Hack Job Posted November 30, 2003 Report Share Posted November 30, 2003 I was riding out in the desert this weekend and my 01' Banshee decided it didn't want to be there. We had just gotten to camp, unloaded the gear and warmed up the bikes. We probably rode about 10 minutes, basically just cruising (3rd gear not revving very hard) when the bike stalled. I tried to start it again but the bike would cough and die. My brother towed me back to camp and while I was starting it, noticed that the left cylinder wasn't hitting. It would blow cool air, and occaisionally belt out a nasy back-firing sound while the right cyinder was idling. I pulled the plug and it had an ominous grey tone with some flecking. Looked like detonation, so I didn't bother trying to start the bike the rest of the weekend. When I got home, I cleaned the bike, pulled the head and left jug. The left piston had some material missing above the top ring and the face of the piston had the texture of a frying pan with non stick coating. The cylinder wall has material deposited onto it, but may not be grooved. I've attached pics below to see if anyone has any ideas on the cause of death. The gas was a little on the old side, but lit off fine and since the bike wasn't under a lot of high RPM load, I wouldn't figure it to be the problem. Besides, why would the left side be more affected by the bad gas if that was the problem? The bike is relatively stock with stock timing, TORS removed, Toomey T-5s, White Brothers Boost Bottle, no airbox lid, K&N with outerwears, 310 mainjets, 91 octane mixed 36:1 with Maxima 927. I need advice on the repair as well as the possible cause of the problem as to avoid it in the future. Do I need to replace both pistons or only the left side. I would assume I should do both to keep the wear even on everything. Any input would be greatly appreciated as I want to get my bike running again quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0Banshee1 Posted December 1, 2003 Report Share Posted December 1, 2003 My '01 banshee has done that twice, but it was because of a fouled spark plug on the left side. All I done was replace the spark plug and it fired right back up with no problems at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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