I have rode both. The Banshee is a blast to ride.....in wide open areas.Its power is amazing. The Shee is hard to wheely on and feels heavy in the air. I know that reverse isn't everything but after riding all day and having to push the shee backwards reverse means alot.The Raptor is a better in the air,wheelies on comand and is just as fast as the Shee. Not bashing the Shee at all just my opinion.

 

I have been riding for 19 years and I have three shees in the carport right now and I can promise you the only way I would ever switch to anything else is if they came out with a bigger shee! There are endless possibilities with the Shee...If you own a blaster now and you like the quickness of the two stroke then you def do not need to get the raptor.......Not saying the Raptor is not a good bike but the she just feelsa so much more powerful wheather it is or not....If you just want a four stroke I would have to recomend the 450r honda.

 

buddy stay with the 2 stroke. you know it and know how to make it work for you. a shee is very easy to ride in the trails once you learn how. hmmm perhaps this is why the shee is not a bike for the first time rider cuz it requires a bit of skill to push it through the trails and yes the power band is unpredictable to a first time shee riders but givin practice and the right traction i can wheelie my shee in the trails and wherever. now i dont own a raptor but i have ridden them and my second quad is a four stroke and the 4 stroke sits in the garage more times than not when i pick which quad im going to ride that day. as far as mods god i dont think there is a end to what you can do to it your more likly to run out of money before you peak out the shee. and as for it being to expensive i dont think its much more expensive than a regular quad cept when ya get into the meat of the engine cuz ya have to buy 2 of everything. but i think the big plus is you can find banshee parts freakin everywhere ive yet to have to speacel order anything. just my own personal opinion bro but buy a shee you wont be sorry not after comin off a blaster.

 

There is nothing like a Banshee. Simple as that. IF you dont mx, get a banshee. There is no quad that will put a smile on you face like a banshee. Look at it this way you got your whole life to switch back to a boreing 4 stroke. live now while you can. However I guarentee if you get a shee you will not regret it one bit. There is a reason shee riders stand by there quad like no other riders.

 

Just a little thing to add about the wheelying thing on a shee, its certainly not hard to do, the only problem is balance, the throttle is very sensative so its a little hard to keep it up, but power wheelies are at your command and little blips of the throttle will send the front end right up if you want it to. I've actually had better luck with balance when riding 2-up, lol. It feels better with the extra weight in the back, the front end is a bit on the heavy side so it takes either extra weight to help counter that or a lot of throttle to keep it up.

 

if u know how to work on 2 strokes go with the banshee cuz its powerband is so amazing but if u jus want a quad to get on push a button and go with reverse go with the raptor

 

sands pits?,it seem you need a banshee,get one before they drop...

 

a shee wont get around as well in the winter as a raptor. they like to dig holes. for raw hp you can almost double it on a shee without doing any major moter mods. it would require a lot of intake work but i have done it many times before.

whenever you get to the internal motor like going to a longer stroke, porting, port timming, timming advancing, and a few other tricks that i have learned over the past 25 years of riding and draging then you are really talking. a shee motor is capable of so much more than how they come stock it is hard to imagine.

i have owned three banshee's one raptor, one warrior, a blaster and a 400 ex. not of them could even come close to the performance of my shee. now i have spent a lot more time and money on the shee but i feel it is just more fun when you touch that throtle and break your neck from the snap.

i have been a two stroke fan ever since i started getting serious about riding almost 25 years ago but it is rider preference and aplication that makes each the best machine.

my only sugestion is to look at the type of riding you do and the seasons you do it in then make the best choice. again i do not like the banshee in the winter on snow. the raptor will out perform hands down in the snow.

 

Hopefully you can test ride both of them before spending your money. I have personal experience with each of them that I can share. I had a Banshee back in 1990 but had to sell it after a few years after going away to college. Last year a friend of mine bought a Raptor and had to store it at my house so I was able to take it out whenever I wanted. To be quite honest with you, I got bored with it so I bought myself another Banshee just a few months ago and couldn't be happier. That's not to say that the Raptor isn't a good quad because it is. I just prefer the performance of a 2-stroke. Don't listen to all of that negativity that gets posted about Banshees because there is nothing wrong with them. If you like the feel of a Banshee then you can ride them in any terrain and weather. I grew up outside of Buffalo, NY and did a lot of riding in the woods and snow without any problems. Now I live in desert terrain near Palm Springs, CA and it runs just as well. Once you learn how to ride a Banshee you can go anywhere and do anything with it. Anyway, you would be happy with either one depending on your preference.

 

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