You got the basics down, sounds like your dealing with something thats never really been touched by anyone what a great find! On the other hand it's all about what you want to do, trail ride, hillclimbing, drag, its all about what you want.
Upload pics from tapatalk love carnage . I've never heard of a Banshee that could just slap itself in reverse there must be some serious crank issues there. Leak test then buy a Clymers for $30 if you havnt already got one, a flywheel puller for $10 and tear it down, you have a time bomb on your hands. Remeber to leak test again after reassembly.
Yea switching the main comes into play for the larger pipes like Shearer or Trinity inframes and motors with tons of work but im sure leaving the main stock and keeping the 27.5 pilots in will let her fire on one kick
Type of pipes ? Some of the trail pipes like FMF fatty's and pro circuits require the stock jets to fire right up the first kick even with the choke out. Thats how mine was and I switched my single carbed shee back to stockers with 25 pilots and 250 mains its a stock motor with just pc pipes and no porting starts first kick everytime.
Ive had the Alba arms on for about a year and a half now they're holding up pretty good considering how much I put them through, only 350$ for the works or something like that back when I got them.
If coolant appears on the bottom of the cylinder and seems to seep from there then i'll be willing to bet one or both of the coolant plugs on the bottom of the cylinders are leaking. Both plugs are less then $10 at yamaha.
Apparently the stock heads cause overheating at high revs but ive had no problems using them at all I actaully prefer stock and the metal gasket instead of sorting out o-rings. Only advantage is a coolhead can switch out its domes and is made of almunium