I just bought a banshee rolling chassis. I a debating what I should do for a powerplant. I have an old (1976) articat panther w/ a Kawasaki 440 twin (with electric start), another 1974 articat panther with a 340 spirit motor (suzuki) and a 1981 yamaha 450 street bike. These are all decent runners, full functioning machines. Should I go with the 440 and a cvt ? I am not looking for the fastest thing on the planet and this machine will 99% be riden an the trails. I was also thinking of finding a polaris or fl350 transmission so that I could get a reverse. Any thoughts are welcome. I have been riding and wrenching on dirtbikes since I was 14 (now 31) so I can do the mechanics. Thanks

 

Any of those powerplants would do the trick, but I would rather have a gearbox, instead of a CVT. I've heard it said that you lose 30% of your power going through a CVT, but I don't know if it's true. Plus, you have the expense of finding a CVT, and adapting it to your engine(very expensive). You already have a gearbox on these engines, and they don't suck a bunch of horsepower. If it were me, I would sell all of your spare bikes, and buy a larger twin cylinder engine for it. The old Yamaha 650 Twin can be punched out to 750(or more), or the more modern Yamaha TDM 850 motor would be SWEET! It has liquid cooling, and a 270 degree crank that makes it sound like a Ducati! There is also the Ninja 500 twin, that would be a good choice. I have extensive experience in fabrication of this type, let me know if I can be of any assistance!

 

The old Yamaha street engine would be a slug in that frame. Customfab, it is my understanding that he already has the engine and clutches out of the sleds to make a swap. The Banshee frame works very good for that considering it was built for a twin motor. 30% loss of power is about right on a stock non-performance application. A clutch kit and/or roller secondary will almost cut that loss in half. Although you said you werent going to just race it, so just anything you want go for it.Bubba

 

Oops![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img] I didn't realize those were sled engines! We don't get enough snow out here to know about those things! About the Yam 650 motor, those things can be made to produce some pretty good power, for an old design. I was just thinking of some twins, off the top of my head. Thanks for setting me straight![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I just today measured out the 440 kaw engine. With the recoil and fan on one side and the clutch on the other, It measures almost 2 feet wide!! WAY TO WIDE!! Not to mention that the secondary clutch(driven) is 11+ inches in diameter. I guess that I am on the lookout for a 500cc or larger street bike engine. I'll look into the ones you suggested. Thanks alot for the advice. I'll be sure to ask more questions/advice as this progect evolves.

 

Wow! That thing is REALLY wide! Just curious, but what did you give for the rolling Banshee chassis? I am going to start my own project next year. Good luck, and happy hunting.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]