I'm still completely up in the air about my next mod, or should I say first really. Its either toomey t-6's or +2, +1 chrome a-arms and elkas. Obviously the arms and shocks are going to cost more, so if I went with those I would have to wait a while before I could afford them. The arms I'm looking at are $699 and I dont know how much the elkas are going to be.

Can anyone give me a ballpark figure for a set of elka triple rate's with a piggyback rezzy and compression adjustment? If its more than $700 I'm probably going to have to pass for now and either try to just get the entry level elkas or get the pipes instead. Theres a set of elkas and arms from alba that look pretty good, but I think the shocks are the cheapest ones elka offers, would it be a waste of money or will even the cheap elkas blow the stockers out of the water?

The set is chromed +2, +1 arms and the elka triple rate's without a rezzy, what is the purpose of the reservoir, are remote rezzies better than piggyback, and are the cheap triple rate elkas upgraded later with the remote reservior kit with compression adjustment just as good as the ones that come with reserviors to begin with? How hard is it to set up the shocks the way I want them? How much more travel than stock do the elkas offer, and how much lower is the ride height. Is it going to feel nose-down if I leave my stock rear shock in? When they describe the arms as being +2, +1, does that mean the machine will be 2 inches wider, or 4? (2 inches per side)

Also, is alba a company I can trust, their website has a lot of typos and errors so my initial impression it that they either dont know what they're talking about or they dont care. Check out their kit and tell me what you think.

 

you can get some Armadillo Chromoly A-Arms for 469 from rockymountain atv i would start there then get some shocks then the pipes thats is what i would do.
have you checked ebay,there are some smokin deals on there sometimes

 

Well I'm not looking to cut the price on a-arms, the one's I found are the ones I want, but finding a price on the shocks and info on the ones that I need is proving to be more difficult. Also, being that I dont have the money for both the shocks and a-arms now, there is no reason to get one or the other because I cant install it yet. The shocks would have to be set up differently for the +2 arms so if I installed them now I would have to take them out and send them in to be revalved and have new springs put on, which I suppose I could do. If I got the a-arms now, they would sit in a box until I got the shocks because my stock shocks wouldnt work with those arms. I'm not a real e-bay connoisseur so although there might be something good on there I prefer to wait til I can afford the brand new stuff.

 

IF you are looking for a lil more stable ride i would go with a +4 axle and then the elkas up front would be great. Pipes will wake up the banshee greatly and reduce weight and look better. Man ebay has some great deals on elka shocks that can be made for your ride, and then maybe after a while when you get enuff money for a arms then you can get the shocks revalved. Oh yeah +2 a arms mean it will be +2 inches on each side adding 4 inches total.

 

you can run your stock shocks on the a arms then when you get the money get the shocks this guy has the best prices i found check these elkas out elka shocks

 

I think what I'm gonna do is get the pipes for now, then save up my cash over the winter months and part of spring and see what I can afford then. If I was going to get a new axle, which one should I get, I was thinking durablue or lonestar would be good but I dont know whether I should get an eliminator, excalibur, or x-33. I dont need adjustability, I would rather have it at a set length (less stuff to go wrong) but I want a +4, and I dont need the best or strongest one they make, my stocker has held up perfectly to all the abuse I've put it through. Also, I was considering getting a set of TrailTech headlights, the 35w ones that mount in the stock headlight position. Does anybody know if I have to modify or replace the stator to run them? Also, do they produce better light than the stock headlights with a stock stator?

 

Are you sure the stock shocks work with +2 +1 arms? I heard that the aftermarket arms either have a different mounting position or the fact that they are wider puts a much heavier load on the suspension, so I would bottom out constantly, is their any truth to that? If not, I might just get the arms and maybe save up for a +4 axle. Ill keep my options open for a little while. Also, thanks for looking into the e-bay idea, I'll keep that in mind. Do you know if those shocks are used or new or which shocks they are in elka's lineup?

 

You can run your stock shocks with extended a arms, generally, unless they're long travel arms, the shock mount isn't moved outward so the stocker will fit. However, they will feel really soft and spongy, and I would never attempt any kind of jump or hard trails with them. For instance, my Elkas were springed for stock a-arms and then I went to +2+1 LSRs. Eric @ Elka told me all I'd need is a new main spring and he put it in the mail for me. I rode my setup with the arms with the original spring and it was super soft and had hardly any rebound, and I'd never ride hard at all like that, I was just test riding the arm install. Oh, and the new springs cost me $30 total.

That's a good point above though anyway. Get you some Elkas for the front valved for stock width and then the pipes and/or a rear axle. Then, when you can afford to spring for the arms, a revalve IS NOT necessary, only a respring, and that can be done in 2 minutes or less, with NO tools. Simply put them in a vise upside down, and have a bud put the slightest bit of pressure to compress the spring (the smaller spring will actually be doing the compressing) and then slip the bottom stop off and slide the spring off, reverse for installation.

You can do it in any step you want. Your bike will be faster with pipes, but YOU will be faster with shocks, get it?

 

the elkas i posted are new im not sure where they fit in the elka line but the guy selling them is pretty cool, im sure he will answer any of your questions. ricky stator has 4 inch extended axles for 200 dollars for the raptor im not sure if he carrys the banshee axles or not. the same guy selling the shocks also has the best prices ive seen for axles to and all his stuff unless stated otherwise are new. jansen racing also offers some package deals on ebay jansen racing auction
these are not for the banshee but he has them for the same price i think. shoot him a email hes also a cool guy to deal with.

 

Riding a Banshee is all about the big rush when you hit the power band. To get this experience you need a set of pipes, filter, and jets. I am not at all convinced that Toomey's are the way to go. FMF Fattys are a great all around pipe and with FMF QC2 silencers they easily meet Oregon Dunes strict sound limits. To legally ride with Toomey's and their silencer you need the extra Toomey quiet 2 into 1 silencer. But either way get the pipes and filter first.
Regarding suspension, many riders including me run +2 A-arms with stock shocks. With stock A-arms and 2nd preload position the shocks were a little stiff. With +2 A-arms and 5th preload position the shocks are a little soft but they work for now. I will probably get either Works shocks or try some YFZ fronts whatever I can get a good deal on.