best woods mods?

[98bansheeMAN98]

i just traded my 2001 yamaha banshee for anouther 1998 banshee, this is going to be my woods bike that i ride on trails. i ride with 499exs, trx 450rs and its pretty much rough trails or a gas or power line. this banshee is pretty stock and idk if ill be able to beat the 450rs tht easy. all it has is pro circuit pipes off my old banshee and a cool head with 19cc domes. everything else is stock. i was wondering what the best mods would be to make it fast and quick as hell in the woods. i dont need no 110mph like before haha. but i do wanna be the leader of the pack and start fresh with this banshee. thanks for any comments.

[CFH87]

Depends on how much you really wanna spend you can do add ons only like pipes, carbs, cool head, k & n pods. But if you really wanna whoop their asses I would go with a good port from kevin at herr jugs racing or jeff at F.A.S.T both do really good work.

[gotta_goatsfast]

I wouldn't look at power mods, then. I would look at a -1 or -2 swingarm and some awesome shocks. I don't know how narrow your trails are, but I fit just fine in the woods riding I do with +2+1 a-arms. With the right shocks and arms (and brakes) you'll handle a lot better. You'll also want a quality tire to hook up and get out of ruts. The power mods you have will be enough for tight woods. If you do need more torque down the road upgrade to a 4 mill stroker and some woods or MX style porting. But I'd only do this AFTER the suspension/brakes.

 

Something else that I found helped a lot for control are better levers/controls and handlebars. Things like skid plates and nerf bars for protection, also.

[oneill_1952]

Banshees are fast but to put that power were it belongs is were a good set of tires and suspension is key!....my cousin's banshee is faster then my 450r... but the suspension on the 450r it can outlast the shee on a long trail ride and within an hour into the ride im already the leader for the simple fact hes worn out and im just getting started....get a good set of razr2 or cheaper alternative gbc x-rex....get your rear shock reworked and set up for your riding and weight. and a set of piggy back tripple rate fronts...no need for +2 arms as you dont want a wide quad for the trails (trees are your ememy)...anyway just my opinion.

 

Cheers Tido~

[98bansheeMAN98]

my trails are actually pretty wide. i do have a +3 swingarm extension i made. i put that on along with renthal fat bars. and big wide holeshots xcts that hook well. kinda soft stock suspension, and did some mild porting my self (knife edged intake port) it ripps hard and is really fast. i want it to be the best trail banshee thats fast and quick.

[blubyyou]

Suspension is where I would start as mentioned along with quality tires to hook up. You may want to advance the timing to +4. This can be done for free by modding the stock timing plate or buying an adjustable plate for relatively cheap.

[blubyyou]

I would ditch the +3 swingarm extension and look to a -swingarm instead.

[98bansheeMAN98]

I would ditch the +3 swingarm extension and look to a -swingarm instead.

what is a shorter swingarm gonna do for me? any ideas for good suspension?

[98bansheeMAN98]

what about the motor though? what can i do to help there?

[AKheathen]

go take a ride first and pay attention to what is holding you back. most liely, you want to drop the front sprocket, so you can lug it down more over roots and stuff. learn how to tune the carbs real well, and keep the silencers packed. one thing to think about- the stock carbs tend to freeze open a bit with moisture, so plan your airbox and maybe carb upgrades accordingly. smaller carbs will do better in the low end, and stock size can work well up to the 70-80hp range. skid-plates are pretty essential, sae for the rear skid. they have been known to get bent into the sprocket and rotor and hang you up in the middle of nowhere. keep an eye on your swingarm bushings, sprocet splines, and chain adjustment. you can snap a chain in the woods in no time if they are worn out.... other than that, whatever suspension you can get away with upgrading will do you well, as already covered. oh, and one last thing- boysen reeds are probably going to be your best bet for power and drivability. the power reeds will run the smoothest down low and not have so much snap to them, and the pro reeds will be real crisp all across the range.

[98bansheeMAN98]

go take a ride first and pay attention to what is holding you back. most liely, you want to drop the front sprocket, so you can lug it down more over roots and stuff. learn how to tune the carbs real well, and keep the silencers packed. one thing to think about- the stock carbs tend to freeze open a bit with moisture, so plan your airbox and maybe carb upgrades accordingly. smaller carbs will do better in the low end, and stock size can work well up to the 70-80hp range. skid-plates are pretty essential, sae for the rear skid. they have been known to get bent into the sprocket and rotor and hang you up in the middle of nowhere. keep an eye on your swingarm bushings, sprocet splines, and chain adjustment. you can snap a chain in the woods in no time if they are worn out.... other than that, whatever suspension you can get away with upgrading will do you well, as already covered. oh, and one last thing- boysen reeds are probably going to be your best bet for power and drivability. the power reeds will run the smoothest down low and not have so much snap to them, and the pro reeds will be real crisp all across the range.

what size of carbs should i run on it? ive heard of running without the lid on the airbox, if id do that what kind of filter should i use?

[AKheathen]

what size of carbs should i run on it? ive heard of running without the lid on the airbox, if id do that what kind of filter should i use?

well, stock size carbs are awesome, especially at the verry bottom, even below idle, so just doing a tors removal will make them do good. however, before you sink money into the tors removal, take them out for a normal hard ride, and any moist/wet conditions that you will be going through. if they give you problems with run-away after getting wet, you can find a nice pair of 28mm. i was origionally planning on 28mm flatslides for my 4mm ported woods/hill-shooter built, but found a great set of lectron 30's, and went with those. as for the airbox, there is many options. you can find drop-in filters and k&n power lid filters, there is a billet adapter that you bolt in place of the stock filter, and you clamp on a large cone k/7n style filter (most popular), and you can modify your stock lid by drilling holes and inserting the little foam plugs, whole new aftermarket boxes with dual pods, or single, free-air pods, etc. you just have to think about the level of water you are going to see. personally, i stuck to the billet adapter and only run a lid in certain conditions.....and i cross rivers/streams up to 2' deep. a good outterware is your best friend there.

[bigblockbanshee]

^^^Take this guy's advice.^^^ He knows his stuff. Anyway for a filter, adapter, etc. I went with the Vito's kit on clearance. It includes everything needed to convert from stock and is really inexpensive. I know it's "China stuff" but for the price I couldn't pass it up and so far it's performed great and does it's job just as good as a Pro Flow adapter and K&N filter with Outerwears would. The only thing I might swap out would be a "real" Outerwear instead of the hooker-style pantyhose outerwear that they send. And also +1 on the stock carbs on low end. I can chug mine down low and it never misses a beat.

 

http://www.vitosperformance.com/atv_parts/product.php?productid=528&cat=295&page=1

Edited April 14, 2011 by bigblockbanshee

[98bansheeMAN98]

^^^Take this guy's advice.^^^ He knows his stuff. Anyway for a filter, adapter, etc. I went with the Vito's kit on clearance. It includes everything needed to convert from stock and is really inexpensive. I know it's "China stuff" but for the price I couldn't pass it up and so far it's performed great and does it's job just as good as a Pro Flow adapter and K&N filter with Outerwears would. The only thing I might swap out would be a "real" Outerwear instead of the hooker-style pantyhose outerwear that they send. And also +1 on the stock carbs on low end. I can chug mine down low and it never misses a beat.

 

http://www.vitosperformance.com/atv_parts/product.php?productid=528&cat=295&page=1

i already have the tors gone. i cross up to about 2' also. but not often. i dont wanna have carbs that are way to big for it, but i thing the stocks are a little small now.

[Thack82]

what about the motor though? what can i do to help there?

 

Like Akheathen said Boyesen Power reeds are great for adding torque. You can get a lot more out of them if you run Chariot Billet reed cages, and billet reed cage spacers the spacers allow you to adjust your power band a little (how soon it kicks in). Paul Turner mids are about the best Low end power Pipes you can get. Dropping a tooth in the front will help you lug around with the 4 pokes in the woods but don't get caught in a open field with a low end power set up and a low sprocket, your power band will hit hard but it will be extremely short and very hard to utilize. I'm putting 28mm Keihins on my Banshee to help out mid and top end power but thats where I felt like I could use a little more power and from the research I done that set up should have little to no affect on my bottom end. Woods/trail riding is hard on a clutch, depending on other power adders your planning on adding a Heavy Duty Clutch will eventually be needed. If your running a mild set up a Barnett Dirt Digger, Tusk HD Clutch kit will do the job. If your a little more on the wild side I would recommend Drive-Line's Trail/Track set up with (YFZ-1000 components), They also offer a economical clutch lock up that will fit in the stock clutch cover. This is the kit I ended up using on my Banshee with the addition of a Barnett Billet Clutch Basket. It has never even acted like it was going to slip, the only negative thing I can say about the Heavy Duty Drive-Line set up is the stiffness of the pull. I had to buy a Streamline Hydraulic Clutch Lever to get the pull stiffness down where you could ride long periods of time with out your arm becoming fatigued.

 

The most important thing that you will need to upgrade if you building a woods Banshee is the cooling system. I would recommend a over sized radiator, performance radiator cap, billet water pump housing and impeller, inline coolers, and a aftermarket cool head. You will need to run ATV Engine Ice, or Red-Line ATV Super Coolant in the cooling system as well. I'm trying to come up with a electric fan set up that will pull air through he radiator as we speak to help aid the cooling of the engine on my Banshee.