i'm thinking of setting up a quad for LEGAL street drags at a local track. I would like to run a four stroke due to that it will be running on alky and a nitro mix (probably 20-30%) maybe a 400ex? also, has anyone heard of Curtis Sparks or TC setting up a quad for this? any and all info is appreciated!

 

yes my buddy used to have acurtis sparks 300ex. it was a 444cc i think and it beat piped banshees. if u gonna use a 4stroke then go curtis sparks. and a 400ex would be a good 4stroke to use if only u can lighten it up a few pounds

 

I dirt drag exclusively. The set up is about teh same though. The only difference is that you will be runnning some kind of slick tire. I wouldnt reccomend a fourstroke. The banshee is absolutely the best ticket. No Lt500, 250R, 400ex or anyhting else can come close. We run 100% acohol. I have tried a nitro mix and it really doesnt help all that much, though it is good to ruin crankshafts and pistons. My advice would be to get a banshee, send it to Port Magic racing and get them to do a drag raing set up. You will want an override tranny(clutchless shifting), drag pipes, alky carbs and of coarse you'll want to have the motor worked over. You can go as mild as porting or as extreme as a stroker big bore. My segestion would be to go with a 7mm stroke and stock bore pistons. This will give you the best combination of reliability and speed. A light weight chrommolly frame will also help but you are talking big bucks unless you can build one yourself. Gearing will also be really important, as you dont want to wind the motor out. If your running the 1/8 then you'll probably run something like 17/39. One thing, is do not underestamate the advantage of override tranny. It will make a BIG difference. Get your motor done by port magic or c&o, or k&t. They build the fastest drag motors. Curtis sparks builds a FAST 4 stroke, but the money you will spend will still not give you soemthing as fast as a banshee. Ia m not biased, I have just been around and I know what it takes. I've drag raced everything that you can put a seat on and the banshee is the fastest. If you'll take my advice. you'll have THE fastest bike on the road.

 

Thanks for the info guys! Brandon just some backround info: riding 16 yrs., drag raced 14 yrs, so like you i am no new commer to the sport. i actually would dissagree with a part of your post. there is a different set up between sand and asphalt. for example i also race in the four wheel drive class at our track. if i went to put a set of drag slicks on it and took it to the strip the minute i let go of the trans-brake the front end would stand in the air! due to the fact that we set the motors back for greater traction. and just if your wondering these aren't just some inline 4 piece of crap jeep, these have similar chassis to the funny cars but we don't run blowers or atleast i don't.
Also, there is a difference in the way a 2-stroke motor and a 4-stroke motor respond to nitro. a 2-stroke motor responds with a little more horse but it responds more with heat and makes the motor extremely hot with greater amounts (that's why you don't see a top fuel banshee). but a 4 stroke responds with horsepower and torque in our 4 by 4 cars we were getting as much as 50 more horse power with a 10% mix! so i guess four strokes like it better. sorry this was so long and i hope i didn't offend you in any way if i did I'M SORRY!! well i gotta go.
oh and thanks for responding

 

no offense taken, just good constuctive arguement! I aggre with your synopsis on the setup, however ATV's are not that drasticly different. You can very effectively run the same bike on dirt and asphalt with a simple change of tires if you are capable of using the clutch to cntrol the power transfer. But the set up could be tweaked some to provide a better situation for asphalt. The horsepower to weight ratio in most instances is greater on a highly modified banshee than that of a jeep or car. Thus we need a little less traction, and even look for SOME wheel spin on the dirt. On asphalt, you want less wheel spin and more straight awead push. In this case I would gear for very little spin when coming out the hole and allow the gears to pull further than I would on the dirt.(by this I mean runnig taller gears) There is more traction on asphalt, so you will need to stretch the bike a little more than you would on dirt unless you are really good with that clutch. One thing i can tell you for sure is that even on a nitro mix, you will not get a production atv fourstroke to out run a modified banshee. I have seen them on alky nitro mix and NO2 and they cant come close. I know of a 460 or 510 curtis sparks 400ex on alcohol and niro and while he is fast, he cannot compete with a modified banshee. If you are wanting to go with a fourstroke then i would sugest fitting a street bike engine in a atv chassis. But you would still come out cheaper by just building a banshee.

 

i do agree with you. on the setup actually you would want NO wheel spin and all forward push that's why you would probably need a motor with a TON of torque to pull you out of the hole. Also, i don't think they'll allow a 2-stroke to run with the motorcycles. the rules are kinda messed up. How fast would the motor setup be that you suggested in say a lightened up banshee (maybe 30-40lbs) in the sand or in your case the dirt. and an estimate of how much horse? If building a banshee is cheaper what does it cost to rebuild a modified stroker motor? the reason i ask is because i haven't had alot of expierence with 2 strokes. do to the fact that i only deal with 4 stroke racing motors effected the way i choose my atv (gotta love those 350x's). sorry this was so long. i will be looking forward to your response. thanks

 

i do agree with you. on the setup
actually you would want NO wheel spin
and all forward push that's why you
would probably need a motor with a TON
of torque to pull you out of the hole.
Also, i don't think they'll allow a
2-stroke to run with the motorcycles.
the rules are kinda messed up. How
fast would the motor setup be that you
suggested in say a lightened up banshee
(maybe 30-40lbs) in the sand or in your
case the dirt. and an estimate of how
much horse? If building a banshee is
cheaper what does it cost to rebuild a
modified stroker motor? the reason i
ask is because i haven't had alot of
expierence with 2 strokes. do to the
fact that i only deal with 4 stroke
racing motors effected the way i choose
my atv (gotta love those 350x's).
sorry this was so long. i will be
looking forward to your response.
thanks

 

A fully modified banshee with say a 440 stroker would turn somewhere around 85hp. Thats with alcohol and drag pipes. To build a motor like this you willl spend around 3000. It isnt cheap but consider this. To build a fully modified Curtis Sparks 440ex you would spend around 3000, and only get about 45-50hp. Thats the main reason I like the two stroke. On dirt we run 300ft and I can cover that in about 4.3 secs at about 72mph on a 440 with a lightweight frame. The 400ex(440) would only run maybe a 5.0 on a good pass. In the 1/8 you can expect to run in the 6's, probably low 6's. Thats if the bike is set up properly. You can build a true 350 banshee, and still get more power than any 400ex curtis sparks can build. A ported 350 with alcohol and drag pipes will make about 72hp when tuined right and run 4.5 at about 69 mph. In the 1/8 you will run high 6's. You build a complete drag race ready 350 for about 1500$. That would be the best bang for the buck if money will be an issue. The 350 will actually turn up more rpm's than a longer stroke motor. The stroker motor will make more torque which will enable you to pull taller gears. I can talk about this stuff all day so dont hesitate to ask.

 

Brandon,

What is about the most HP a person could expect with a 350 Banshee by just going with some type of in-frame pipe (lrd, toomeys, fmf, etc...), porting, reeds, increased compression, and ect..?

I know this is a little different than what you'd want for drags, but having a stock banshee, I'm wondering what I should set my goals for as power goes. Preferrably, I'd build it for torque in mind also because I do some woods riding.

Thanks

 

Well if you were going for a high hp set up from a true 350 with inframe pipes and gas, you could expect anyhwere from 58-62hp. If you are looking for more of a woods type engine you will probably not have this much top end, probably about 50-52hp but your power would be little broader and come on a little sooner. Basiclly all you need to do is pipe, reeds, compression advance the timeing and you would have a good set up. Cleaning the ports up would be nice also. You can soften the hit of the power band with a little work on the trnasfers and widening the exhaust and and intake without raising the hiegths. A 28 or 30mm pwk would be nice also. Throttle response would be good. The more compression and timing advance you have, the easier it will be to keep the bike on the pipe in addition to shifting your power to the left(low end). With just a pipe, compression, advance and reeds you will probably look at about 45hp maybe 48 ad a carb and porting and your gonna be over 50.