I would love to have the power of an all out race Banshee that could produce 60-70 HP. I already have a quad that would be a good starting point. My concern is that I do more trail riding than drag racing. A piped Banshee does okay on most of the trails that I ride, but from what I understand, once you start porting on them and all of the other things needed to get big hp, the bottom end really starts falling off. Also, a 2-cycle making big hp needs a really big gas tank if you want to get very far on it.

I figured the thing to do if I wanted more power than a stock or lightly modded Banshee would be to get the new Raptor.

Am I throwing money away by not keeping what I have and modifying it, or do I have the correct understanding that a heavily modified Banshee would not be practical for any type of trail riding?

 

how fast do you want to go in the woods? with my riding style, I would be twice as fast with a banshee than any fourstroke in the woods.

just my opinion, keep the banshee, unless you have the dough to throw away on some new giganticly overly huge *SUV-sized* quad.

btw, huge quads are kinda fun though (sp500), it feels like you can just run over anything, even if it tries to run...

 

you "would be twice as fast"? Does that mean you don't ride a Banshee or just don't ride in the woods?

I think some of the other Banshee riders out there understood when I asked the original question. Sure, I can ride my 'shee in the woods pretty fast, but in the really tight stuff, guys on 400exs do it so much easier. I was concerned about giving up more low end which would make riding in the woods fast even more work.

 

well the woods i ride in are usually smooth and pretty open but there are trees all over( its oregon! ) I ride my friends banshee, I dont have one yet, and out of all the things I have ever rode, that has to be the fastest with my style. that is wide open going through gears, sliding every corner.

 

The Raptor will probably have a better motor for the woods. The more you modify a Banshee, the more top end you get, and the bottem suffers. I would keep the Banshee(looks pretty clean) and put your money into suspension. That way you could use all the power your machine has.

 

Just cause you mod it does not mean top end only. You can mod for bottom end, but you lose the top end. Any good porter will agree. You can change the ports to give bottom end just like you can mod the ports for top end. Plus all the bolt on stuff (2 into 1 carb and pipe ect) will help bottom end. Also flat slides (small, 28mm) will improve throttle response in the bottom end giving you more useable bottom end. later
eric

 

I agree 100%, but if you are after most bang for buck, leave it stock. It has a decent bottem end and for the money spent on pipes, carbs, etc, put it into suspension. Just my opinion, ride on.

 

I cant wait to see this raptor! All this hype, and I will be the first to say I wanna race one with my banshee. Just going by the mags, the numbers its putting out dont impress me too much for a 660. We shall see.

I agree w/ the susp. mods for banshee. I just got my front PEPS and am still waiting for the rear. THEY ARE KILLER.

 

The more I find out about it, I highly doubt if the Raptor will beat a slightly modded Banshee in a drag.

I tend to believe that for my style of riding (insert jokes here), the Raptor will be better for me. I hope I'm not wrong, but if so, I'm getting a good enough deal to sell it and not lose my butt.

 

Time is ticking, it will be interesting to see who gets one first. You know they will post it here.