mavbike

Fingernail polish remover. Better for the chrome than oven cleaner. Melts acrylics. Works great on Harley pipes!!

Need to sell,,,,No One even remotely interested???? :ermm:

Want to trade Banshee for 4-stroke motorcycle. Been bit by the Flattrack bug. Wife says I can't buy another bike right now unless I sell or trade to pay for it. Looking for a CRF450 or a YZ450F that I can set up for flattrack.

Have a 1982 Honda ATC250R for sale. Asking $1,100. Bike located near Shreveport Louisiana. Now before anyone asks, the 82 model is air cooled, it is a 3-wheeler, no power valve, 2-stroke. The throttle is more like an on/off switch. This one is bone stock except for .30 over-bore with Wiseco forged piston. Some riding around the yard to break in and check fresh top-end. No trail riding, no other time on it. I've had this bike for about seven years now. In a drag race, across my yard, it will hang with the Banshee. Got the flattrack bug. Now I'm trying to sell off some stuff to gather funds for a flattrack bike. Have my shee listed in Want to Trade.

Have a 2002 Banshee. Don't know much about it's history, but it runs good. Has the following goodies: *Chrome A-arms +1/+2 *Durablue axle +4 *Stainless brake lines front and rear *TCS shocks all the way around (front have remote rezzies, rear the rezzie is on the shock) with dual springs *Stock front rims with 21" Kenda claws *TPI bead-lock rear rims with 22" Kenda Bear Claws *Single, adjustable, steering damper *Big bar mount with bars *Front fenders trimmed *Motor runs strong, no oil leaks, jetted clean, no excessive smoke, have several long trail rides on one set of plugs and no problem with plug fouling or anything. *Nerf bars *kill tether *Key switch removed *PC pipes with PC "Quiete" spark arrestor silencers *also have the PC factory sound silencers to go with bike (they do sound sweet) *Pro designs cool head *Alba K&N filter adapter with K & N filter (in the air-box, air box lid removed) *New X-ring chain with new 13/41 sprockets. Now for the bad,,,,the previous owner appears to have left it outside some. The chrome pipes are rusty, the chrome is pealing on the handle bars, and the kill teather is faded. I would like to trade for motorcycle,,,CRF450 or YZ450F, that I can set up for flattrack, or would consider $3,500 cash offer. This is not a steal,,,the shocks could probably use a re-build. To look like some of the bikes I've seen on here, it would need the frame and swing-arm painted and the pipes eather re-chromed, powder coated, or painted. Plastic is far from knew, but not too bad and not faded. It is a good deal though because anyone that has had to pay for some of these extras can tell you, at $3,500 you are buying the used extra parts at a discount and getting the shee for free. Oh----I live in Shreveport Louisiana. The only reason I'm considering a sell or trade is because wife says I can't have any more bikes unless I can sell something to pay for it.

Another vote for 13/41 (I'm running 22" tires). Where I ride I still don't use 6th except cruising down the gravel roads. It's nice to be able to crawl in first though when riding with the wife, or those utility quads. When riding with faster riders, I still only need 3rd-4th, so it's not a whole lot of shifting.

I went up to 22" tires on rear and was running the stock 14/41. All I have is pipes, K&N, and a cool head. That may not be too far off of a 15T with stock tires. I ended up having to drop back to a 13T on the front because trail riding with utility quads was just too slow for that gearing. If it was tight or technical trails, I never got out of first gear and would sometimes have to stop and let them go on ahead because they would be riding so slow I would have to slip the clutch constantly. Now I can almost idle in first. Trail ride mostly in 2nd-3rd with the utility quads. With sport quads or bikes it still just 3rd-4th. The only time I use 6th is if we hit a gravel road or something. I guess what I'm saying is top speed is cool, but for trail riding, you will have more fun if you just gear the bike to fit how and where you ride.

Ride mud/sand trails in Louisiana. Have Kenda claws on front and Kenda Bear claws on rear. So far they are holding up great. Fronts work good every where. Rear are good on anything soft, but little to no traction on hard clay (though they are supposed to be rated for mud-snow-rocks, all-around). Also running 21" on front, 22" on rear, so I can clear those 4x4 ruts a little better, with a 13T front sprocket to off-set the larger tires. You gotta love the expression on your buddy's face when you pull a wheely in the middle of a mudhole.

I know several people that run iridium plugs in their MX bikes and they swear by them. I tried them and they did seam to last a little longer than a standard plug, but at $8.00 a pop, they don't last 4x as long as a standard plug. X-country race, they may make sense for a race, but I just trail ride. Plugs last longer in my shee than they do in my bike though (it uses standard NGK B8ES also). Don't know if Yamaha just has a hotter ignition than Kawi, or what.

I know the 4-pokes have a wider power band, but I love my shee for trail riding. (Baught the shee used for about 1/5th what a new 4-stroke would have cost.) Tight woods, it works better for me to ride a gear high. If I need power, I just touch the clutch and instantly it is on the pipe. I can control the wheel spin better with the clutch (than the throttle) anyway. It also helps keep from having to constantly shift. The only engine mods I have are pipes (Pro-Circuit), cool head, and K&N filter kit. No problems, smooth power, easy to ride. Try a 13T on the front and just run it in 2nd or 3rd on the trail. I very rarely have to shift other than between 2nd and 3rd.

NGK B8ES also. I run the same plugs until motor gets slugish and doesn't want to idle, or it starts getting hard to start. I trail ride with 4-pokes also. Usualy let them lead so I can drop back and then clean it out catching back up. (If I lead, they acuse me of riding to fast) Have about 3 rides on this set of plugs (one long slow trail ride following the wife on our Recon) plus some time spent riding the kids around the yard. I'm running castor 927 mixed 40:01. The plugs look clean, just an even tan color. I do have oil dripping from pipes because of the slow riding, but plugs seam to be fine.

Flat track race, 3/8th mile, Tyler Texas. Open amateur class is run what you brung (knobbies OK). Only need Nerf bars and kill teather. Last Saturday looked like a bunch of stock YZF450s with MX tires, some with MX suspension. I've only raced one time in my life (organized racing). Entered the open amateur motorcycle class on a borrowed bike. Didn't try to win, just rode the track to get a feal for it. It was a lot of fun. Next race (Jan 06) am thinking about riding the shee in open amateur quad, just to get more track time. My shee was set up for MX, now raised even higher, set up for trail riding. Don't know how bear claws are going to do on the track (I got them for muddy trails) but may give it a shot anyway. The track is Texas red dirt (NOT hard clay) so maybe I can get a little traction. Come on out so I won't be the only 2-smoke in the quad class.

Tyler Texas, Saturday Jan 06, 2007 Races. They have a 3/8th mile circle track (car track). It's not clay, it's that Texas red dirt. They have an open amateur quad class. No special tires, you can run knobbies or whatever is on your bike. Do need to have Nerf bars, Kill teather (some of the amateurs last Saturday had just removed their head lights, still had tail light on). Last Saturday, it looked like all YZF400's. 3/8ths is almost a half mile, so speeds are high. I had never tried this before and entered the open amateur bike class (on a borrowed bike no less). Jan. 06, if my buddy doesn't ride my shee in the open amateur class, I may enter both bike and quad just to get more track time. Gates open at 12pm, practice starts at 1pm and races start at 2pm.

I ride bikes and quads. The reason I have both is because I prefer the bikes, but it's not much fun riding a bike with a bunch of quads (all utility, I only know a few people that have sport quads.) Borrow a bike and take her to a trail, under the condition that she also let you borrow a quad for her to try also. If she still insists on a bike, go with the Honda CRF230. The electric start is a life saver for a beginner. The suspension is good for a 100 -125 lb trail rider, and they are bullet proof. I got a CRF230 for wife to learn to ride on. Later sold it. Now I wish I would have kept it just for riding with the kids. Great little bike. :geek: Forgot,,,when my bike was down, I took her 230 to ride with friends on 250cc 2-strokes. In the tight sections, I was just as fast on the 230, sometimes a little faster than on my 2-stroke. Open sections or sandy sections, it wouldn't hang, but I would stay close enough to catch some of them again, when trail got tight/technical. (I also tried the 230 on MX track. First table top blew the rear tube when I landed. If she want's to MX, look for another bike.) Anyway, don't let the power fool you. Just playing and trail riding all day, the CRF230 is a great bike.

I trail ride only. 21" Kenda claws on front and 22" Kenda Bear Claws (good mud tire) on rear. Since a lot of the trails I ride are 4x4 ruted up,,,the 22" on the rear helped a lot. They did make a big difference in gearing though (have 13T front spocket on the way). Had 18" on rear when I got it and I was constantly dragging the ground. I like this set-up much better. You can run whatever size difference you want. The only thing is the front to rear ballance. Bike was already set-up with TCS shocks when I got it. Before changing tires, I measured frame height with me on it, front and rear. I think the rear was like 1/4" higher. After putting on the new tires, I adjusted rear pre-load to have the same 1/4" difference, front to rear. That way the weight bias would be the same. Sounds picky, but I really liked the way it handled when I got it,,,,so I just wanted to try and keep it the same. I did notice the new/bigger tires, are heavier. The bike is also just a little more tippy, but some of that may be new tires, good tread, better traction, not just being higher off the ground. Hope that helps a little?? :biggrin:

Bike brakes are funny. If you bleed them too fast, the air almost foams in the fluid. Nothing you can do but walk off and let the air settle. I use a vacuum bleeder, wiith just 5psi vacuum, and go real slow. I use clear tubing so I can see what is comming out. If you are sure you have all the air out and still not working, may need to rebuild the master cylinder. Usualy you can take it apart and check the rubber seals. There will be a round rubber puck in there that pushes the fluid. Most of the time, if it is bad, you can see on the edges where it has folded, or it will look pitted and scratched on the edge.

Mavbike,,,Nickname Maverick (from the James Garner days,,long before Top Gun,,,some of you may remember). Love bikes. Mavbike :ermm:

I trail ride only. Also ride a lot of mud (Louisiana) Kenda Bear Claws are working great for me, but they DO NOT hook up on hard pack. For wheelies or to carry the front end over stuff, I had to learn not to jab the throttle. Still going to spin, but rolling on the gas slower helps. For wheelies, I get going in 2nd, let off the gas and then get back on it (while I sit on the very back of the seat). I'm only 140lbs. I still don't have the timing exactly right. Sometimes it still spins, sometimes good wheelie, sometimes it comes up so fast I have to jab rear brake to keep from going over. Got a buddy that weighs about 200. He slides to the back of the seat, holds steady throttle and slipps the clutch. He can walk wheelies all day long on my bike. He uses the clutch to control the wheel spin. I've tried but just can't do it that away. :geek:

Agreed :beer: :beer:

Trail riding only with wife and/or kids. When I ride without them, I ride the bike. (Unless riding real swampy muddy areas with buddies. Quad is much more fun in the mud.)

More personal opinion. I love my TCS.

ON the right track!! Remember, the oil prices went way up at the start of the war. They did not come back down because we are controling the oil. The media looks for the most negative thing they can find because that is what people want to see. If they could find where we, or a politician, or group of politicians, were making a direct proftit from the war in Iraq, it would be all over the news. I don't have all the "right" answers. The middle East has been at war since the beginning of the Bible. I believe that anyone thinking we can go over there and force everyone to make peace in a few months or a year, better look at their history books again. That is not realistic. On the flip side, something needed to be done. We commited to do it this way, let's finish what we started. (Note: The United Nations are the ones that agreed something needed to be done because Sadam was yanking the weapons inspectors. The United States is only one of the countries that make up the UN. Yet when it comes time to take action,,,who is doing all the work?) If we are such tyrants, why are we wasting our time, money, and resources, to help stabalize and rebuild Iraq as an independant country. If we just when over there, knocked heads, and took over, I could see some of these arguements. Instead, we are trying to help the people set up a government where they can choose who their leaders are and how they want to live. Please explain to me how giving the people the right to choose is wrong. Explain how rebuilding their schools and working to improve their economy is tyrany. We won't profit from the sale of their oil,,,,they will. That oil will be sold world wide,,,not just to the US. Think about what you are saying when you condem the war. There are a number of reasons we are over there. Look at the big picture not just the propaganda for either side. I don't have the right answers, but I believe we are doing the right thing.

Don't forget long term cost when you factor in more moving parts to replace with each re-build. That is one of the main reason I'm still on 2-strokes, bike and quad.

For "slow" trail riding, the 400EX may be hard to beat (I have had good luck with Honda reliability). Z400 has more power is more modern, read better power, better suspension. As far as the Shee, it's a different animal. I ride bikes, but sometimes take wife and kids on out of town trips. I wanted a quad that I could ride with wife and kids, but wanted something that would still hang with the bikes. I got a good deal on used Banshee. Mine is jetted pretty clean, and I mix 40:01. I don't have any trouble with fouling plugs or loading up as long as I run it through first, or rev the motor to clean it out every now and then. This past weekend, I did a 5 hour ride in muddy swampy trails, (almost all of it in 1st gear) with my 3-year old riding in front of me. For me it is a do-everything, all-around, quad. It flys when you want to ride a fast pace, and it tolerates a slow pace (just barely). I have a dirt bike, a Honda Recon (wifes quad), and the Shee, to choose form. Bike when riding with bikes. Banshee for everything else.