride the sand so the twin piston calipers aren't AS big a concern for me. Don't get me wron, they would be really nice, but mainly I want the spindles. Wish me luck!

Well that would make sense on the tie rods then, as my arms are off an '06. Yes, they are newer, they literally have NO scratches on them at all. Well, I'll just order a set from Dave to solve my problems As far as the dust caps go, I'll just cap the one end and do accordingly. I grease my bike very regularly as well, so I'll take my chances for the significant added benefit of the YFZ arms.

Correct me if I'm wrong and I hope I'm not because I placed a bid on some spindles before asking this question... horse before the carriage? Anyway, the hub/rotor/caliper assembly is the same correct? Like I said, I found a set of the bare spindles, no hub etc. but as long as I can switch my other hardware over then I'm good. Otherwise I need to hope that someone outbids me...

So I think I must have gotten the wrong tie rod sleeves from the guy I bought my arms off of, or is there a difference between some of the YFZ years? The ends of the sleeves I got are larger diameter and just slip over the stock tie rod ends. I think I'll just order some from Dave... they use the stock ends correct. Also, on his tie rod page he doesn't list the sleeves for the 450, they aren't the same as the Raptor are they? I'm wondering if I should just PM him and make a payment through his site. The other "problem" or so I thought was in regards to the dust caps. There was no way I was going to get them to fit, but then I re-read the post and realized MM left them out too. Any thoughts on longetivity issues due to leaving them out? I ride strictly sand, which at first seems like it would be less of an issue than the guys who ride in water; but sand does have a tendency to get in every little place.

Just an update... spoke with Scott this evening. Looks like we're on the road to recovery. Life happens and it looks like everything should end up well and good in the end. Scott was standup about it, so I don't want to give the impression of a bad experience. :beer:

Sounds like progress... Like I said, I'm not knocking anyone or accussing at this point; I understand life happens. Just with no contact I had to make sure I protect myself. So to make sure I'm understanding right, you don't believe you have any more black +4's currently built, or you believed mine had shipped, but apparently hasn't? The only reason for the cell-phone comment was that the last time I tried to call it said searching for customer about three times and then just went straight to voicemail. Look forward to hearing from you - Brian

I've got a set of stock (unported) reed cages loaded with a set of Boyesen PowerReeds. Petals have just under 15 hours on them. Upgraded to VForce3's. $40 shipped to lower 48. Thanks! Brian

Well, good to hear I'm the only one getting hung out at this point. Still nothing on PM's, voicemail, email, NADA, zilch nothing! Oh and no swingarm yet either. I'm not knocking the guy, yet, and hopefully it can all work itself out, but I'm getting less hopeful. Now it seems his cell phone might be disconnected or something :: 5PM tomorrow the dispute goes up with Paypal...

PM Sent... VERY INTERESTED in fronts!!!!

Everyone or anyone get their swingarms? Anybody get two? Mine supposedly shipped on March 12th. Paypal cleared, no voicemail response, no PM response... No swingarm

From what I gather, I have T5's but I went with the UNI 2:1 filter, you will probably be okay on the 280's if you just vent the stock box. However, if you go for the Pro Flow with no lid my guess is that the 280's will not be sufficient. With my UNI 2:1 I run 320-340 depending on riding location and temps.

We need a mod to pin this! I can't wait for my 450 arms and shocks to show up so I can switch my bike over!!!

No, it's not rare so to speak, it just means you have an early bike with J-arms. I think some companies, at least used to, not sure now, made longer j-arms. But as far as buying a standard +2+1 A-arm setup no you can't. You can conver the j-arm from to a-arm mounts, but it takes a substantial amount of work. Unless you feel pretty confident in your fabrication skills I would recommend looking for an A-arm frame bike if you are dead set on widening the front.

I think the big thing you have to decide on is what you are going to be using the bike for. I was going to put a set of +2+1 arms on my bike with adj comp/reb ressy elka's on my quad. But after reading about the yfz arm and shock swap, I realized that I really didn't need a $1600 suspension setup. I could afford to do that swap, but the stock 450 suspension should outdue everything I need the bike to do. Now, don't get me wrong, if I was going to be MX racing the quad or something I would go full-boat, but realize that not everyone needs or will utilize the capabilities of the high-high end suspension setups.

I wouldn't disagree with that in the least. Chances are if you ride on trails sooner or later you're going to run into some water and the open filter design, whether it's the UNI 2:1 or the pods are not the filters for that. Like I said, I ride sand only and so the UNI with a Prefilter is the best option.

Not to be an ass, but you do realize that "pumping" the gas when the bike is not running does nothing for you? These aren't like car carburetors that have an accelerator pump that actually pumps fuel when moving the pedal. All you're doing when you "pump" the thottle is exercising your thumb. If it is hard to start you could have a pilot issue, plugged maybe, but you should also have an idle issue, being that it shouldn't want to idle if it has a plugged pilot. Common things, some of which have been mentioned are, float bowls switched, choke tube missing or cracked, slides in backwards, low compression leads to hard starting when engine is cold...