Hi all,

So apparently I haven't logged in here for 6 years, seems like less, but that's how it goes sometimes.

Got plans to take the Banshee out to Winchester Bay later this month, should be a blast. The issue is it's been stored for the better part of the last 2 years and I was a bad owner and didn't really put things in order before the hibernation. Bike is an '03 with probably 80-100h, was stored in an insulated garage, so still in good shape, just a little... sleepy.

Decided this would be a good excuse to dust her off and do a light refresher before the ride in 2 weeks, and I've had a set of Toomey's that haven't seen the light of day since they were boxed at the factory... 3 years ago. Got a basic plan, thought I'd run it by you all and see what I might be missing.

1. Drain any remaining fuel
2. Clean and disassemble main bodywork
3. Disassemble pipes, airbox, and carbs
4. Clean and re-jet carbs, reassemble, reinstall (incl. new gaskets and floats)
5. Install toomey unifilter intake
6. Flush and refill antifreeze
7. Flush and refill case oil
8. Grease all chassis bearings
9. Replace chain, rollers, and guides
10. Install new spark plugs
11. Install new pipes
12. Install bodywork
13. Fresh gas
14. Test

Feels like I'm hitting all the high points, but there's always potential for that one small thing that ruins a ride. Looking to avoid that wherever possible. Any thoughts?

- Johnny

 

Rubber parts don't like sitting up. Check the tires for any weather cracking,plus check intake manifolds and hopefully crank seals are ok. I owned a earlier relative to the Banshee engine which was an old air cooled 76 RD400.

 

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. The tires should be fine, had the stockers installed during storage, the paddle tires were shrink-wrapped and laid down so there was no weight on the rubber, I'll take a closer look for any cracking, but they look brand new.

The manifold between airbox and carbs will be replaced with a new adapter that came with the Unifilter kit. Hadn't considered the connection between the carbs and the reed valve block, I'll inspect these upon disassembly and see how things look.

That was another question, the reeds are stock, they'd be easy to replace now, but I don't know if it's necessary. What's a typical life expectancy of these parts, and what sort of wear mandates replacement? Symptoms of failure?

 

Just pull em out ,check for any warped reeds,frayed or split ends. If they look ok you can still use them. But there's always Boysen,V-Force,etc if they seem to call out to you.

 

Ordered a replacement set and new cage gaskets. Not looking to tear things apart again anytime soon, rather just get it done and know I've covered my bases.

Drained fuel last night, should I consider cleaning out the tank somehow? Was planning to put a small amount of fresh fuel in, slosh it around a bit, and dump it out with the hope that I get some of the old oil off the walls of the tank. Is there a more elaborate process I might consider?

Thanks for the advice so far!

 

Running with an in line fuel filter may be preferable to trying to get dirt out of the tank, once disturbed the particles you don't get out are inclined to float about in the tank and get into the carb. In line filters are swine for air locks though.

One thing not on your checklist was brakes, after a long lay up the sliders used on most Japanese calipers are inclined to seize.

 

Not so much worried about dirt as just old fuel oil residue. Wasn't really high on my list of concerns, don't think I want to risk air lock, but I'll keep the in-line filter idea in mind as a solution if I end up with some blockage down the road.

Thought about brakes last night. I do want to do a flush, but don't have the right equipment on hand and have a very short amount of time to work on the bike before my trip. The brakes appear to work fine, used them a little last weekend moving the bike around and loading / unloading onto a trailer. Not real-world use, of course, but didn't find them locked up in any way. I'm assuming that a seizure would be evident already? Not like they're going to lock up during a ride after a bit of warming up, right?

Edit: Planning to work on brakes in the coming weeks, but it would have to be after this upcoming ride.