Banshee reliability ( Be honest guys)

[VegasJeff]

Depends on the year. I bought a 1990 Banshee with J arms last september, and the stock lower J arm just snapped. Now im selling it for a dirtbike. If your buying an older banshee be ready to replace shit.

you keep saying lower j-arm,do you mean lower a-arm? they didn't come with lower j-arms on any year.banshees are reliable as hell if you keep the maintenace up and like any hobby,it cost money to enjoy.

[VictorK]

banshee need to be torn down everyweekend that they are used..

you cn not store gas in them for longer then 28hrs

they need a top end every 30 hours or every 3months which ever is first

you must love tools because you will be wrenching more then riding

there the secret is out

This is not always the case it sounds like your bike was put together poorly.my friend Josh has a yfz 450 and its down with some electrical, he still isn't positive what the problem is, I can put a new crank in my motor with the amount of trouble he's had with it this time.any machine 4 poke or even a banshee can last forever or have constant issues with a little good luck and carefully applying your skills, the banshee should do great. One last thing, you need to start reading the expiration dates on that gas chief! Lol

[bansheesandrider]

banshee need to be torn down everyweekend that they are used..

you cn not store gas in them for longer then 28hrs

they need a top end every 30 hours or every 3months which ever is first

you must love tools because you will be wrenching more then riding

there the secret is out

The above is so not true.

My bike gets a complete cleaning and inspection after every riding trip and any thing thay is wrong is repaired.

I store my bikes with a full tank of fuel and the carbs are also full, I use Stabil in the fuel and I have not had any problems, even after sitting all winter.

You don't do a top end bases on hours, you base it on how much compression you have and if there are any extra noises.

You will only spend more time wrenching than riding if you don't fix things correctly the first time.

[pondtunes]

I'm gonna chime in with my .02

 

I bought my shee second hand, its a 1987 model and it was in very sad shape all over, the plastics were rough, the engine looked rougher.. Still had TORS system, carbs leaked and the thing bled gas all the time. The jetting was WAY off, the tires were bald, the wheels still are garbage (dented and such)..

As for cranking up and running, that it did.. Without fail every time.

 

I got this thing around November or so and found this site looking for some help with it.

Come to find out the thing was missing intake to airbox boots & an air filter, and the crossover pipe for the intake, the silencers were completely gutted.

 

 

Anyways the first thing I did was get get the airbox re-connected & the jetting right, which was trial and error based on the advice found here,

Then I worked on the cosmetic aspect of it some and fixing the little mechanical issues that i've found thus far.

 

 

Things that have broke / gone wrong.

1) The keyswitch went bad, it wouldn't stay in the run position, just driving along and it would vibrate until the contacts disconnected and the bike shut down!, Relocated to trash.

2) It quit shifting... This turned out to be the little screw that holds the shift star on.. It didn't have any thread locker and backed out (But it only took it 23 years to do it doesn't look like anyone had ever been inside there but anyways it took a long time hehe)

3) Stator burned out after I washed the shit out of it.. I read to waterproof my stator cover but I didn't get around to it and had to replace the stator.. Lesson Learned!

4) It's bleeding oil, new oil seals are on the way didn't start bleeding until I pulled the clutch cover however.

 

 

Of those issues one of my 4 poke buddies ribs me about having her torn down a lot since I got the shee. He likes to give me shit saying "All the time you've invested working on that thing you coulda bought a Honda and not had to mess with it.." I just respond with "well I might have bought a Honda if I was a little girl" However from above you can tell shee was in pretty sad shape, of the 4 big issues ive had 3 have left me with no start but at least 2 of them could have been totally prevented had someone done some checks once in a while on it. That being said i'm just as much to blame since I didn't bother to go over the thing with a fine toothed comb when I got it. I *SHOULD* have pulled the clutch cover and inspected it, I *SHOULD* have waterproofed my stator cover.

 

In Conclusion, ANYTHING you buy will require some degree of care, your riding style could have to do with how much wear and tear your bike takes too.. Properly warming your quad up before taking off on it, actually greasing the grease fittings etc. Yeah I've had to do some work to a 23 year old four wheeler but it still starts on the first kick and is still spanking four stroke ass!

[HectortheHut]

The above is so not true.

My bike gets a complete cleaning and inspection after every riding trip and any thing thay is wrong is repaired.

I store my bikes with a full tank of fuel and the carbs are also full, I use Stabil in the fuel and I have not had any problems, even after sitting all winter.

You don't do a top end bases on hours, you base it on how much compression you have and if there are any extra noises.

You will only spend more time wrenching than riding if you don't fix things correctly the first time.

...or it might be a sarcastic post.

[bansheerider999]

Here's a few pics of my newest toy

I picked it up for $1,400 and just cleaned and redid the frame blue and new graphics package.

 

 

 

 

Man that frame looks awesome. Is that powder? What color?

[xXBlessedWithDeathXx]

Depends on the year. I bought a 1990 Banshee with J arms last september, and the stock lower J arm just snapped. Now im selling it for a dirtbike. If your buying an older banshee be ready to replace shit.

 

 

the banshee in my sig is an 87. i got it about 4 years ago. i started replacing shit because i wanted to. it didnt need it. the plastics were shitty and it was covered in rust. its all in how you take care of it.

[zach45]

The above is so not true.

My bike gets a complete cleaning and inspection after every riding trip and any thing thay is wrong is repaired.

I store my bikes with a full tank of fuel and the carbs are also full, I use Stabil in the fuel and I have not had any problems, even after sitting all winter.

You don't do a top end bases on hours, you base it on how much compression you have and if there are any extra noises.

You will only spend more time wrenching than riding if you don't fix things correctly the first time.

nope you wrong... i cant ride my bike for even 5minutes without something going wrong

[Banshee SE]

nope you wrong... i cant ride my bike for even 5minutes without something going wrong

 

and you still have it!!!! what happen with you dude?? I don't know how say this in english but apparently you are a SEGUETA!! LOL!!!

[HectortheHut]

I do have to change out my flux capacitor every other ride, though. Pain in the ass. You'd think Yamaha would have made sturdier flux capacitors or at least made them easier to get to since they're always going out.

[zach45]

and you still have it!!!! what happen with you dude?? I don't know how say this in english but apparently you are a SEGUETA!! LOL!!!

i cant even get it running long enuf to get it running to sell it to the next sap

[troyzstang]

Man that frame looks awesome. Is that powder? What color?

 

Thanks for all the replys guys.

My frame is Patriot Blue paint ( wal mart)

Like most of the members here I too keep up with cleaning and maintenance. I'm lucky enough to have a nice set up in my garage that allows me to work on my toys. I also do a lot of buy & sell flips with ATV's and dirt bikes. It's a hobby with benefits.

Here's one of my past projects.

 

Before

 

 

After

 

[madjimmax]

I'm gonna chime in with my .02

 

I bought my shee second hand, its a 1987 model and it was in very sad shape all over, the plastics were rough, the engine looked rougher.. Still had TORS system, carbs leaked and the thing bled gas all the time. The jetting was WAY off, the tires were bald, the wheels still are garbage (dented and such)..

As for cranking up and running, that it did.. Without fail every time.

 

I got this thing around November or so and found this site looking for some help with it.

Come to find out the thing was missing intake to airbox boots & an air filter, and the crossover pipe for the intake, the silencers were completely gutted.

 

 

Anyways the first thing I did was get get the airbox re-connected & the jetting right, which was trial and error based on the advice found here,

Then I worked on the cosmetic aspect of it some and fixing the little mechanical issues that i've found thus far.

 

 

Things that have broke / gone wrong.

1) The keyswitch went bad, it wouldn't stay in the run position, just driving along and it would vibrate until the contacts disconnected and the bike shut down!, Relocated to trash.

2) It quit shifting... This turned out to be the little screw that holds the shift star on.. It didn't have any thread locker and backed out (But it only took it 23 years to do it doesn't look like anyone had ever been inside there but anyways it took a long time hehe)

3) Stator burned out after I washed the shit out of it.. I read to waterproof my stator cover but I didn't get around to it and had to replace the stator.. Lesson Learned!

4) It's bleeding oil, new oil seals are on the way didn't start bleeding until I pulled the clutch cover however.

 

 

Of those issues one of my 4 poke buddies ribs me about having her torn down a lot since I got the shee. He likes to give me shit saying "All the time you've invested working on that thing you coulda bought a Honda and not had to mess with it.." I just respond with "well I might have bought a Honda if I was a little girl" However from above you can tell shee was in pretty sad shape, of the 4 big issues ive had 3 have left me with no start but at least 2 of them could have been totally prevented had someone done some checks once in a while on it. That being said i'm just as much to blame since I didn't bother to go over the thing with a fine toothed comb when I got it. I *SHOULD* have pulled the clutch cover and inspected it, I *SHOULD* have waterproofed my stator cover.

 

In Conclusion, ANYTHING you buy will require some degree of care, your riding style could have to do with how much wear and tear your bike takes too.. Properly warming your quad up before taking off on it, actually greasing the grease fittings etc. Yeah I've had to do some work to a 23 year old four wheeler but it still starts on the first kick and is still spanking four stroke ass!

Very well said and I'm glad you hung in there that quad was in poor shape when you bought it.

[bansheesandrider]

i cant even get it running long enuf to get it running to sell it to the next sap

Then you better find a more qualified mechanic. I have 7 years on my topend, 10+ years on my crank, my clutch is 15+ years old and my bike is over 20 years old. I never have problems with it on a day trip, and I very rarely have problems when we go for a weekend or longer, knock on wood. My bike is stored with fuel in it( with Stabil in it) because we never know when the next riding trip is, it could be in a wek or it could be in 2 months, it just depends on weather and schedules. Anything that is mechanical can break at any time, but if you build it right and stay on top of your maintenance, you should have a reliable bike.Doing things correctly goes a long way in reliability, for instance, when you need to replace a case you need to replace them as a set and not just one half- this might cause other problems down the road that will have you scratching your head. Yamah only sells them as a set for a reason- that is the way they were machined.

[BigRed350x]

I've got 3 years on my 4mil top end. That's running methanol and beating the shit out of the bike almost every weekend over the summer and occasionally during the winter.