Well, the time has finally come for me to ask for some help.

My Banshee is having trouble shifting out of 3rd gear sometimes. Every other gear is perfect except 3rd. This mainly happens after I've drag raced several times and only when I'm at full throttle. If the machine is not hot (from racing) or I don't shift at full throttle it works fine. I use the clutch to shift all the time and my clutch seems to be adjusted correctly with about the right amount of free play? I am running 10W40 non energy conserving motor oil in the tranny, BTW.

Help....

 

Join the club, man. Every banshee I have ever ridden has had this problem, including both of mine. I think this is due to a steep angled slot on the shift drum, but this is my opinion. I have tried a lot of oils, and have had best results with Bel-ray's Gear Saver. I change my oil after 2 races or 2 hard rides. This helps a lot. Something else that helped was grinding my shift star (just take the points off, if you grind too much it will skip gears). I believe Cascade Innovations offers one for around $32.

 

I always used ATF (automatic trans fluid) in my Banshees....my bro still runs it in my previous 'Shee. No shifting problems ever.

 

Alky, That BelRay gearsaver, isn't that like 80 weight or something??? Could you tell a difference between that and regular oil? Also, I have seen the shift star mods. My question is where the heck is that thing??? I have had my clutch cover off and don't remember seeing it there... What cover do I pull to get to it?

Gary, I have heard of people using the ATF but have been skeptical (seems weird) of that even though a lot of people swear by it. I guess I can try and see if it helps and if not try something else.

Thanks guys for the advice! Anybody else???

 

If your banshee has just developed this problem it is probably the adjusting bolt and nut for the shift star. There is a bolt and nut behind the clutch basket right next to the shift star that has to be adjusted every once in a while. Look in a calymer manual and it will show you this in detail.

 

Wyoduner, yeah the gearsaver is 80w. I like it for a couple of reasons. It seems to wear shift forks less than regular oil, shifting seems smoother, and if you get water in the tranny the gearsaver is more forgiving. It won't get clumpy and stick to the internals of your tranny. Just drain the tranny and all the water will come out too. Put new oil in and it stays clean instead of having to change your oil multiple times like you do with a lot of oils.
Take your clutch cover off, and the shift star (it has 5 points hence the nickname star) sit on the lower left side behind the clutch basket. The arm of the rod that connects to the shift lever is on top of it. The star is bolted to the shift drum. There will be a little roller that sits in the groove between the points. As the arm on the shift shaft is raised, it turns the star and the roller rolls over the next point and holds the drum in gear. If you grind the star, you won't have to lift the shift lever as far to get it to go in gear. As I stated earlier, you can easily do this yourself with a bench grinder or you can buy one. If you are going to do it yourself, let me know and I will tell you which points to grind and how much should be taken off.

 

Thanks guys!!! I didn't see the words "split the cases" so I'm happy. I'll definately go to another type of tranny oil and take a look at the shift star and get the Clymer manual.

After 3 years, I guess that SOMETHING had to eventually give me some trouble; this doesn't seem too bad.

 

Even if you had to split the case dont worry about it, the banshee is one of the easiest to do.No speacial tools just basic knowledge.

 

Wyo, This isn't going to keep you from coming up to Rock Springs is it? I am looking forward to riding with ya when there is no snow LOL. We can beat up on the Raptor then I think we are still 1&1 so we'll have to give it a go a few times as long as the tranny is OK, no need to cause damages.

 

DemonDS, thisn't a big deal and doesn't affect normal riding. It just seems to happen after a few drag races or if I've been riding around for a while and the tranny is all warmed up. I'll definately be there on the 13th. I think we are going to have to get there around noon on Saturday since Distrubed has to work until late at night. We are going to get a hotel in town too for Sat night and head back Sunday evening.

First thing I'm going to do is get some different gear oil and see how that helps. If I have time I'll check out the whole shift star thing but I doubt I will be able to. Either way, I'll be there and racing and taking videos.