I own a 2000 Yamaha Banshee (blue) that I bought the last day of March. It is stock except for a set of Kenda Bearclaw tires. Since I bought it, I've only had it out six times due to being extremely busy with work. Well last weekend (the sixth ride) I was attending a poker rally at a local off-road area (Waiprous, Alberta). While I was turning around (first gear) in the gravel parking lot the left front shock-eye mount broke sending the quad into a tumble, throwing me off, bending, scratching and creasing the front and rear fenders, bending my handle bars, clutch lever and left tie-rod. Between four of us we were able to push the bottom of the shock eye into place so it would hold on the bushing and I hay-wired it into place so I could get back to my camp.

The shock eye broke horizontally, not vertically with the molded seam over half way up the bushing. Where it broke there is the least amount of stress. You should sooner break the bottom of the mount, bend the shock mount or crack a weld. When you look at the broken piece you can tell by discoloration that one side of it has been cracked for some time. I took the bike in to the dealer and the sales manager and a service rep told me that even though the warranty is up, Yamaha should replace the shock because it is a faulty mold on behalf of the shock manufacturer and they should repair the damages. They also said that it could have been cracked in shipment to the dealer and just took time to crack the rest of the way. Well, the Yamaha rep said too bad! Your warranty is up (1-month ago). No way is Yamaha responsible for a faulty mold. It's a Banshee, you probably ran it into something. So Yamaha won't back their products, because I can't prove that it was cracked before the 90-day warranty peroid, even though the last time I rode it was within that peroid.

The dealer won't go after the rep, even though I persisted them to. Through some searching I found the Western Canada's reps name/number etc. and I plan on phoning him as well as Yamaha Canada. There is roughly $1300 damage to my quad. Left Shock-$438, Front Plastic-$313, Rear Plastic-$400, Handle bars-$40, Clutch lever-$20, Tie Rod-$50.

Now some well say that I caused it to break by abusing it. I take great care of my bike and I service it after every ride. I have 4-buddies with Banshee's also and I don't do near half the stuff they do, just cause I don't want to trash my bike. They've never seen anything like it, nor has the dealer. The Yamaha Rep doesn't even want to see the piece. So that tells you something about Yamaha's pride in their bikes and wanting to keep customers happy with their products. We were in the process of buying another quad (Yamaha) but that has been put on hold until this is cleared up.

 

Bummer....I just read in 4wheelatv sport magazine that a banshee comes with a 6-month warranty? Is it different up there or was this a typo from the mag? Maybe you could do something with this info?
Good luck

 

In the last six months I've witnessed three different Banshees taco A-arms. One was a year 2000, that also did severe damage to the frame. The 2000 only rolled one time, did not bend the handle bars, but bent the steering hoop and the areas around the shock mounts. I have personally flipped older banshees alot worse and not incurred this type of damage. This was all done on sand. The shock itself also needed to be replaced. DO NOT buy stock replacement parts!!!

 

I know how frustrating that must be to break such a new machine.... I am not standing up for Yamaha or their ability to stand by their product.
I too am a banshee owner...and have not had those problems...thank God. But you have to look at their view also....I know they are a huge company and can afford to give you a new ride without as much as a hiccup to their bank account.
But.....They put a warranty there just for that reason. I'm sure that if the mount was damaged prior to the warranty expiring...they would make good on it(your right though...try proving that). I (and I'm sure you) wish that the problem could have been seen earlier. This seems like a pretty isolated issue. All my friends have banshees from 89 all the way to 2000, and we have yet to break a shock mount....though the tabs that the A-Arms hook to tend to bend slightly over time. I had my local machine shop make new mounts for my arms....and I'm sure you could get shock mounts made for relatively cheap as long as you did not bend the front tubes on the frame.

Sorry to hear about your luck. Let us know how things work out for you. BTW: Those listed prices seem really high....do not pay that much from your dealer...and in '97 My banshee only came with a 3 month warranty(which is voided the minute the machine is used in any competition).

I know this does not make you feel any better...But I have some stock tie rods(used) and front shocks for a banshee that might help.

 

That is not fun. I went through a similar thing with my Lt 80. The bolts holding the engine cases rattled loose. I did not notice this for a while the cases ended up cracking right where the serial number is and on the opposite side. one crack 2 1/2" the other about 1 1/2" by the time i noticed this it was exactly one day out of the warranty. My dad talked to the dealer and suzuki we finally got them to pay for the parts but we had to pay labor. it was 250 for parts and 200 for labor. The mechanics that did it half-@$$ed it together and ended up with a lot of probs down the road. I was riding at a sand pit about a half an hour away from my house and about an inch of my piston ring broke off (probably not all at once) my friend had to tow me all the way home i tried starting it up about halfway home and it started but it sounded like crap so i killed it and i ended up adjust my idle and got it running to a point where it would start fine but my dad said it sounded wrong so we took off the head and the piston had nic's all over it and the ring was broke. so we took it apart and found out the exhaust port was screwed up so i had to get another cylinder,(i couldnt bore out the old one because of the port)piston, rings and sparkpulg which came out to over 250$. I ve been trying to sell it for a while now and when ive leave it sittin for a few weeks its a pain to get started but i can usually do it so i dont know if anythin is still wrong or what but that is what i call my ride from he|| BY the way all this happened in 6 months

 

The dealer was wrong about the shock price. It was $219 instead of the $438. The computer only lists them in pairs. I have 4 friends that ride Banshee's also -96, 97, 98, and a 99. None of them had had any problems with them and that's one reason why I chose a Banshee, for the reliability. One of the guys is 325lbs. Now tell me that ain't hard on it. He never had a single problem and believe me he's hard on equipment.

The shock and shock eye is going to a metaloligist (sp?) for inspection. I can't get an answer from Yamaha Canada either. I found the person to talk to, 4-days later and 2-messages and no phone call. HMMM I wonder how they look after their customers. I'm positive that had it happened 1-month earlier when it was on warranty (3 months) they would replace the damage.

 

Hey man, if Yamaha won't replace your shocks, Buy aftermarkets. Get works or TCS or something.. they really help, but if they'll pay for it.. let them put it back on.. Later,

 

It's not only Yamaha. It's all the companies. The only machines that they stand behind 100% are the 4x4's because they figure that with 4 by's you won't be running it hard or jumping it. It's not fair and you have a right to be mad. But it's the truth. I ride a Honda and luckily I haven't needed any warranty work done, but I'm sure I'd have the same problem you are.

 

SO I got my bike back yesterday. They gave me a new shock @ no charge. The dealer said that they'll cover it, but won't be able to cover the rest of the damage (plastic, bars, lever). So if they cover the shock then they obviously felt that there was a defect. Right? So now I'm going to Yamaha to complain that if they would replace the shock they why don't they replace the parts damaged by the faulty shock.

The shock I got is from a 2001 Banshee. Get this... The shock eye and mount to the top pf the coil has changed! This is the part that I broke and now they changed it. SO why was it changed? Possibly a problem?