banmeister

I know I am going to be on the opposite side of a lot of people here, but I do not think the cool head is worth it as one of the first mods for the banshee, the only power you will gain is from changing the compression. You asked if it makes a notable difference, As far as what? If you are suffering from overheating, a larger radiator is needed, if you want more power I would put the money towards a port job. IMHO B

Dude, You chase your tail as much as I do, I know the thought of doing it all yourself sounds like a fun, but you will ruin a few jugs before you are happy with what you did. + you still have to buy the porting equipment and no Harbor Freight does not carry anything that will work for porting. Send your stock jugs to one of the sponcers and then study what they did while your enjoying your ride. If you still have the itch to cut metal buy some jugs off ebay and have at them. Then swap them on the bike and see how you did. B

Inthemail, My appologies, I did not intend to sound so cocky when responding, I guess that is what happens when I am in the middle of a meeting at work while typing a responce. B

Uhhhh...... Read TDRs (sleeve manufacture) Comments on DROPPING in (not Pressing) a sleeve. Quoted from their site CYLINDER SLEEVE INSTALLATION PROCEDURE Step 1. The cylinder must be stripped of all removable parts: studs, nuts, bolts, manifolds, etc. Step 2. The cylinder is bored out to accept the sleeve. When the sleeve is installed into an all aluminum cylinder, the interference fit is .004. When the sleeve is being installed into a cast iron cylinder bore, the interference fit is .002 to .003. The interference fit is determined by measuring the outside diameter of the sleeve, then boring the cylinder diameter smaller than the sleeve. The interference fit is a critical aspect of sleeve installation because this step insures that the sleeve does not move when in the cylinder. Also, proper interference fit is important for cylinder cooling purposes. Step 3. The cylinder is then heated in an oven between 400o, up to 450o for an hour or more. Do not use a torch or hot plate for this procedure. It is important that the cylinder heats uniformly. Step 4. The cylinder is then removed from the oven and the sleeve will drop easily into the cylinder. Turning the sleeve by hand to line up the ports is a common practice, or you can use a needle nose type device to align the ports. You will have between five and ten seconds before the sleeve and cylinder lock up. Step 5. The cylinder must then be put under a hydraulic press to keep the sleeve from rising while the cylinder is cooling. Step 6. The ports of the sleeve must then be blended with the cylinder by using an assortment of hand grinding porting tools. Mismatched ports will cause some power loss to the engine. Step 7. After the ports have been matched, the cylinder (sleeve) must be bored out and honed to insure proper piston clearance. Measure your piston at the skirt to properly bore the sleeved cylinder to the correct bore size. Chamfer the edges of all the ports to prevent the rings from catching on a sharp edge. Next, hone your cylinder to the correct piston clearance. Properly sleeved cylinders can use the O.E.M. recommended piston clearance. If you have a doubt, add a half thousandth (.0005) to the clearance. Step 8. As an added finishing touch, surface decking the top of the cylinder is recommended in order to make sure that the head gasket will sit flat on the cylinder to create a good sealing surface. Make sure you only take the minimum cut off the top of the cylinder. http://www.bansheedepot.com/products.asp?cat=45

When resleeving a banshee you bore the stock sleeve out to the od of the new sleeve (-.002-.003 in) and drop in the new one, some of the old sleeve remains. If the old sleeve gets too thin it will buldge out as the cutter passes by, which is probably ok since it will actually leave more material. If it gets really thin the old sleve will rip out in that area. Offer to buy the shop a new cutter or make sure the one they are using is very sharp and they take light cuts. Even if some of the old sleve were to be damaged the new sleeve should be able to hold up, maybe do not take the new sleeve to 66 and stop at 65.5. I do not think matching the new sleeve to the port job would be killer hard, It gives them a "template" to work with. They should record the current timings and make sure they match that though. Good luck B

It does sound like the spark, check for loose or pinched wires. Pull the mag cover off and make sure the spark pickup is tight and the gap is set properly (I forget what it is supposed to be or I would tell you). Check the TORS circuit and make sure it wa properly disconnected.

I had a two cyl bike that ran sort of like what you described. The carb slides were way out of sink. It ran mostly on one cylinder, execpt at specific throttle positions. I am sure you checked it, but I thought I would mentioned it.

Frankly, there are hundereds/ thousands of banshees around so why not use one to make something different. If you do not like it, you can part it for about the same execpt what you destroy. I am sure you can even get a few bills for the siezed motor to help pay for whatever. By all means keep the bloody electric starter, bigish 4-pokes are a pain to start with your foot, and nothing makes other banshee owners more jealous at the end of a long day of riding when they have to kick theirs when all you do is push a button. Now if you had a reverse.......... You will find the bike motor will vibrate much more then stock, so if you can mount it in rubber you will thank yourself later. Spend a fair amount of time working out which parts of the frame to modify, what seems to be the logical mod at first maybe the more difficult. Sometimes you can work it out with just cutting and extending a few tubes, or maybe just motor mounts, yea that would be nice.

Check to see if you are getting good fuel flow to the carbs (and thru the needle valves). Put a timing light on it and watch the flywheel look for misstimed sparks. Do a pressure test on the motor. Swap the carbs from side to side see if it follows the carb. (you did say only one side was running bad didn't you). make sure your muffler is not totaly plugged Read the plugs. Take it to a shop Or drive it as a 175 they still run respectable considering..... :laugh:

...if you only did one or the other, which do you think would produce more power. A banshee motor with stock stroke and big bore, say ~70mm. Or a 64mm bore with a +10 mm stroke (also 64).?? Any opinions? :happy: I am just thinking about ideal combinations, again money, difficulty & machining aside. Ban

Glad to hear someone else say that, I repeatedly lost a drag race to a 250 honda with a shortened swinger. I had the horsepower, but his launches were better. When I asked him about his shortened swinger he laughed and said "buy a trike, learn to ride it, then buy a quad and shorten the arm" Ban

A freind of mine had his rear axel bright clear zinc plated, it was cheaper then powder coating and look quite good. He polished it before taking it to the plater so after it was plated it was about as shiney as the aluminum wheels look when they are new. Depending on your color combination you could also consider bright yellow zinc which has a yellow / gold look to it. b

So what is everyones perfered mix ratio?? I go 32:1, caster oil

Firehead, you rock! And you are not living up to your name today, thanks for being such a gentleman. Have fun Ban

If you do not raise the jugs 2mm, the port timing will be off (reduced?) by 2mm which is a lot! Think of it this way if you have the spacers under the jugs then turn the crank until the exhaust port is just starting to open then were to take the spacers out the jugs would be lowered and the exhaust port would be closed for another 2mm of piston travel, same for the transfers. The ports need to be open for the correct length of time for the exhaust gas to get out (size also matters but we won't get into that) same for the intakes if they are not open long enough the performance will suffer. (This is also expansion chamber and RPM range dependent, but I am assuming you are not planning on doing something unusual here. Your performance will be notably less then the same set up ported (if you just raise the jugs 2mm there will still be 2mm at the bottom of your stroke that could be used for port area). It is kind of like putting a big motor, 4-stroke world, under a small valved head. Ban