New banshee needs better suspension!

[Jayy]

Anybody else? I am hoping i go the right way because of the expense.

[Trick2stroke]

It's an awesome suspension package. I can guarantee you that you will be happy with it, most of us are happy with just some +2's and dual/tripple rates. I know I'd be in love with some +3's and elka quad rates. (or does the banshee package come with tripples?) either way you can't go wrong if you've got the cash.

 

I'm more of a bargan shopper anymore. I'd find some nice used a arms and then buy some shocks, you'll have enough left over for a roundhouse swinger, if you ride trails or track I HIGHLY reccomend a -2 swinger. AMAZING diffrence in corning and traction. You can get some good +3 a arms for 300-400 or so, pick up some tripple rates from whatever brand you prefer, then you should have enough left over for the roundhouse, you may spend as much or alittle over the lt front end but you get way more.

[dawarriorman]

Save your money and go with standard +2+1 a-arms and shocks. You aren't getting any more travel out of the long travel a-arms, your only getting longer shocks. The only way to gain wheel travel is with wider a-arms, all +2 arms (lt or not) will give you roughly the same amount of travel.

 

You want a better riding setup, get standard arms and better shocks, something like Axis, PEP or TCS. Any time you buy a kit like Janssens, your buying 1 size fits all shocks, they might take your info on your riding style, but the shocks are already made and sitting there.

 

And a-arms can't change bump steer one way or the other. Bump steer is all in the spindles and frame design. No one brand of a-arms will handle any better than any other, assuming they are both +2+1. You pay for quality, and in some case (Roll Design) the name.

[Trick2stroke]

Saying they're not long travel isn't true, granted you don't gain wheel travel then shocks are longer and the shock position is changed for more "shock" travel and adjustability. Which most people won't utalize anyway.

 

All I'm saying is if he wants the package and has money to blow then he will be happy with it. Leaps and bounds over the stock front end but for the price there are better options out there that will produce the same outcome as far as performance.

[chevy7398]

i got lagers long shock plus 2 a arms and elka tripple rate pigybacks with compression adjust, with a standard shock +2 a arm if you get elkas you can only get dual rate shocks witch means if you get the ssd shocks you are always on the main( the stiffest spring) and get alot rougher ride, were as with tripple rates you are mainly riding on the secondary spring which is alot softer than the main spring and you get alot better ride and alot better handling.

[dawarriorman]

Saying they're not long travel isn't true, granted you don't gain wheel travel then shocks are longer and the shock position is changed for more "shock" travel and adjustability. Which most people won't utalize anyway.

 

All I'm saying is if he wants the package and has money to blow then he will be happy with it. Leaps and bounds over the stock front end but for the price there are better options out there that will produce the same outcome as far as performance.

Most long travel setups don't even increase your shaft travel, you simply get a longer shock body that can fit more springs.

 

I do agree with spend the money if he has it, but spend it in a better place: shocks. Personally I don't care for elkas, you can search and find out why, Im not going into it here.

 

Oh and chevy,

You can get triple rates for a banshee from PEP :biggrin:

Edited May 3, 2007 by dawarriorman

[Justintoxicated]

Revalving the stock rear shock is as good as buying an aftermarket shock without a resevoir or Longer travel. Does it fade? yes, but it's basicaly the same design as an aftermarket shock once revalved and resprung. It makes a huge difference compare to stock. Don't rule that out either it's fine for most riders, and way cheaper than the elka with linkage. You can buy a works shock for almost the same price, but unless it is valved properly I would not expect any better performance.

 

Dual rates will be better for jumpin than standard travel triple rates where some of the spring travel is there for sag and to keep your center of gravity lower. More springs does not always equal better. I love my elka shocks and they seemed to be valved decently (they took weight A-arm length etc into consideration when I had them built for me) The High speed and Low speed, compression, and rebound dampening are nice to have and help you fine tune for your environment and riding style.

Edited May 3, 2007 by Justintoxicated

[chevy7398]

ya before i had this setup i had the stock a arms and works tripple rate with remote resiviors,and thought those were great till i got my current setup. but from elka all you can get is dual rates for stock shock length a arms and tripple rates for the long shock (long travel) a arms for the banshee. i wanted to get quad rates but the shock mounting points are closer ( shorter shocks ) and therefore the shocks are only 17.5 inches long (i think) compared to like yfz450 long travel shocks that are 19.5 inches long, so there is not enough room for a 4th spring on the banshee long travel where as the 450s and the 400es and such alow the room neccasary for quad rates.

[Jayy]

Thanks for all the input so far everyone. Man, I really dont know what to do! I know that I will not gain any real travel with LT set up as far as WHEEL travel, but wont the longer shock travel and having triple rate allow the shocks to be valved better, and allow them to soak up bumps, jumps, etc smoother?

[Trick2stroke]

But like Dawarrior already stated, the shocks that come with the kit are kind of generic and aren't custom tailored for you to get the full benifit.

 

I can honestly say if you're riding track or trails the stability is needed but I think the more noticable improvement in traction and cornering comes from the negative length swing arms. Save alittle money from buying that kit and go with some ASR or fullflight a arms for around 300 or however much they are, get some nice dual/tripple rates, then get a -1.5-2.5 swinger and have the stock rear shock rebuilt. You won't believe the diffrence, it will put that front end to shame for close to the same price.

[dawarriorman]

Thanks for all the input so far everyone. Man, I really dont know what to do! I know that I will not gain any real travel with LT set up as far as WHEEL travel, but wont the longer shock travel and having triple rate allow the shocks to be valved better, and allow them to soak up bumps, jumps, etc smoother?

You most likely won't get much if any longer shock travel.

 

The other problem with long travel setups is that you lose the natural progression of the suspension. The one saving grace of the banshee front suspension is how close to the frame the shocks are mounted on the a-arms.

 

The closer the shock mount on the a-arms is to the frame, the more progression you get. The first bit of shock travel corresponds to alot of wheel travel (making it soft at first). As the a-arms move through their motion (and the arms come closer to a 90 degree angle with the shocks) less wheel travel uses the same amount of shock travel (so the last couple inches use more shock travel). When you get long travel shocks, you lose this progression because the shock mount is moved further out. You get more springs (going to a triple or quad rate setup) but that ends up simply making up for the progression you lost with the stock setup.

 

The suspension companies don't want people to realize this because they're making money on the bigger shocks. Thats why it took hydrodynamics so long to come out with a long travel setup. They knew that long travel setups weren't offering any benefits. But everyone else had the consumers convinced that long travel was better and they were losing money.

[Jayy]

If I do go with +2+1 and standard length shocks, are LSR a arms good? Also, who makes ball joints that do not require spindle reaming? Where is the best price i can get on elka shocks? Will my stock brake lines work with +2+1 arms? Thanks, everyone.