I just bought a Blaster for my wife/girlfriend/whatever she is. I ride a 98 Warrior. The funny thing is the Blaster with an FMF pipe feels extremely fast and quick. It feels as if its twice as quick as my Warrior but when drag raced the Warrior slaughters the Blaster. I think it may be the size of it that causes that effect, I dunno. Anyhow the Blaster is definitely no Banshee it doesnt have the power, suspension, or brakes of the Banshee. I'd still reccomend it over a Banshee for a new rider every time. You can buy a nice used Blaster for under $2000 and ride it for a year to gain experience and wind up selling it for every penny you paid for it. The Blaster is a great little bike to learn two strokes on.

 

Xlea, if you have the cash, definitely, spring for the Banshee. Sure, it'll be more than handful, but you'll grow into it. My brother's first dirtbike was a 125, and in less than three months, he wanted a 250. Learning with small motors doesn't make sense to me. Don't waste the money on it, and then have to sell it for something more powerful. I bought my first quad, a Warrior, 6 months ago. It was incredible at the time. Now, it's so slow, I can't stand it. Believe me, a Banshee is a good investment. And one more thing: WEAR A HELMET!!! They're lifesavers.

 

Alright thanks for the advice, the majority of you guys said i should get a Banshee but i'm gonna wait for more replys to see what more people think. Thanks again. Lots of my friends own Quads and dirt bikes, maybe i can learn from them too.

 

Listen man don't get the Banshee for a first time quad. Yeah you would grow into it but if your anything like me you will jump on it and start riding around. Then you will hammer the throttle and feel the power kick in and then wonder if it can give more and trust most quads do have more. And then you will feel like you know that Banshee like you a bicycle and then out of nowhere you wreck it and it will never feels the same.

 

The question here is, are you mature enough to handle one? There are adults who arent and kids who are. Ive seen many who are responsible and do a pretty good job on some highly modified bikes. Like a previous post said, you can turn the throttle down a bit till you get used to the bike. Just leave the tools behind so your not tempted to get some more power before its time.
In stock form, its still pretty snappy, but you can grow into mods later, once you get used to it.
Just be careful and like others said, WEAR A HELMET. To many people die each year from not wearing one. Its a cheap investment for what it protects. Get one, enjoy it, and be careful.

 

Seriously, if you do get the Banshee, don't ever ride it without a helmet! This is a helmet mandatory quad, and thats even more true if your under-experienced. And another thing, if you don't turn the throttle screw down, DO NOT GOOSE IT!! You'll be looking at the sky, then laying on the ground with the Banshee on top of you.

CeetBanshee

 

Guys!!!!

Do you all realize that you are telling a 14 year old BEGINNER (read: no experience!!) to buy a BANSHEE???!!! Perhaps he should buy a Dodge Viper for is first car, too? I think we lose sight of the fact that, although quads are a total blast to ride, they are also very, VERY dangerous, especially for a 14 year old with no experience on a Banshee!

I honestly think that a Banshee is WAY too much quad for a beginner, especially one of 14, and I imagine any dealer will tell you the same thing. The dealer where I am will not even sell you a quad like that if he thinks someone under 16 will be riding it.

There is a reason quads like the Banshee have those big stickers on them that say "For experienced riders over the age of 16 ONLY". This kid fails BOTH criteria.

I would have to recommend something like a Blaster to learn on. Drive that until you are maybe 16. Then, if you still feel the need for more power (and by that time, you probably will), you can sell your Blaster and upgrade to the (MUCH) more powerful Banshee.

I know it's always cool to have the best/fasted quad money can buy, but let's be realistic here. For about HALF the price of a Banshee, you can get a less powerful quad that it still plenty fast and fun to learn on.

Let's all do our part to keep the ATV injury statistics down by keeping 14 year old beginners off of Banshees.....

No offence to the 14 year old intended here...I'm just trying to be the voice of reason.

 

I am also 14 and I have been riding since I was 4. I learned to ride on a atc 70. I think that U should get what ever U are comfortable with I know that if I was just beggining I would not want a banshee. I would want a blaster. to get used to a 2 stroke. here is the list of quads I learned to and gradully stepped up to. 1 atc 70 2 LT80 3 badger 4 yz 80 dirt bike 5 TRX250x 6 moto 4 200 (cheap and reliable beat walking) 6 blaster 7 300ex 8 TRX 250r (my baby current qaud). I think if U are responsible to get a blaster and work your way up to a banshee. banshee's are quick and don't like being ridden slowly my dad had one and if you didn't keep it pinned the plugs would foul out. like I said work your way up get used to a 2 stroke may be put some mods on your blaster and always always wear a helmet I saw a guy last labor day wekkend die on banshee because he wasn't wearing a helmet and flew right in to a huge ditch it sure makes U think different. well like I said always wear a helmet I don't care if u are riding a PW50. for 2 feet U nevwr know whatg's going to happen.

 

For those of you old enough to do this - Remember your first quad/motorcycle??? What happened on it? You probably crashed a lot like I did. You probably thought you could handle a bigger bike at the time. Then you rode one and realized it was too much.

I think it would be a big mistake for a 14 year old self proclaimed BEGINNER to get one of the fastest and most difficult to ride quads there is. There are plenty of reasons to get a smaller engined quad to start off with. Primarily, it will teach the ride to use momentum and to learn how to ride fast without having tons of power. Once those skills are mastered, having more power is just a bonus, not a necessity. It would make for a better rider.

Of all the posts on this, I hope that Xlea851817 listens to this one the most. What do you think your parenst are going to do if you buy a quad and get really hurt because you couldn't handle the power it made??? Think you'll keep it? Think they'll let you get another one??? It might be a very brief riding experience.

 

Sandmanblue is 100% correct. Absolutely do not get a Banshee for your first bike. I can't believe the number of people here advocating such an idea. Completely irresponsible...

Do all of us and yourself a favor and get some experience under your belt before even thinking about considering a high performance machine.

Think about a:
300EX
Blaster
Warrior
Mojave

Any of the above would be excellent first bikes for a responsible 14 year old. In fact, with just a little experience I would bet money you would be faster on any of the above machines than on a Banshee for a long time.

It may seem really cool to have one of the fastest machines out there to impress your buddies with, but they won't be very impressed when they smoke you, or you take a nasty header in the dirt and tear yourself & the bike up in the process.