I was just on a stock banshee today and WHOO! Who ever sayes stock banshee's are to slow has LOST THERE NOODLE!!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]lol They are crazy.
The thing I want to know, I looked at two banshee's today, and bouth had really scratched up rims. All around the very outside, near were it meets the tire. And the Shocks also had rock chips all over them on bouth. Is this normal? The one I liked best, wanted 4800obo Canada doller, that is about 3600 U.S. doller. The quad is a 2000 in exelent shape exept for the plastic. It is blue plastic and had the white marks all over where it was bent, douse this mean it was rolled. I am new to sport quads, and two strokes for that matter, so is this a good deal?

 

thank god ive never met anybody that told me shee's were slow, i think i might've ended up in the slammer when i got done with em. the scratches and rock chips are all about the way the owner keeps it. if he thrashes it around and rolls it (which is what the white marks usually indicate) then its probably best to stay away from him. just shop around til you find one in good condition for a reasonable price. if youre new to sport quads, i really wouldnt go for a shee right off the bat. you rode one today, thats great, but how did you ride it? did it feel frighteningly fast? if so, then you MIGHT be ready for it (its better to be scared at first than not, that kind of power demands respect or youll get yourself hurt). theyre very fast and you really have to be a part of the bike to ride it right, its a very tempermental engine that doesnt forgive much, but if you know what it likes then youll almost never find yourself in a situation you cant get yourself out of. just be very careful until you understand the engine and take it easy until you put on some substantial seat time. i really wouldnt get that one though, the plastic might be the only thing that appears wrong with it, but its telling you that it got rolled, and the kind of guy that rolls his bike all the time and lets it get scratched to he!! isnt the kind of guy thats gonna pay attention to other aspects of the bike either. he might not premix right, he might not do regular oil changes, he might not lube the chain, and he might thrash it on the trail, which can lead to loose parts, a loose ride, and premature part failure that can cost you a lot in the long run. best bet is to take your time looking around til you find one in good condition and pay a little more now, rather than spend more later on repairs.

 

Thanks. That was some great info. And yes, I was thinking the same thing, the banshee might be to much power as my first sport quad. It's just I plan on keeping it for a long time, so I will be able to grow with it. I like the banshee since it is a yamaha, it looks cool and it sounds cool, and has the power to spin the tires and shoot roosts[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I was considering a 400ex, thow I doun't like honda's very much and I can get a banshee for the same price as a 400ex here. So why not get a banshee[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I would just keep the banshee within my comfortable speed range. I doun't know if it was rolled or not, but if the plastic is like that, then he must not be taking care of the rest of the bike, althow it did all look in good shape, no dent or scrathes on the frame ect. And everything on the bike was solid. The engine started on the first kick and sounded good, it also had strong power all the way through.

 

Im in the same boat as manic ive never owned a quad though just ridden with friends. I am saving up for a banshee and debating if i wanna get a new or used one (im going to keep it for a long time) I plan on doing just what johnny said and riding VERY coucious until i get used to it and head out to the dunes with my friends next summer. I know the power of banshees and you DO NOT mess around with that or u will end up in the hospital er worse. Any input or advice would be apreciated gotta couple of sport quad noobs here [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

alright, ive posted about shees as a first bike a lot and basically its always gonna come down to whether youre gonna feel comfortable with the power and if you have had enough experience to handle it. there are some people who choose to ride safe, and there are people who ride recklessly. i have friends who dont know the meaning of the word safe and their bikes are always getting rolled, parts falling off, and then they whine at me and tell me im lucky cause i have such nice stuff. well, if you have something nice, just keep it clean and maintained and it will look as good as new til the day you sell it. when i traded in my blaster to get my banshee the guy asked me if i ever rode it, cause it looked so new.

anyway, theres all kinds of things that determine the right bike for you. size, age, riding experience, budget, even personality. if youre 12, im gonna recommend a different bike to you than if youre 40, even if you have the same amount of riding experience. 400ex's are fine bikes. i personally prefer more power, but thats just me. theres a lot of things to like about ex's, theyre relatively powerful, comfortable, and very reliable. theres also a lot of things not to like about them. theyre slower than most new sportbikes, they arent as powerful, they arent liquid cooled, etc. theres these kinds of pro/con evaluations for every bike. banshees are very fast, theyre very powerful, theyre very modifiable, they are (imo) comfortable, theyre more fun because of the 2-stroke engine (also imo), and they are liquid cooled. the cons are that they can be too powerful for some people, they can be too fast, they arent good trail bikes, and they are (not imo, but somewhat unanimously) outdated in the style dept. if you want my opinion, theres no bike out there that has the quick revving, high horsepower, and arm-ripping acceleration and top speed to make your eyes water like the banshee. its a great bike for what i want to do, which is mainly dunes, and its not a bad bike for ripping it up in my field either. but, there have been times that i wish i was riding a different bike, in skinny trails, and in wet conditions, but the way it feels in the right conditions far outweighs the problems in the rare conditions that it doesnt like.

i will admit my biasedness to the shee, so try to figure that out of the equation when making your decicion, i dont want you to get a shee because i said "get my bike, its the best". there are plenty of other bikes that will suit other peoples needs far better than a banshee. for a comparison that might help you, ill just point out a few bikes, their main features, and their common riders, of course there will always be people who dont fit the profile, but this is just what i commonly see.

HONDA

250R - Very fast bike when modded. A little overrated unless pretty heavily modified. great drag bike, mxer, or duner. very large aftermarket. they were discontinued in the very early 90's.

average rider - 18-25, moderate to high levels of riding experience. usually used for drags or even more often for mx.

450R - its a fast bike, its designed for motocross, to compete with yamaha's yfz450. good handling, slightly more comfortable seating than a yfz, also slightly less powerful. meant for mxers but isnt a bad dune or trail bike.

average rider - 20-30, moderate to high levels of riding experience.

400ex - moderately fast, designed for trails, its a very nimble bike and will run faster lap times in trails against larger displacement bikes due to its handling. not a bad duner, although slightly underpowered. commonly modified for either mx or dunes. it can be a good sport bike or a good transition to a more powerful bike.

average rider - 14-25, low to medium levels of riding experience. okay duner, good mxer, very good trail bike.


KAWASAKI

KFX700 - fast on top end, supposedly good acceleration (i dont know for sure). 700cc twin 4-stroke. very torquey, very powerful, its a good full size bike for someone who doesnt want to or hasn't learned to use a manual transmission. Good bike for someone who just wants a cruiser to keep up with friends who have more experience. Great cruiser in the dunes, okay in trails but can get iffy in tight trails because its a very tall and wide bike.

average rider - 25-40, 0 to medium levels of riding experience, with the exception of a very experienced rider who is just tired of a manual tranny.


SUZUKI

LTZ400 - pretty fast, slightly faster than an ex, built to tap into the mid sized sport quad market that the 400ex had saturated for years. benefits over ex include reverse, more power, and slightly higher top speed. Better duner than an ex because of the power, good jumper that can be used as an mxer if properly set up. well balanced and suited for stunts and tricks. many people just getting into the atv scene get an ltz as a first bike. (kawasaki and artic cat have LTZ400 clones, the KFX400 and DVX400, basically an ltz with different plastic.)

average rider - 20-30, 0 to medium levels of riding experience. dunes, trails, tricks, mx. sort of a jack-of-all-trades.


POLARIS

Predator - quite fast, not up to par with banshees and raptors, but close. during the first year of production there was a problem with notchy shifting, but to my knowledge that has been fixed in the newer models. they are pretty powerful because of the 500cc engine, but they lose a bit of quickness because they weigh substantially more than they need to. the plastic is a little weird, theres a point that meets up on the tank that theres a gap and an edge of some of the plastic rubs on riders knees, a little annoying. its kinda low and wide, ready to be modded into being an mx bike, or into a very stable duner. a design with the way the steering stems are set up eliminates bump steer, one of its pro's.

average rider - 25-35, low to medium levels of experience, or medium to high if its bought by someone for the sole purpose of mxing. okay duner, okay trail bike, good mxer.


YAMAHA

Raptor - Very fast, designed for a slightly larger rider. Comfy ride, but the suspension is a little too soft for jumping anything too big. great dune cruiser, and with certain mods it can be made into a very fast dune shredder, where it gets worked hard and climbs the steepest hill you can point it at. also a good dragster when modded right. very torquey, handles nicely, but a little top heavy and tends to roll up on two wheels in a corner if you turn too sharp at high speeds. Some of the earlier years have had major transmission problems that can be a big hassle, but the newer ones dont seem to have any major problems.

average rider - 25-40, medium to high levels of riding experience, some younger kids get them as well, (14-18) but usually with substantial experience on another atv prior to the raptor. okay mxer if modded right, better duner, good trail bike.

Banshee - Extremely fast, king of the dunes. more modifiable than any other bike with the exception of a 250R. Very powerful, probably the most powerful quad when modded to its limit. some kits available offer over 100 hp. a very tempermental engine, as expected from a 2-stroke. on/off powerband. screaming top end. THE dune shredder. not well suited in trails though, because its geared very high and requires a lot of clutch work and high rpms to extract the right kind of power to move slowly.

average rider - 18-30, medium to high levels of riding experience. can be modded for mx, drags, or dunes. of all the bikes you can buy new today, a banshee is probably the one that requires the most attention to be ridden safely.

YFZ450 - very powerful, very lightweight. nimble handling and leaves the ground like it was a plane. best power to weight ratio that i know of in an unmodded bike. made for mx, great in dunes. top speed is close to rappy and shee, holeshot is unstoppable compared to any other stocker. suspension is set up a little too stiff for recreational riders, but it can be tuned. the seat is made for mx and isnt particularly comfortable for long rides. a good sized aftermarket is already emerging.

average rider - 20-30, medium to high levels of riding experience. made for mx, great duner and amazing jumper.

Blaster - Very fun, but slightly small for a rider in the area of 6' tall. very powerful for the size, blows away its competitors in power and speed (250ex, LTZ250, Mojave, etc.). tons of fun to use as a trick bike, pretty good balance, and if its not too small for you, it can be a great bike for a long time. perfect introduction to a larger sport quad, especially a banshee. great bang for the buck since its only 3200 brand new. can be modified pretty well, and is a good small duner and trail bike (dry, fast trails).

average rider - 10-16, 0 to medium levels of riding experience. duner, trail bike, tricks, and there is even a special racing class specificaly for the blaster.

well damn. im never gonna do THAT again. well i hope that clears stuff up for people on here. im gonna refer every bike comparison question to this post from now on. anyway, some of that was my opinion, i might have been wrong about a couple things i said, but thats what i usually see and there are of course going to be people who dont fit in to those descriptions. i tried not to have any bias toward any of the bikes and i hope that this post will help people make educated decisions about what kind of bike they should be considering.

 

Dayum' dude,I bet your hands are tired from all that typing.I had a blue Banshee.It never was rolled and I had the stress marks in the fenders too.It's from the fenders bowing at high speeds .Rolling it will also cause it too though.The scratched up rims are from riding on gravel roads.When ya slide around a corner the rocks are thrown up and they bounce of the wheels and tires.My rims were trashed after one good ride on a gravel road,and like I said it was never flipped or rolled,I bought it new.I started riding Banshee's when I was 13 and I've known kids who've started earlier.Start out on what ya feel comfortable on,not the biggest and baddest thing you can find.

 

Hey I have got to disagree about the suspension....My friend has jumped his atleast 85+feet on his with stock suspension.....I'll get it on video if he's willing to do it again...its a 100ft table top but he cant quiet get the 100ft

I would say for the shock wear thats Normal for any used quad...the plastics...welll...it was either rolled or hit with the plastics, not the front bumper...