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strange looking front end?


markyb31

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I am looking at buying a 1989 banshee for $500. It has aftermarket exaust, rims, tires, bars, rear susp., and all the front end is aftermarket, the engine has mods done but the guy selling it did not do them and he does not know what they are, he claims it has been clocked at 90mph. The strange thing to me is the front tires are toeing in at the top a lot. I asked the guy who is selling it what that was about and he said that is how they are supposed to be, it is set up for jumping. The front end looks lowered compared to most other banshees I have seen. Have any of you seen anything like this. For the price I can not complain if I have to put new shocks on it, but I would like to know what is making them toe in so bad. I have never owned a banshee before, I am a two wheel guy but I am getting old and want to try four :biggrin:

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Tires angled in at the top relative to the bottom is camber (negative camber in this case), and yes it's ok to set it up this way; -4 degrees is a typical setting and what it does is improve handling in turns by keeping a larger contact patch in contact with the ground on the outside tire of the turn when that side gets loaded. My understanding anyway, in my experience negative camber improves handling by slightly reducing steering effort from center (at zero camber mine wanted to go straight all the time, the bars return to center quicker and took more input at speed to turn).

 

Stock a-arm and j-arm (which is what you're lookin' at) Banshees don't have adjustable camber, so either someone taco'd the upper a-arms or they put aftermarket J or D arms on it, maybe even converted it to A arms. If they are even it's probably aftermarket, and if you don't like it you can adjust it back to zero or a couple degrees instead of a buncha degrees (either at the upper balljoint or at the inboard upper control arm mount via heims).

 

On the shocks, if it's all decked out for MX he's prolly got Zero Preload (ZPS) or self-sagging shocks...or just really short shocks heh. ZPS also improves handling, mostly on an MX track, by lowering the center of gravity without sacrificing too much shock travel; it sits low so it won't 2-wheel in the turns but when you hit a big jump the shocks can extend farther to take the big hits. Take a look at the shock brand and let us know; Custom Axis, Elka, and top of the line Works shocks have ZPS options.

 

And yes, aftermarket a-arms and shocks are available, but before '91 Banshees had J arms so you're a little more limited in what you can put on there, unless you or someone else already did a conversion to A's.

 

$500 I'd jump on it, unless it absolutely won't run or looks completely beaten, as a matter of fact if you pass gimme the number and I'll call :evil: If you do snag it there's lotsa help here if you need it. Good luck.

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I know they are aftermarket a arms and shocks so I guess it is set up this way. I looked at about 200 banshees for sale on e bay and atv trader and never saw another one like it, that is why I was concerned. I appreciate the help. I am going to pick it up tomorrow so I am sure I will have some questions in the next few weeks :cool:

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If they're aftermarket a arms just look on the upper a arm. The top ball joint should have some sort of threaded adjustment to adjust the camber in or out.

 

500 dollars is one hell of a deal, congrats on the find. I looked for months and the best I found was mine at 1800. :dry: I did alright but needless to say I'm jealous of that deal. :blush:

 

Goodluck with it, ANY questions you may have can easily be answered here.

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i'm probably preaching to the choir.... but be careful tho, you could have a shit ton of money thats needed to put into it just to get it to stock running condition and "quality". money and parts will add up quick if its a basket case. then in which case its better to spend more on something with less headaches and ready too ride. rather then parts hunting for the next half year with a pile in your garage.

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  • 8 years later...

$500 is a hell of a deal if you want to spend another $1500 + on one lol  There are no good deals with cheap banshees, all are used and abused big time.  Toeing front tires means some moron before you didn't adjust the steering tie rods correctly...i see this all the time with kids who try and eye ball things calling it" they build it"

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