i was riding this past weekend with one of my buddies who just bought a brand new banshee. We were trying out both machines hill climbing ability. Didnt take long to see that the banshee was one mean hill climbing SOB. He was climbing 30-100ft bluffs straight up and down it seemed. No way my raptor could climb it. Is it just the quickness of the banshee or the light frontend of the raptor thats the difference? Hate to extend the swingarm, anything else i can do to climb better, also i had to climb most hills in 1st. 2nd was just too fast and out of control.

 

yeah buy a banshee. i have both machines and to be honest with you i think the banshee is a better bike. although the raptor has it's bonus points that a banshee does not have.

 

Depends on how fast you like to ride but think about gearing your bike down. The stock sprockets are 13 tooth in the front and 40 in the back. I put a 12 tooth on mine in addition to a 42 in the back and it made all of the difference in the world! The Raptor is inherently light in the front so if you want to get really serious about climbing hills you'll have to go with a swing arm. Give the gearing a try first. You won't have to change your chain unless you get absolutely wild.

The Banshee is a pretty wild machine... although build your Raptor right and it will give it a run for it's money.......... as long as he doesn't pipe his up!!!

 

blackwidow, he already piped his banshee up and he spanked me in a race. His banshee is a pretty rapid bike, i hate to see it after he gets done with it. Its just so freaking quick, i feel like a 4X4 climbing hills comnpared to him.

 

thanks velociraptor, ill probably go with a pipe and then extend the swingarm. I do all of my riding in eastern ky, sometimes livingston, but most of the time in owsley county and leslie county.

 

Keep your money, I say just practice. I make the banshee guys envious when we're doing hill climbs because I can stand up and they have to hang their **** over the rear tires and if there's loose stuff they sometimes get stuck.

If your worried about racing them, get a pipe. A piped & jetted raptor can beat a piped & jetted banshee from 0-300' but they have a faster top speed by a couple mph's.

 

The hill climbs im talking about isnt some long, loose dirt, rolling hills. Living in eastern kentucky where there are only mountains presents a real challenge. Im saying the hills here are basicly cliffs, looking straight up and down ranging from 30-200 ft. Most hills are only climbed by extended banshees. One hill imparticular has never been climbed all the way although some guy from ohio supposedly climbed it on a raptor (NO WAY!!!) It takes a lot of speed and mainly quickness, since there are in many cases a 10 ft. running go, to climb many of them. My raptor is a death trap on some of these hills. I dont want to flip my rap and screw it all up, but i also dont want to get shown up by all the dang banshees. Im thinking the swingarm is the only way to go.

 

I have driven on the parkway many times but never knew there was a place to ride near it. Where about is it? Nice looking quad you have, is the quad shop in louisville? How much $ would I be looking at for the extension?

thanks for the info!

 

You can climb anything on the rap..Im always the guy that will climb it all,It just takes practice to make you better..You got to get to know your bike and then you can do it..If your always worried about doing aa backflip then it is going to be on your mind, and get used to the front end being lite,I usually wheelie up more than half the hill..P>S you ride your bike, dont let your bike ride you..

 

I agree the rap will climb anything if you know what you are doing. If the hills are truly steep then you dont want a peeky 2 stroke.