I looked at a 96 banshee for 3500.oo the other day. The "A" arm bushings/ bearings where very loose, the stator key was twisted off, and the top of the bumper was flat from some sort of repeated impacts. I figured it was worth about 500.oo. How long and hard do you have to beat a banshee before you need to replace the steering componants, and what kind of stunts result in the TOP of the bumper getting flattened?

 

Stator key?? not sure what you mean. All bikes should be lubed and greased to extend the life of the bushings and bearings. Loose bearings show lack of maintenance. Also i see the front stock bumper pushed in on alot of banshees around me it is from they hitting powerband and meeting up with a tree

 

Stator key twisted off -- meaning the rotor on the end of the crank sheared the keyway??
On a Banshee this is from the same type of abuse that causes the crank to twist. I'll bet it's gonna need a complete crank rebuild.

If the top of the bumper is shiny & flat, it's probably from some spode smashing it against the inside of his truck bed, then tying it down that way. We bought a 250R that had a weird wear pattern in the front bumper from that.

Sounds like this bike was ridden too hard and put away wet. Ya know, when we buy these "bargains" they always end up costing an arm, a leg and a few more body parts to get running -- sometimes they never are right. Ya think we'd learn after all the crap we've bought!

 

Yes the key was sheared off. You said abuse causes this, but what kind of abuse could do that? Also the top of the bumper was not just worn, it was smashed at about a 45* angle to the ground. It looked like someone hit it with a sledgehammer repeatedly at the same angle. The bottom of the bumper was OK. I gladly passed on the opportunity to own such a gem.