2001 Yamaha Banshee Restoration Thread

05satinGT

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Not the craziest update....but it's an update.

I removed all the wheel studs at my buddy's shop with his press out of the front and rear hubs. I got the axle out of the carrier, and dropped a boat load of parts off to the powder coater. He is so busy he said he needs 3-4 weeks to get the parts back to me but it's all good.

Parts that I brought to get powder coated:

-Frame (Gloss black)
-Rear Swingarm & components (dog bone, axle carrier etc.) (Gloss black)
-Front and Rear hubs (Silver)
-Steering column (Silver)
-Brake Dust shield (Silver)
-Motor mounts (Gloss black)
-Sprocket & sprocket hub (Silver)
-Random misc. small parts (Black & Silver)

I also ordered a 659 piece stainless bolt kit that is 95% of every bolt to build a banshee. Hopefully this week I am going to order new a-arms (Lonestar +2, +1), Elka Stage 3 front and rear shocks, and extended rear axle. That should be pretty much everything I need to make a rolling chassis. I am really excited to start putting this bad boy back together!

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ajaf1656

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Isn't the Banshee the evolution of the 1970's RD350 motorcycle? I'd love to have that motor on 2 wheels since I know how to ride without training wheels. Lol
I had a buddy who had a 250cc two stroke Honda three-wheeler and that thing was crazy fun. The only fast quads I ever rode were Yamaha Raptors and YFZ450's when I was a Yamaha/ Suzuki salesman. My boss banned me from moving them around the shop at night and I was restricted to the old clapped out "shop quad" we used to pull the trailers around. Haha
 

gimmie11s

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Isn't the Banshee the evolution of the 1970's RD350 motorcycle? I'd love to have that motor on 2 wheels since I know how to ride without training wheels. Lol
I had a buddy who had a 250cc two stroke Honda three-wheeler and that thing was crazy fun. The only fast quads I ever rode were Yamaha Raptors and YFZ450's when I was a Yamaha/ Suzuki salesman. My boss banned me from moving them around the shop at night and I was restricted to the old clapped out "shop quad" we used to pull the trailers around. Haha

Yes sir. Ive ridden one... BEAST. The looks you get from cars on the road is priceless riding that thing.
 

Red Turtle

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Back in the 90's a friend of mine had one with a ton of work done to it. He used to bring it out to the street races with suspension strapped and hurt some feelings as well.

As someone said earlier, they are an absolute blast to ride and you better be ready when the powerband hits ..... as well as plan for proper braking with how fast they are.
 

STAMPEDE3

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Making me miss mine.
I had a few over the years.
I miss the Tri-Z 250 and Tecate the most though. I will own another one day even at my age. It will be bone stock this time though.
 

gimmie11s

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Making me miss mine.
I had a few over the years.
I miss the Tri-Z 250 and Tecate the most though. I will own another one day even at my age. It will be bone stock this time though.

Really? I never rode either of those. I want a 250r ATC in the worst way.. never owned of them either.
 

STAMPEDE3

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Really? I never rode either of those. I want a 250r ATC in the worst way.. never owned of them either.

Yep. I'm the old school guy who prefers 3 wheels over 4. At this point I will buy whichever I come across at the right price though. I'll tank another Banshee in a heartbeat.

If you have the FB, This guy isn't far from me,,,,
Log into Facebook
 

SVTdreamin04

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I never owned a 2 stroke quad, but did own a 1987 250x, then a 300ex, then a 400ex, then a 450er. Then the side by sides came along and ruined everything.

Love the thread. Keep hammering away at your build OP. It makes me feel like a kid again.


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jvandy50

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Really? I never rode either of those. I want a 250r ATC in the worst way.. never owned of them either.

Terrible pic, I was trying not to be weird but also had to have a pic...saw it this morning
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pjb03

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Nice Banshee resto OP!

Isn't the Banshee the evolution of the 1970's RD350 motorcycle? I'd love to have that motor on 2 wheels since I know how to ride without training wheels. Lol

Actually the Banshee is based off the water cooled RZ350 without the Powervalves and different transmission ratio.

My 84 makes about 70 RWHP and weighs 320ish. Hits hard at 5.5k up to 10k.

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gimmie11s

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gimmie11s

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Thanks everyone. I've really been enjoying working on this bad boy.

Doesn't seem like a lot, but I made a good amount of progress.

I have the frame totally stripped down and pretty much ready for powder coat. I degreased it and washed it and it actually cleaned up really nicely. I also disassembled the rear swing arm and it's components. Almost ready to bring everything to powder coat.

I also spent about 5-6 hours polishing the pro circuit pipes that were on the machine. I was going to sell them and get new pipes, but seeing as how expensive they were, I figured I'd show these some love. One pipe has a few dents but for now it'll do. Thank you 04 sleeper for teaching me how to polish pipes from years ago haha. I am very happy with how they came out.

The machine also had pro circuit silencers, so I sand blasted them yesterday at my buddies shop. The plan for those is to restore them to their glory. I will attach a pic of how they should look. I called pro circuit yesterday and asked if I can buy the hardware and the stickers. The gentleman I spoke to was very nice and said they don't make them anymore but he will try and find a set. I am also going to get pro circuits packaging material. Literally everything on this machine was hacked. Someone grinded the mounting brackets off the pipe and there are only the mounting brackets on the silencers themselves. I am going to fix that as well.

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Outstanding work here... Can you give me the quick process on bringing those pipes back to life? Im starting on a similar project this weekend. Looks like you hit them with sand paper first? 1000 grit maybe?
 

Red Turtle

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Yep. I'm the old school guy who prefers 3 wheels over 4. At this point I will buy whichever I come across at the right price though. I'll tank another Banshee in a heartbeat.

If you have the FB, This guy isn't far from me,,,,
Log into Facebook

Be sure to where some boots!! Those front kick starts are shin breakers with wet shoes..lol
 

05satinGT

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Outstanding work here... Can you give me the quick process on bringing those pipes back to life? Im starting on a similar project this weekend. Looks like you hit them with sand paper first? 1000 grit maybe?

I got the main principle from 04 Sleeper's "polish your exhaust thread" which on did on my old Terminator years ago.

What I did was took a small electric block sander and wet sanded the pipes with various grit sand paper (i.e. 150, 300, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 2000, 2500). After, I used a cotton wheel on my cordless drill and used Mother's aluminum polish. Works like a charm!

http://www.svtperformance.com/threads/04sleepers-official-guide-to-polishing-your-exhaust.568985/
 

05satinGT

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Fun project. Nice work, keep the pics coming

Thanks man. Sadly at this point I am just waiting on parts before I can really move on. All the parts should be back from the powder coater on either Thursday or Friday, and a ton of parts are going to be delivered this week and next week. Pics to come soon!

I am also going to start tearing into the motor this week. I moved into my house a year ago and never really had the intensions of working on projects at home. I have another garage behind work that's only 5 miles away where I keep my Hellcat. That's where my lift is etc. But being a 29 year old single guy I said what the hell, let me work on this bad boy at home. I went to Lowe's the other day and picked up a tool chest and work bench to make my life a little bit easier.

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Even though I park on the other side of the garage, I had to see if the Caddy could fit with the work bench.

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05satinGT

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Thankfully I have a pretty sweet update. I picked up all of my parts from the powder coater and I must say, I am blown away with how everything came out! I ended up decided to go with a "illusion red" frame instead of black and boy and I happy I did. It's amazing to watch the powder coating happen. I was lucky enough to witness the frame getting done. It's crazy how the powder looked pink, the clear looked white, and then the oven makes it all come alive.

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I have all the parts home now. Monday I am going to go to my buddies shop and have him press in all the new wheel studs. I also need to re thread all the threads on the frame and then I can start putting this bad boy back together. My a-arms and shocks are still about 3-4 weeks out sadly.

Bought a OEM Front Bumper and OEM grab bar, both in flat black as well as protaper bars.

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