Ok I'm thanking about getting a banshee I'm 16 I have a 400ex right now I plan on keeping my 400ex for most of my trail riding and leaving it stock besides the BIG 3. But I want a banshee to tool around on I'm pretty good with a wrench but I want to get better. But I ride mostly trail stuff and fields. I was told that trail riding a banshee would blow it up will it? Could I handle a banshee with what I'm expersened with? What would I need to do to a banshee to make it trail ridible? Thanks guys!

 

everybody has their own opinions, heres mine. i bought a banshee brand new in 04, and i just came off of a lakota. i was thinking that this banshee is so bad ***. well on the dunes or in the gravel pits its a great quad, but on the trails its a nightmare. the no reverse factor screwed me so many times and the handleing for the most part was dare i say prehistoric. im sure if you dump enough cash into one it will do great on the trail, but with factory shocks and setup, you had better be ready for a rough ride. as far as power its a brute but i believe factory to factory the 400ex came faster, but i may be wrong. after a while the banshe started to breakdown quite often. mostly plugs then i lost 5th gear and finally a rollover on a stair step ended it. so whit the 4 years i had my banshee i loved it and hated it. again my opinion from experience

 

DeathValleyReaper is right on, a banshee is fast and fun on the bunes or salt flats but they were never meant to go trail riding on, first the suspension SUCKS and requires big money to get right, second the two strokes are just too raspy (touchy) on the throttle for joy riding on the trails. Third is they require lost and lots of maintanace. Fourth you need to save me all the blaster and banshees because we race them cross country and are constantly needing new motors. (We do not run the banshee frames or suspension, they are junk)

Hope this helps

 

We had a Banshee back in 2004 or 2005. They are a whole lot of fun, and I didn't think the suspension was all that bad. The powerband is as close to a 125cc two stroke dirt bike as you're going to get though. That means the more you rev it the more power it makes. If your idea of "tooling around" on a trailride is riding at 10,000 RPM most of the time, then by all means, get the Banshee.

 

For what you're looking to do, the 400ex is the perfect quad for you. If you want to keep the one you have stock, buy another and mod it out.

 

By "tooling around" I mean working on...

And thanks guys

 

Well, I say go for it! You are keeping the 400 after all. banshees are a blast, but they do require a healthy dose of respect. I agree the suspension/handling are not up to the motors' capabilities. Trail riding in and of itself should not "blow up" a well running Shee. you should know they need to be run hard every so often to keep from loading up though. trying to tame a Shee for trailriding is possible, but spendy.

 

Ok, thought you meant like tooling (riding) around the woods and trails.

Sounds like a good project.

 

Ok, well in that case the Banshee would be perfect. I can't think of another ATV that needs more "tooling around" on than the Banshee. They make more aftermarket products for the Banshee than about any other ATV as well. They even make a 912cc triple cylinder engine that makes 240 hp when you add the turbo, LOL.

 

Sounds like a kit that would come in a box marked ACME Jet Company.