Nick_R_23

Most seats you want to start out in the middle, then rear, then front, then finish off the corners. However, I found it best with this seat to tack the middle of the sides first, then tack the center of the rear, and finish off the rear corners, tack the front/top, then do the 'wave' part in the front, I had to re-tack this area several times before I had all the wrinkles out. Then just go around and finish off the in between areas. Heat/blow dryer is your best friend when trying to smooth the wrinkles. This guide is a great place to start, lots of good info and tips, courtesy of www.cosmicquads.com (Great site, they do awesome work!!) You might need to register to view the pics, but its well worth it for the info. http://3wheelerworldforums.com/showthread.php?t=90587 -Nick

No idea on the handlebars...thats what was on there when I bought it. I know its not meant for the banshee as the adjustment slits on the bar sticks out past the handlebar clamps. I do like the feel of them though. Im not going to cut the front plastics since I need all the coverage I can get on the trails up here!! Plus Im not a big fan of cut plastics myself, I have an 86 200x with cut rears and I wish they hadent been cut. If I rode in the sand I might consider cutting them. I like the look of them on your machine though, looks very clean!! -Nick

Before with the ugly purple cover with black paint all over it: After with the new cover: I have a blue tank and rad covers coming so those pink ones will be off soon. -Nick

On the banshee Im rebuilding, I think someone already did the TORS removal. None of the electrical parts are there, throttle is siliconed, and carbs have none of that extra crap on them. The stuff thats on the carbs now (caps, throttle cable) look like the Vito's TORS removal kit. The problem is, the throttle cable is missing some part in the middle and the idle screws are confusing me. I read that the carbs must be drilled and tapped for the idle screws and I think somebody may have screwed up. One of the carbs has the idle screw, and the thread size is M6x0.75. The other carb is missing its idle screw, but the threads where it would go are M8x1.0, which is obviously a lot larger. Did someone mess this up?? What do I do now? -Nick

Thanks for the compliments guys! Its not a pre-sewn cover, its just a raw sheet of marine vinyl from a fabrics store. Ive done a few seats before but like I said this one was by far the hardest one yet, because of the corners/wave and the tall front. My uncle used to do this for a living and Ive gotten tips from other guys who are pros at this so that helps out a lot. It starts to get easier once you do a few, and kind of pick up on certain tricks. -Nick

Black it is then!! :beer: This is by far the hardest seat Ive ever recovered, very tricky to get the wrinkles out and wrap the cover around the corners. Heat helped a ton in this situation. Foam was good, a little damp but it dried overnight. Only part that needed a little buildup was one of the rear corners (had to cut off some moss growing there) so I put a small bit of foam and used the Mosh's tape trick and you cant even tell its there!! Took forever and no less then a million tries to get all the wrinkles out but Im pretty happy with the results!! What do you think?? -Nick

Im going to recover the seat on my banshee. Its going to be all one color, and Im thinking about doing it in blue or black. I have all blue plastics, silver frame/swinger/a-arms/rims. Would you guys do blue or black or even another color with this setup?? If you have a shee with blue plastics, you can throw up a pic of it that shows the seat, Id like to see what it'd look like before I went and bought materials. Thanks! -Nick

You wont be able to rebuild your own crank. You would need a bearing puller, press, and the ability to true the crank once its put back together. 99% of the people out there dont have the access to these tools and/or the ability to do this. Im one of those guys that does everything in my own shop and doesnt let anyone else touch my rides, but I still send out my cranks to the local shop for any work I need done to them. -Nick

Ill throw in my .02, take it for what its worth. My 1986 ATC 250R has a milled head, and requires race gas. In Alaska you can imagine how far I have to go to get it and how much it costs on top of that, no way Im paying that much. I live like a mile across from the airport, and so I have as much 100LL at my disposal as I can buy. I decided to try using AVgas in the 250R, I mix it with Klotz SuperTechniplate at 25:1 and so far Ive been impressed and havent had any problems, Ive been using this for almost 2 years now, and have taken the machine on long trips (50+ miles at a time). Ive noticed better gas mileage and the engine burns cleaner. Smells awesome too. -Nick

Im just going to throw this out there...First engine I ever rebuilt, was a 1977 Yamaha YZ80. I fully rebuilt that thing and was pretty proud of myself. I rode it around for a day or so and then out of nowhere it locks up, good thing I was slowing down in about 2nd gear. I tried the kick starter and it was seized completely. So I took it home and pulled the clutch cover off and come to find out I forgot to tighten down the clutch spring bolts, and each of them had unscrewed themselves and caught on the clutch cover, 'seizing' the engine and putting a crack in the clutch cover that just about split it in half. -Nick

Yeah, I know theres no gasket in the cases. They didnt use the case sealant though, the entire thing was RTV silicone. And not a good job either, it was overflowing everywhere, the crank bearings were full of it and so was pretty much everthing else. I think I mustve scraped 2 or 3 tubes of it off!! :yelrotflmao: The cases are clean because I just got back from cleaning them off for 2 hours with the parts washer. This thing was a mess when I first split the cases. -Nick

Well I brought the engine inside and started tearing it down. I couldnt believe what I saw. If I could find the guy who 'rebuilt' this motor I would rip his nuts off. The whole thing was really half assed together, no gaskets at all, just 100% silicone. Not only that, there was silicone over a different kind of silicone in some places. The center crank bearings had a bunch of it in them, no wonder that crank gave out. They also didnt bother lining up the bearing pins, just stucked the crank in and crammed it together. The whole bottom case was lined with sludge. And more silicone. Almost half the case screws had stripped heads and every single one required an impact driver to remove them. (Why Yamaha used screws as case bolts is beyond me....Im replacing every one of those with a REAL bolt). And suprisingly enough, each and every screw also had silicone where it threaded in. I mustve spent over an hour with a tap cleaning out all those threads. When I was cleaning the cylinders I also found that they put silver paint on the head gasket surface...WTF?? The clutch turned out to be shot as well, the basket is grooved badly and if you grab the basket and gear its rivited to and twist, the basket rotates over 1/4" side to side on the gear. Little worn out, you think?? The rest of the clutch components look to be ok though, however I might end up replacing the fibers and steels anyway if they turn out to be too thin. On the plus side, everything else in the motor was in good shape, and the cases cleaned up very well. I already have the tranny installed, so I pretty much need to drop in a crank, and the bottom end can go together. On the clutch basket issue, what would be a good replacement one? I take it the stock ones arent all that great?? Bottom case half with tranny installed and oiled. Other case and top end Oh I almost forgot, I think this is one of the major reasons this engine went. At first I thought the shaft was bent, but I measured it and its straight. I think they put the bearing in and it wasnt perfectly straight. The impeller was rubbing on the case pretty good, Id imagine that would slow down the flow of coolant a good bit. The bearing is shot anyway so it and the seal will both be replaced. And would you look at that, more silicone!! -Nick

I think I am going to get this crank here, its low hours and came from a fairly new year. I will have it trued, welded, and probably new bearings to be safe. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...em=160313452518 -Nick

I will look into the stock crank more, and send NYUK a pm to see if he has one. I tried talking to the guy I usually have do my cranks to see what it would cost, but he wont be back until later today. I will definately get the PTO side bearing, Ive had experience with those going out on Polaris XLT engines. Since he would be pulling the bearings off anyway, would it be better if I replaced the other ones also? Edit: Looking at a parts fiche it appears that theres only 1 bearing on each end of the crank, and none in the middle, is this correct?? If so that would be awesome, I thought there was a bearing in the middle that could go out and require splitting the crank and cost a lot more. I will probably stick with a stock crank then if this is the case. -Nick

So if I was to buy another stock crank to have trued and welded, should I look into replacing the bearings on it, maybe even go with the Maxload bearing on the one end? I keep hearing stories of the stock cranks coming apart. Plus the cost of buying another stock one, having it trued and welded and chancing it needing new bearings vs just flat out buying a new one will probably end up costing the same anyway, and might as well just go with a new one? I just dont want to end up spending up more money on a stock crank that might gernade itself later like the one thats in the engine did. -Nick

Yeah, with the tank on theres not really any room for a brace. Id just rather have the bars bend before the frame does. Guess Ill just have to not roll it in the first place lol. I got a lot of the bolts at the hardware store, still need more though to finish. The throttle cable seems like its missing a piece, theres a cable that comes off both the carbs and one coming off the throttle block, they both have a piece on the end like they connect together, what am I missing in here? -Nick

Heres some pics, I went and got a bunch of bolts and got a lot of stuff bolted down. -Nick

So if the cranks are already welded, I take it the welding included on the site is a reweld/better weld? I think I will hold off on porting, at least for now. If I ever change my mind, all I have to do is pop off the cylinders and send them in. I also want to keep the engine cost around 7-800$ as much as possible. I will be using stock pipes for now but I will definately be changing them out as $$ permits. So the shift star and shaft are worthwhile mods then? Do I send my old shaft in to be modded/have the modded parts sent to me or will they just send me a whole new one? What all is required for the long rod? Crank obviously, are there cylinder spacers, different pistons/heads? I also only see the 4mm on the FAST site, they dont mention a long rod being available? How much more would this cost? Ill toss up some pics when I get home, I got the plastics cleaned up and finished straightening the frame so everything actually fits like it should now. Amazing difference when stuff slides right in and bolts right up compared to fighting and prying and pulling. :yelrotflmao: -Nick

Thanks for the advice guys!! Looking on the FAST site I think I will go with the crank and Wiseco pistons on there. Plus its always better to support the site sponsors. :thumbsup: The true and weld comes with the stock stroke cranks for 400$, right? How much extra is the bearing upgrade? I dont think I would get much out of porting this one, or a long rod/stroker crank. It will be used on tight, heavily forested trails, and also more open dirt trails, and probably hit about 45 mph max. I have to let a 400 Kodiak keep up with me. :yelrotflmao: Also, what on the clutch should I upgrade? Just fibers, springs, or the whole basket? And what is the pancake bearing adjuster and what does it do? Ive also heard about shift shaft/shift star mods, what exactly is modded and what does this mod do also? I will definately get a billet waterpump. I know this is a common problem with Tri-Z engines. Would the impellers be the same for the Banshee and Z? Sorry about all the questions, I just want to get this one put together well and not have to see the inside for a long time!! -Nick

I just bought a 2003 Banshee with a 1995 engine that threw a rod. The crank is junk but everything else seems to have survived fairly well. The cylinders need to be bored and new pistons thrown in, along with a new crank. Im not looking to make this a high-hp or screaming fast bike right now, I have other machines for that. Even bone stock this bike will be faster then anything else around here anyway. It will be used mostly for trail riding. That said, I want to try and make this motor as reliable as possible. and last a long time. Since it needs a new crank, Ive been reading up and it seems that rebuilding a stock crank and buying a new Hotrods or Wiseco crank are about the same price. I dont think I want a stroker crank. Which one is better, and where is the best place to get them at? I found both on ebay for about 380$, ready to drop in. Ive seen that most people here prefer Wiseco pistons. Ive never had trouble with them and use them in a few of my other machines. I can get .050 over Wiseco pistons for 95$ apiece from Hyperparts and a Moose complete gasket kit with oil seals for 80$ from DennisKirk. Are these good prices, or can I do better? Last, since Im tearing this thing completely apart, what are some of the weak spots or things I should replace or look at while its apart? -Nick

Ok heres a little update. After getting the subframe straightened out as much as possible and the sides widened back out again, I still wasnt satisfied with the steering loop. I still had to use a screwdriver to help slip the tank in, and the radiator mounts were too far apart for all 3 bolts to screw in without fighting it. Ive always used a hand-crank car jack to straighten small frames, but I didnt know where I could put the base of the jack on the frame so it wouldnt bend one thing while straighening something else. So after thinking for a little bit, I came up with this: (Sorry about the blurry pics, I cant hold that camera still to save my life!! :yelrotflmao: ) I havent test fitted the tank yet, but the radiator fitment is 10000% better. Im betting the plastics will line up with the mounting holes better also. Once I get it perfect, I want to weld a brace from each top corner of the loop down to the frame. Has anyone put a brace here before, and do you have pics of how you did it?? I have an idea of how I want to do it. -Nick

The guy I got it from was Tim, but I would be willing to bet he got it from the same guy you did. I asked him what happened to the original engine. It sounds like the guy had a couple banshees, this 2003, a 1995, and probably more, and that the 95 threw the rod so he pulled the engine out of the 03 since the bike itself was beat, and what I have is whats left over (2003 bike and blown 95 engine). Check your engine #, you just might have my old engine!! :beer: Eventually I might try and find another one. This one actually straightened out suprisingly well, so I will use it until I come across a good deal on another one. -Nick

I got the steering loop pushed back forward enough to wedge the tank in and out without too much pressure. I might try bending it forward some more since the bolt holes the radiator bolts to are far apart enough where its hard to get all 3 mounting bolts in. Also got one of the loose tank nuts out and JB welded it back in place. Frame was pretty tweaked in the rear but I got it straightened out and welded up the best I can for how bad it was bent. I wish I couldve seen the rollover, mustve been pretty impressive!! Found a few more cracks and fixed those too. Also went through and tapped out each hole so it will be ready for bolts when I start assembling it. The axle is slightly tweaked on the left, Im still deciding if I want to try straightening it or not, its not bent very bad. Ive had axles bent way worse and not noticed any wobbling, so I may or may not straighten this one. I had 2 airboxes, took the best top and bottom from each and cleaned them out, also had the filter soaking in gas overnight and it came out looking like new. Turns out its actually a Pro Design filter. Put it all together and mounted it up in the frame after drilling out a broken bolt. Also had the top end pulled on the engine and had the bottom end soaking in 2 cycle oil all day. I was able to get the crank broke free, it spins over but feels very rough. I dont think I will try to save the crank. I cleaned off the one piston that was left, and its says 1.00 over. How many bores do I have left on this engine? I really hope I dont have to resleeve. I think now I will start bolting up as much as I can to the machine along with fixing all the small things, and bring the engine inside to start tearing it down. @ AK heathen: I got it off of 907bigboytoys for 300$, he didnt have it listed on CL which is probably why nobody called on it. Picked it up just past meadow lakes, on the corner where Vine and KGB road meet. On my a-arms, the lower left one is missing the bushings on one mount, on the right side one of the arms has a small chunk taken out of the lip on one bushing, they seem fine otherwise. -Nick

Yeah, its definately been rolled a few times. I think most of the damage is on the rear subframe though. I think most of it can be straightened, and the cracked places welded easily. Tank support Grab bar mount area Same place underneath And would someone be willing to get me these measurements on the frame? I think its been pushed in on these 3 spots, so I want to widen it back out again. -Nick

Thanks for the welcome guys!! Here are a few pics of what Ive got so far. Note the suspension. :yelrotflmao: The front grille, tank cover, and seat were spray painted black, working on cleaning them off. Cylinder has light surface rust, but I can feel scratches with my nail so both cyl's will get bored. Also note there is no rod, but also no pieces of the piston or rod in the bottom. The crank hasnt been removed, so how did they get it out?? Extra exhausts I got with it. The filter looks aftermarket (Pro-Flow is what it says)? Never heard of them. Cleaned up really nice though! This is about as far as I can get the tank in. I cant tell if the steering frame is bent, but I did find that the rear tank support is cracked on one side where it meets the frame, and appears to be squished in a little bit, almost like the frame got bent in. Is this possible? Frame without the tank. Sweet deal, let me know what he wants for the shocks. If you have other stuff around Im also looking for a left footpeg, and an upper right trailing arm (this ones been welded, dont trust it). If you come across any let me know how much you want. -Nick