I have a line on a 1996 Banshee, FMF pipes, Carbon Reeds, bad plastic, has been rebuilt once & runs pretty good. The guys stammered a little on the running good question. He said that it runs good but the jetting may needed changed again. He installed 160's with the FMF pipe.

He is asking $2,500.00 and he said he would come down a little because of the plastic. I would be turning this into a PROJECT quad, so I plan on having it apart. But what do you guy's think?? Is that a good price??

 

Sounds like a good deal to me, you can always throw new plastic on it and have it re jetted, I have yet to ever find a Banshee for under 3k, Pick it up and if it don't work out you can always get out of it for what you paid for it.

 

Heck yea, it is a good price for it......

 

I am going to take a look at it in a couple of days. I really don't need it but (there is always a but), I was putting together a video that I shot the other day at Silver Lake Sand Dunes with my helmet Camera. I have the Trinity 686 kit on my Raptor and I was making some really good runs on the drag strip when I noticed something. I had turned the camera sideways so I could film the other riders and I was well ahead of them when this Alchoholic Banshee came ripping past us. I couldn't really see it well until I saw the tape. It looked like he just pulled out in first and got a running start and pegged it wheelying when he hit second and very soundly overtook us all. I guess I was a little inspired to try to pick up an old one and do some tinkering.

Thanks guys for your input.

 

I don't know about the deals in your area, but I would try to talk the guy down a few hundred. The main thing that worries me is his reaction to how it runs.

I picked up my '98 for $2800 last year and the only glitch is that the rear plastic had a crack in it (which you can harldy notice at all).

Personally I would tell him that if he wants a buyer that he should take it back and have it jetted properly.

I'm not saying that the guy is lying, but I was in a similar situation recently. A guy wanted to trade his '99 Banshee for a car that I had. My car needed a little bit of work so I technically would have made out on the deal if I were to resell the Banshee rather than the car. Anyway I drove it and it just didn't run right. The top end was just not there. I asked him why and he said it was because of the pipes he had on it were low end pipes, and it needed to be rejetted, and it had a 15 tooth sprocket on it (and also that it was windy). He said that if he put the 14th tooth back on and rejetted it, it would be perfect.

So, basically I said okay, go ahead and do that and I'll try it out again. Didn't hear back from him, but now (2 months later) I hear that his Banshee blew up a few weeks ago...guess the crank let go or something.

The guy seemed like he was really nice and sincere...I'm glad I didn't go for the deal though.

-Josh

 

Thanks for the heads up on that. Is there any other signs I should look for? I am not as familiar with the 2-strokes. What things are prone to happen on Banshees that I should pay close attention to??

 

Well first off I wanted to point out that I didn't mean to scare ya into thinking there was probably something wrong...just have to be careful though no matter if you by a Yamaha, Suzuki, or even the almight Honda...if they are abused they might not be running right.

Anyway, I have not witnessed any problems with my Banshee or my friends Banshee's, but I'm sure the engines get tired after a while. Did he say when the rebuild was? If you can get your hands on a compression tester it would really help ya out. Can't argue with that.

Like I said, what I would do is tell the guy to get it running right for you. Typically when you look at a quad you look at two things...Physical Condition, and Running condition. In order for me to buy a quad, one of those two has to at least be good. If this one needs plastics then that means it's not great physically, and from the sounds of it, it's not 100% good running condition either.

If it was in great shape I would say ****** it up and if it needs a top end rebuild fine...that's not too much cash. However, if it needs plastics that is going to cost some bucks, so you'll want to make sure it runs great or else you'll be sinkin cash into the engine too.

Two years ago I saw a '96 Banshee up here for sale for $2500. The plastics were in nice shape, and it seemed to run well also. There have been many others advertised in the paper since that I did not go look at. I assume that if they are that plentiful up here in the sticks, if you wait long enough the right deal will come along for you if the guy who owns it doesn't want to cooperate and have things looked at for you.

Take care.

-Josh

 

$2500 is the typical price for a 96 in good condition in my area. If you ride it and it seems like it has no power, look under the seat and see if the rubber snorkel is still on the air intake. If it is, it will severly restrict airflow, and lots of power can be made by removing it. I have seem many people put pipes on and leave the snorkel and have fits trying to jet it. I test rode my play bike and it seemed to have no power. After I got home I remembered seeing the snorkel. I called back and told the dealer I would take it. Got it home, removed the snorkel, and it ended up the fastest non-ported banshee I have ever been on.
For reference, it is a 99 with new Pro-circuit pipes, new trinity head, new pistons (I had to do the break-in), new AC bumper, new nerfs, new grabbar, new proflow kit, new o'neal bars, new works front and rear shocks with rezzy, new LSR axle, new PC graphics, and almost new wheels and tires. The owner brought it into the dealer and had the engine rebuilt (preventative maintence, I knew the owner and he is good about that) and all of the stuff put on. While he was waiting to get it back, he bought a dirtbike from them instead. They consigned it for him. I paid $3800 for the shee. Everyone laughed at me for giving $3800 for a 99 model. Even if everything is new. I guess I live in the area where bikes are cheaper.

 

Does it have aftermarket carbs, because 160s, are definetly not what this banshee should be running.

RoostKing...

 

I will get some better details about the jet size (160's) when I take a look at it. It sounds like this bike may have some posibilities.

I will let you guy's know what happens.

Thanks

GregV