I beg to differ on Banshee mods not being common. It must be where you ride. Since I spend the majority of my riding at Glamis, I would say that 1 out of 20 Banshees is STOCK. The other ones vary in mods from simply pipes all the way up to complete engine changes. The vast majority are at least piped, if not carbed and ported as well.

Another reason I have the opinion I do is that Polaris machines are very common out here for trail riding in the desert, but in the dunes, they are outnumbered roughly 50 to 1. I have yet to see a Polaris doing well at the hills against all sorts of 3 and 4 wheel 250R's and Banshees. I mean really! I cannot ever remember ever seeing a single Polaris lining up and running with other quads, and I go there quite a bit. The ones that I HAVE seen, sit at the bottom of the hill and watch, or cruise the dunes, they don't hill race - WHY? I don't know.

As far as engine builder being specific to oe brand or another (someone mentioned Polaris engine builders...) - A two stroke is a two stroke. Port designs vary from one brand to the other, BUT... there is only so much you can do with a specific motor design at a given displacement. That's the info I am after.

 

SandmanBlue,

I think it all comes down to geographic location. Back east Polaris machines sell like hotcakes, in the west (or even in the dunes) it's a different story. If I ever make it out to Glamis some day, I'd probably be surprised if I ever saw a stock Banshee.

Don't get me wrong, Banshees aren't the only stock quad around here. I've seen plenty of stock Polaris machines here. The last time we (Celeste and I) went riding, a bunch of people grouped around my quad. One of them exclaimed, "Wow, he's got a pipe on it!". I then had to explain that I had a few more items than just a pipe on it. These people looked at my Sport like it was a landed UFO.

Now I've seen plenty of modified Polaris machines but the vast majority of modified machines I've seen are the older Quadracers (LT 250R/500R) and the ever present TRX 250Rs. I have a theory on why they are modified. As parts wear out on these fine (but old) machines they are replaced by aftermarket stuff. Like wise I've seen plenty of TRX400EXs. But the VAST majority of those are stock too. I think that the majority of riders around here will ride a quad until it falls apart and then fix it. While the majority of riders where you are from would rather fix it before it breaks. Nothing is wrong with either method. It all breaks down to geography.

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Mike Chero 97 Polaris Sport 400L/ 97 Polaris Trailblazer 250ES

<A HREF="http://users.penn.com/~hal9000/mikeetta.html">MIKE & CELESTE'S ATV PAGE </A>

 

Sandman,
I can believe that the Banshees were you are from are modded. The wide open space of the dunes calls for lots of power. As to why no Polaris's climb hills is a good question. My stock tired Scrambler climbs great. On my first trip to Silver Lake dunes there were some LT250rs & TRX250rs I was keeping up with over the big dunes. I was really surprised my fat Polaris could do that. The Banshees are made for the sand though & that was clear. On the top end I didn't have a chance. I rode with Jerry at the dunes once and his Sport runs real strong & would be a challenge for any Banshee. The other time I went there was a Sport racing (looked kinda beat up) but none the less he was whiping 250r's & Banshees left & right. Polaris's are diffently better trail machines. Their heavyweight becomes much more noticeable in the sand. Wooded trails & straight line drags on hardpack are where a Polaris shines, mods or no mods.
c-ya,

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Andrew Thomas

'99 Scrambler 400 & '99 Trailblazer, both with RCR mods.

 

Mike,
I know what you mean about the mods. I have to drive a couple of hours just to see another Polaris with even just a pipe. A couple of the local guys I raced once said they never saw a Polaris run like mine. My theory... It's this farming community. There are Polaris's around. All utility ones. These guys are used to seeing Explorers & Magnums.

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Andrew Thomas

'99 Scrambler 400 & '99 Trailblazer, both with RCR mods.

 

As far as under powered Polari that no one buys this is far from the truth. Maybe You and I don't buy them but somebody is. The utility market is far more profitable for Polaris. It makes up for more than 80% of their ATV sales. This is smart on their behalf because they have more money to fool around with and spend on research and development. I follow their stock and some of the numbers have increased drasticaly. Quote " Net sales rose 13% to $951,000,000.00 this year due to higer demand for their utility class ATV's and Victory Motor Cycles ". We may see lighter and Faster Polari in the years to come.

Chris Picciotto
99 Scrambler 500

 

Well, Being in Automotive drag racing for the last couple years, the Automatic tranny may be less efficient but WHEN set up right it is quicker. Take any snowmobile of the same CC size and run it against any clutched machine, the snowmobile may be on snow, and the quad on dirt, pavement whatever, the snowmobile will win. You do have to left off the gas, or pull in the clutch an shift.

Now you say drag racers use Manual transmissions, They use An Autoshift, No clutch, the transmission has to be revvingso high in order fo rthem to shift.

Just my 2 cents

 

Agreed,
I can hold my foot to the floor and slam every gear in my 5.0. It has a heavy Duty clutch & a Tremec racing 5 speed, but a good auto will still get me...sometimes.
I do put up a good fight

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Andrew Thomas

'99 Scrambler 400 & '99 Trailblazer, both with RCR mods.

 

That's a good 2 cents 91_350. I agree with your auto trany statement because i have built a few turbo 350's and 400's but the PVT has a few additional advantages. It has no gears to change. It has fewer parts than a traditional auto. It is lighter than a traditional auto.

Most people don't know this but Dodge tried to make a car with a CVT system called the Dodge Doth about 45 years ago. It would operate similar to the PVT system. At the time automatics were poorly operating and super heavy. The CVT offered an alternative but they never got it to work correctly and ended up abandoning the project.

Chris Picciotto
99 Scrambler 500

 

91_350- would it make a difference that most snowmobiles are above the 400cc mark and 2 strokes, and most racing quads are 400cc 4 stroke, along with the yamaha's 2 stroke 350cc. Can any of this make a difference? What if the quad had the same engine as the snowmobile and a tuned tranny?? would that do it? thanks


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RangerSX 1987 Honda 250X(completely stock)

 

Sandman:As far as engine builder being specific to one brand or another (someone mentioned Polaris engine builders...) - A two stroke is a two stroke. Port designs vary from one brand to the other, BUT... there is only so much you can do with a specific motor design at a given displacement. That's the info I am after.

Yes, a motor is a motor, but an experienced Polaris builder knows how to set up to a CVT to efficeintly transfer the added power/torque of the motor work to the wheels. I'm sure MacDizzy,CT or Trinity could do a decent job porting my jug, but could either of them tell me what clutch settings best deliver that power to the rear wheels using a CVT?



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Jerry Goodman '99 400L, '98 TBlazer