Have you ever rode a DS or a Banshee? I hardly think you can make a broad statement such as it jumps better. Maybe your talking about the weight issue, but the long travel suspension on the DS is the best ever put on a quad. And the raptor would probably take the DS in the tight trails due to it's narrow width, but line them up out in the desert races and see who win's. I have a buddy who has rode just about every quad made including his roomates raptor- he said it's tippy in the corners.

 

I have rode a DS many times, and they jump okay, not great, but the handling is unpredictable. The Raptor handles a hundred times better.

 

I rode a DS over a weekend they are great machines, but alas the Raptor jumps better.
Im qualified to say it, they both land great, but the Ds is not quite as light feeling as a Raptor is in the air. Im not just saying it either, If you have a DS and ride near me we'll swap for a bit and let you jump my Raptor. Simple as That.

 

I wouldn't presume to say they don't matter one bit... If the Raptor was able to open up a can of whoopass anytime it dragged, it would be a clear winner. While you are right in the points you made, race results this early do give good info. That info is that straight out of the box the Raptor isn't opening any cans of whoopass. (In drags that is. Wasn't it the Yamaha reps saying they were trying to build a very well rounded quad anyhow?)

 

Overheating, crappy air filter system and parts that break off (like the kick starter and gear selector) are what you call dependable?

 

Yeah it is dependable! Very! Why do you think it has been around for 14 years? Because they last and last for a long time. At least the A-arms and axles aren't folding into from a 4 foot jump. Another thing that factors into something lasting is maintenance, any machine not taken care of will break. I would say most of your bike's problems arose from neglect. I have owned two Banshee's and 6 other quads that were four strokes and I have had a lot more problems out of the four storkes than either of the Banshees. The two never have failed to start that is something I can't say about the four strokes that I have owned and one of those was Honda's magnificnent, supposedly, 400EX. What JUNK!!!

 

These are not problems I have had, these are problems of the Banshee as reported by the magazines. In a recent article, where they tricked out a new 2000 Banshee for the sand, they replaced the head with a "cool" head of some type, did a fix for the kick starter and gear shifter and replaced the airbox/filter assembly right off the bat. They said that they did this because these were known issues for many years with the Banshee.

I maintain my machines and have not had them break, except for a crack in the frame on my 350X from 8 feet of air off a jump that was a little rough on the landing.

If they are so dependable, why have you needed two?

The reason they are still around after fourteen years was because nobody was making anything competitive. Now it's time for the Banshee to lay down and retire. Either that, or completely redesign it to take care of it's known problems and make it even more competitive.

Hey Yamaha, how about spending some of those profits from selling the Banshee for a dozen years with no changes on an updated model?!?! Hellooo........... Hm, nobody there, they must be out breaking "in" their new Raptors :-)

Laters,
CRT_Leech

 

LUBA, I determined a long, long time back that ron woods INTENSIONALLY limited the performance of the STG 1 kit for safety/liability reasons! And it can be slower than stock if it is not dialed in just right! They disabled the accelerator pump because it was dangerous with the stock gearing - awesome throttle response, frontend off the ground too much, given good traction!

The solution: try running a leaner #97 jet needle WITH the accelerator pump and possibly with a slightly smaller pilot jet, adjusting the pilot air screw as necessary. Go to www.mikuni.com and click on the harley link at the top of the page. There is an HSR42/45 carb manual you can download. I found it necessary to make the gearing taller. www.sprocketspecialists.com has sprockets for the DS650.

Running a DS in sand without paddles is not a good idea!

Have you seen www.bombardierds650.com?

I'm not selling the DS anymore. It has proven to be an excellent duner, if properly setup. The DS has a new head, piston, rings, valves under warranty - it was in the shop for 2 months. I may buy another quad for trail riding and keep the DS for dunes.

I gave up on the turbo/EFI after I heard of problems with the pipe. I have heard of some DS650s running EFI, but I think it is probably too expensive for what it's worth. I jumped on the Alba supercharger instead. The supercharger is at Alba undergoing tuning this week. It may be a couple weeks out before complete kits are ready to ship. I got a full refund for my STG 1 kit.

 

Well I dont know what to think about this DS vs Raptor thing but I only have one thing to say for anyone if you feel that going 90mph in the woods is great then I have one word of advice "Watch out for that Treeeeeee." George of the jungle

Hehehehehe
Ds650 Owner
Bomber

 

Well if the Banshee is so out of date why is it every new highperformance quad that comes out is always sized up against the Banshee? Let me tell you why. It is because it is still the standard in highperformance even after 14 years. If it ain't broke don't fix it!! As for the things you were describing about the Banshee as far as problems go, look at the Raptor's airbox assembly, it is just as bad as any other Yamaha. I have never had any problems with my A-arms or axle bending on my two Banshee's. How about them Raptor's. Yeah they seem to be having a lot of problems. I do have two Banshee's one is a 93 and the other is a 2001 and I have never had the first problem out of either one of them. I could have bought the Raptor but I decided to go with a new Banshee and from what I have been reading on these forums and after racing one last week with my Banshee I see I made the right decision. Banshee is still the king of highspeed thrills! Like it or not!!!