dawarriorman

Can it be a good trail quad? Sure why not. Is it the best (smartest) choice? probably not. Even so, its still fun as hell. I mostly ride nothing but trails, and have no problems keeping up with 4 strokes. But it requires more effort to muscle the banshee around. It tends to push in the turns, whereas the newer quads turn like they're on rails. As far as having low end power, not necessary. Learn how to ride and you'll never need it. Powerband width and how fast it comes on make more of a difference than where the power is at. Trying to extract low rpm power from a banshee is pointless, its not a 4 stroke, is a twin 2 stroke. Its meant for hi-rpm.

How much are you saving? $5? Quit being cheap and buy the kit with proper o-rings.

Hmm, well then I'll take that risk every time. Especially when several builders have told me that they themselves do a few heat cycles on their own engines. Do whatever you want though, its your engine, not mine.

This topic always leads to arguments. So Im not even going to say what I do. But I will say this. Read Motomorons website. He says his superbike team was beating the factory teams. He says he was getting more hp out of his bikes than the factory teams were getting out of the same bikes. Then try and find anything about his team anywhere. I tried, and never could find a mototuneusa superbike team. You're never going to hurt anything breaking it in easy. I have 21 cc domes 500 ft above sea level. Follwing the charts, I should be between 156 and 145. Im at 152 in both cylinders. My rings are seated, perfectly. Crosshatch still visible, no uneven wear, no blow-by.

You weigh 245 and are using a stock shock on a +6 swinger. Not much you can do. Tighten the preload collars down all the way. But honestly its not going to make much difference. You can stiffen the compression, but that only slows how fast it can compress, not how far it will compress.

Not really. They aren't that old yet, they've been around a couple years. Not that many people have them yet. And they're a "1 size fits all shock". Meaning they claim that they fit all riding styles. Elka has been into quads nearly 10 years. TCS about the same I think. PEP and Works have been around forever. The established companies just have more experience. You buy shocks from one of the established companies, and they can valve it to better suit your riding style, experience, and weight (if you go for Elka or Works, order them direct from the manufacturer, otherwise you more than likely will get off the shelf shocks). The hydrodynamics shocks use progressive rate springs, so its really a moot point that they aren't dual or triple rate, with the progressive rate spring there is no need for more than one spring. They are surely good shocks, but there is better out there for similar money.

Why are you replacing the pressure plate every time? Better yet, how often do you change your clutch? Unless its warped you're wasting money.

hey at least you didn't wreck. I still can't bend my knee from last week.

Assuming the gauge is calibrated, anything over 220 is starting to get too hot. Ideal temperature would be around 180-200.

Check your squish band thickness. If its too tight, it could cause detonation. Stick a piece of lead solder (no flux core) in through the spark plug hole until it hits the side of the cylinder. Then crank the motor over. Then measure the thickness of the solder. Let us know what you get.

Are you looking for drag slicks, or just streetable tires? Kenda makes some street tires (for over in Europe, they aren't DOT approved). Mickey Thompson makes slicks that will work.

The danger from a claw puller isn't the marks it leaves, but the fact that its not going to pull even, and will warp the flywheel. Buy a new one, and get a flywheel puller next time.

Cheap? Damn, if those are cheap I want some of what you're smoking :biggrin:

Isn't it a metal gasket behind the knob and not an o-ring?

Its not the av gas. Its just coincidence. Buy a pingel, install it like the directions say, and problem solved. I've never had good luck with stock petcocks. After a while, they've leaked on every quad I've owned. Some more than others.

Did you contact Hydrodynamics or the place you bought the a-arms from? If you tried to get the place you bought them from to fix the problem, and they wouldn't take them back, thats not Hydrodynamics fault. Thats a lousy dealer (although most places won't take stuff back when its that old).

Yep, hide a key makes it just a little harder to steal the quad. You hard wire it, you just made it a little easier. Why help a criminal?

I've got to get some fittings to make the hose work (go figure it doesn't have an end for valve stems).

I was planning to build myself an oven and get a nice setup for powder coating. At first it didn't seem expensive, around $200-300. But I don't like to half ass stuff, and so little things kept making it cost more and more. Plus 8000 watts will raise the electric bill pretty quick. Ended up I would have spent around $600 to do it, so I scrapped the whole idea. To answer your question though: Small parts you can just get an oven from the classifieds or junkyard. For something like a frame you have to build one. Use insulation and galvanized steel, rivet it all together. You need a fan, a couple heating elements. And then the thermostat/controls. There was a kit on ebay that was decent priced, I'll see if I can find it. You also need a powdercoating gun, and a moisture filter for your air compressor, as well as a regulator. The guns use fairly low pressure < 20 psi. http://www.caswellplating.com/ This place and their forums have tons of info.

I like the way cut fronts look (IMO, cut rear fenders look retarded). But a lot of the trails I ride in have water/mud/clay and they do keep you cleaner. I've ridden others quads with cut fenders, and your face gets dirty, your hands get dirty. It gets dirt all over the throttle and clutch and just makes it harder to hang on (clay mud is slippery). Thats why I keep mine. They might not do much, but they do accomplish something.

I haven't ridden on them, so I don't have any real experience, other than having seen them. They have 1/2" of tread new. Which is kind of short. My XCRs still had 1/2" of tread a year and a half after buying them. Not a tire I would think would last that long on a banshee. Edit: don't follow my lead and get the XCRs, they handle great, but they're made for 4 pokes and don't hook up as well as they could on a banshee. Im probably going HD next time for the extra tread width.

Oh no!! Mr internet tough guy insulted me! What ever am I going to do!

OK, change the water pump seal!!!!!!!!!!! Don't post back in here until you do. Then after you do, if you still notice water in the oil, let us know. You might not think you're losing anything, but as your machine cools, it will pull some coolant from the bottle back into the radiator if needed. Thats the way its designed (sometimes it won't though). That could be why your not noticing a difference in the coolant level. The o-ring they are referring is on the tube that sticks out when you take the side case off the engine. Its right by the water pump, you'll see it when you take the side case off.

Don't know about the shift boots. But I was recommended the Oneal M10 boots by someone on here, and those are the most comfortable boots Ive ever tried. Didn't even need to be broken in. For me Fox boots are too narrow, and Alpinestars are too narrow in the heel. I'll get another set when I wear these out. But the best thing I was told, and can tell you, go to every shop you can and try on every boot they have. I didn't find any I liked, but I did find a bunch I didn't like. Those low top boots aren't going to offer the protection a full boot will. They might keep you from breaking your foot, but your ankle won't be as safe as it could be.

Well, how do you know? Have you tried it?