Chip M

I am in the process of building a leakdown tester and I have the banshee partially disassembled again after a rebuild a month or so ago. I have been having a little trouble getting my jetting/tuning just right but heading in the right direction. It sounds pretty good at all throttle positions but it does not seem to have the pull I would think it should. No breaking up, no bog, I just do not feel the power I thought it should have. Would an air leak give this kind of situation?. I first thought the clutch was slipping and that is where the power was going and I ordered a complete clutch set with basket from FAST, but the more I rode it , the less I thought it was the problem. So it sits in the box still. The clutch looked good when i put it back together anyway. I will post some pics of the plugs I pulled and I do not know if it will tell you anything at all about my problem, I was wondering if plugs that have been run for 3 or 4 hours would normally be that shiny on the ring. Have not done a plug chop yet, but will give it a try after leakdown test is done. Thanks for any help/advise you can give. 96 Banshee 64.75 mm bore V Force reeds ProDesign Cool Head FMF Gold Series Fatty's- Powercore 2 Silencers Presently 300 main jets-27.5 pilots @ sea level-80 deg. F Hard trail / MX style riding

Without more info on your mods I do not think you can get an exact answer for that question. Too many variables. I have only bolt on mods and I first tried 300 mains with the stock pilot jets (25's) and have now changed to 27.5 pilots. Much better but I am still in the process of tuning. read as much as you can in the jetting forum on this site. Also this link helps me out quite a bit. Banshee Jetting FAQ

Mine had a .75 stamped on the tops when I bought it. After checking the size with a mic I found out it meant .75 mm over stock. Mine checked out at 64.75 mm. That would make yours 64.5 mm assuming you are talking about a stock cylinder. You really need to put a micrometer or at least a set of dial calipers on your pistons to make sure you know what you have. I guess since you are changing them, the pistons are no good so I would be sure to check the bore size (or take it to someone who has the proper measuring equipment) to be certain the bore is within spec of size and roundness before putting the money in a nice set of pistons and rings only to put them in a bad bore. Good luck.

I had the same problem when I bought my last one... a melted piston and stock jets with aftermarket pipes, reeds and K&N filter setup. After I did the rebuild I started with 300 mains and 27.5 pilots. I had to turn in the air screws to about 1/2 turn from closed and I am still in the process of tuning but it runs very well and is never more than 2 kicks to start. The guys in here will have many good ideas for you (they did for me) and I also found that the tuning is very specific to each individual bike and different altitudes / weather / mods / riding conditions. Start rich and work lean seems to be the safest way to get to where you need to be. Check out the following link , it helped me alot. Good luck. Banshee Jetting FAQ

Thanks much Larry, That is exactly what I will do. I hope now the changes I make to my jetting / tuning will stay consistent. Right or wrong, at least consistent ..............Take care

My new cable and caps came in the mail today. I can't believe have messed around for a month or so trying to get my carbs tuned and figure out what pilots would work best for me and had not taken the time to scrap those boxes on top of my carbs. The TORS was disabled when I bought the bike but pretty much just unplugged. What a pleasure it seems to be to work on it without that crap in my way. I got the carbs drilled and tapped and got em back on and sync'd. Lovin life. I pulled the unit under the left front fender which was unpugged when I bought it and I was hoping it is ok to get that cable out of my throttle also. I see that it has a plug just before the wiring harness that I can undo and maybe strip the rest out of the wiring harness all together at a later date. If any of you guys still have the stock throttle,can I take the wiring from inside the thumb throttle box without starting troubles? I will be sure to plug up the hole it leaves behind. One more thing, I see that there is some old crusty goo inside the thumb throttle box that I assume WAS grease. Should I coat the lever inside with some good grease? Thanks for you input.

This link was sent to me in the repair forum and I thought it could be put good use here. It really cleared up some troubles I had. Banshee Jetting FAQ

I just got done rebuilding on with just minor bolt on mods....pipes, coolhead. and K&N air filter. It also had stock jets in it when I bought it AND it had a melted spot on the piston probably from the stock jets running me too lean. After talking with Jeff at FAST and reading a great sticky in here about jetting, I ordered 300 main jets and 27.5 pilot jets. Runs sweet now. The jets are cheap and 2 days after I ordered them they were in my mailbox. Dont screw up your new topend. Call FAST Racing . I will post the link to the HQ sticky. Good luck. Banshee Jetting FAQ

I just thought I should give some kind of update since the help I received in here and the parts help from F.A.S.T made it possible for me to get through my tear down and rebuild. I picked up a 96 Banshee (with title) that had not run in 2 years, covered in dust and mold. The previous owner got it locked in 2nd gear and figured it was a tranny problem. His cousin had tried to fix it and said it was going to be very expensive to fix. I gave him 500 bucks and loaded it in the truck. I found the shift shaft had a bad wobble at the fork that engages with the star on the shift drum. I was not sure that was all of the problem so I split the cases and found no problem except a tranny bearing that seems a little noisier than the rest. No slop in it ,just a little more noisy. New seals,one tranny bearing, shift shaft and the top end with all new gaskets and o-rings and I was putting it back together. Third kick it popped and bit me a little and the 4th kick it was running. It was sweet. I had cleaned the carbs and saw it had stock jets in it (maybe explain the melted piston)so I ordered up 2 carb rebuild kits and got 300 mains and 27.5 pilots. The forums in here and Jeff at FAST helped me to pick a good place to start. We will tune from there. Tonight I got the carb work finished and 2nd kick it was running. It is not near the built badass ride I see some of guys in here have but it will continue to grow. It has a .030 over stock bore, FMF Fatty's with powercore 2 silencers, ProDesign coolhead , VForce reed valves and K&N air filter. Runs great but have alot of room to grow for sure. I cannot thank all of the people that helped me in here enough. You have been great. I look forward to much time and info sharing in here. I will try to post the link to some pics of it if you would like to see it. Thanks again and RUN WFO!!!! http://photobucket.com/1996banshee

I got rebuild kits from FAST for a stock 96 Banshee carb. I am seeing a jet in the kit that I do not recognize being in my carb . I also bought new jets other than stock to replace the 200 main and 25 pilot that came with the kit but I have an extra jet in the kit that looks about like the pilot only a little different length but it has what looks like a 50 stamped on it. Am I not seeing where this goes in my carb or is it for a different application? I read through the manual and I see no reference to another jet. Thanks

The pics are of the left piston I took out before I rebuilt it. I was just trying to get an idea what the guy before me did to it.

I picked up a 96 Banshee that had not run for a couple of years. I took it apart to put new gaskets lower end seals and a fresh top end. There are not many mods on it, pipes, reed valve system and a coolhead. I had some cold start problems after putting it back together and found stock jets still being used. I have not gotten the new pilot jets yet, but I started out with 300's in the main. I was sure that stock would be too lean but I am not very knowledgeable about jetting. Studying up on it now. I have some pictures of the left piston I took out and would like you to tell me if the damage can be read to give me some idea of what caused it. The right piston looked in fine shape, as a matter of fact, it looked to me like that set of pistons had not been in very long. (except for the damage of course !). The previous owner told me about a exhaust leak on the left side.Damage is to the front side of the piston. Could there be that much melt down from an exhaust leak. Any ideas would help me to not do this to my new set of pistons. Thanks guys , you have been great help to me.

I had trouble with cold starts after new top end and lower end seals rebuild. After reading many of the forum posts I got the carbs working great tonight and I was wondering if you guys would suggest something other than the 200 main- 25 pilot jets that are in it now. I have not even gotten in all the way back together to see how it acts or if I even need to change. I have only taken a couple of quick runs down the street. I was also hoping you could explain the heat cycles I need to do that I reading about. I read I need to do it but I could not find where it told me how to do it. Mine is a 96 shee with .030 over bore, pro design coolhead(not sure about how to tell which domes are on it)' FMF Gold series pipes and VForce reed valves. I ride in pretty much 70- 80 F weather at about 10-50 foot elevation. I really only ride open woods/dirt track style and some fast trail riding. I know there is no way to get an exact number on the best setup for the type of riding I do, I was just hoping to get a good starting point and I will try to tweak it from there. thanks

Yeah it just totally slipped my mind. I was so pumped about trying it out,not even a seat to sit on, Just motor and pipes. lol. Bought the coolant today, I will pop off the cover and check for any damage. Hoping for the best.

Got it. Thanks much guys. That sick feeling in my stomach is starting to settle down. I will post the pics when I get it all back together so you can see what you and I did... lol. It is really not much to look at, I mean just not all the chrome and sweet colors i see on some of the pics posted, But the bike did not have a bunch of stripped out bolts and bass ackwards engineering l Have seen on some other project bikes. Frame looked straight and the plastics were all in good shape. For 500 bucks I couldn't turn it down. This site really rocks with all the help offered and knowledge shared. I plan on signing up as a paying member and hanging around for a while.

I live in Florida, It is about 75-80 degrees outside. How would I tell if it overheated? I saw a very little smoke coming from the pipes right where they come out of the engine, but it stopped about a minute of two after I shut down. I was just in way too much of a hurry to see if the bike would run.

I bought a 96 Banshee a few weeks ago, it stuck in 2nd gear. I wanted to try a rebuild in the garage. New pistons, rings and all new upper and lower seals along with some shifter parts and a outer tranny bearing.(Along with MUCH help from you great bunch of guys) I got it finished last night and was pumped to give it a try after work today. I pretty much just stuck the engine back in the frame and bolted on the pipes. I fired it up and let it idle for a couple of minutes, like I was told to in here and then I wanted to make sure I could get through 2nd gear since that was my original problem, before putting it all back together. Once in second I figured I might as well try a couple more gears, so I grabbed 3rd and 4th gear like I had just stole it. WOW!! Really hard for me to believe how much pull these things have. Mine is pretty much stock compared to some I read about, only a little O.S. bore ,FMF pipes, ProDesign CoolHead and VForce Reed Valves. Carbs I do not know about yet. Now to tell you the dumbass thing I did. I ran without any coolant in the motor. I only did the idle to let it warm up and two 50 yard screams down my street but I do not know how much the banshee's can take without coolant. Will it melt the impeller that quick?. Is it likely that I did any permanent damage from the heat? Nobody can beat me down as much as I sit here beatin myself down so please let me know honestly how bad I screwed up. Thanks again for all you guys that have helped me in my posts during my rebuild and all the great tips that I have read in others posts.

Thanks guys. I think I am on the right track and can just continue with the correct amount of oil in the clutch cover case. I guess what was throwing me was the fact that I sealed up the tranny when I put the cases back together with no fluid to speak of inside. I assume their is a way for the ATF to get from my clutch cover sidecase to the middle of the motor where the tranny gears are. Feeling really stuid here, you all have really helped me though my rebuild.

96 banshee is back together. I am thinking of going with the ATF with no friction modifiers in the clutch sidecase. I am ready to put it in when I thought, the only oil that went in the crankcase after I split and put back together was the small amount in the delivery holes to lube the crankcase bearings and what I coated all the gears and shafts with as per manual. I can find nothing on putting any amount to speak of in the gearbox. This is normal on a 2 stroke? Please tell me I did not miss a step. Thanks for all your help guys, you have been great.

I am putting my 96 Banshee lower end back together. I was wondering if anyone has ever used the Royal Purple Max ATF in their crankcase. I also do have some Castrol 10w-30 on hand but I was wondering if the Purple would be better. It is too early here to get anything else and I was hoping to get a jump start on the weekend. If not good enough to fill crankcase with, can I at least use it to lube parts for assembly? Thanks

Thx much and I am going to replace all lower end seals. I hope I can figure a good way to get hold of the crankshaft after it is out to get that nut loose. It seemed really tight but I did not try impact. I got scared of dragging all that rag thru the gear mesh between clutch basket and the drive gear. lol.....need more balls I guess

I have a recently purchased 96 banshee and I am doing a rebuild. I have the manual and am to the point of just removing crankcase bolts/nuts. I was able to remove everything except the primary gear nut. I sucked two or three rags through the gear mesh before I decided that I might be doing a bad thing tweaking the shafts apart as it must have been doing. I continued as the manual explained and got to the point explained at start of post. My question is, Is there a reason the primary gear must come off before splitting the case as long as I have no crank and /or rods problem? The original problem was a shifting problem, stuck in second the man told me. I had got that problem resolved but did not like the way it slid from gear to gear after replacing the gearshift shaft. Thanks to all for your help so far through my first banshee rebuild. One more quicky....how do I get to a place to type in the shoutbox??? tnx