OK I love the power I get from my Banshee, but the overheating has taken it's toll on me... I'm tired of dealing with it. Changed the radiator, went to blue ice stuff, had it dyno'ed and re-jetted, and had the impella ( sp ? ) replaced. Still runs hot...
So I'm done, looking at raptors but am open to other quads as well..
So let me know... what works for you ??
Thanks

im kinda partial to the predator , but you really cant go wrong with the rappy or DS. i like the DS over the rappy tho

Everyone will tell you to buy what they own. That said, buy a yfz.

Get a Z400 just joking. depending what you like better a raptor and DS are similiar. Besides the DS being a lazyboy on wheels and the raptor being a torque mosnter. The raptor is alot of people say "top heavy." The DS isnt like the raptor in the world of being top heavy, but it is really heavy.

raptor

Probably a blown head gasket, just get a cool head and you will be done with it. One of our banshee's had the same problem, went with $400 radiator, impellar, ice coolant, still ran hot, checked head gasket and it was blown. Put on a cool head and has never had a problem.

Kevin

I agree. Check the headgasket. I had some overheating issues with mine for a while. Did the whole re-jetting etc. ended up being the headgasket.

Good Luck!

Take a spin on every one of them and make your choice ,good and bad with all of them..

i agree with Haulin... if you can ride the bikes your interested in.

personally the raptor has too short of a swingarm. its feels too high and tipsy to me. yeah i come from a banshee, but im not gonna tell you to stay with it. its your choice.

I would have to agree. . . I ride mine really hard and I haven't had an overheating problem yet. . .

I saw a banshee with a cooling fan at the trails in Baja this weekend.

I asked the guy why he did it, and he said:

1. It was overheating and never bother to replace the head gasket until after he
had added a battery, a DC converter from Ricky Stator and the cooling fan.
The add-ons defenitely helped, but the overheating went away after replacing
the head gasket.

2. He rides in Baja during the Summer time so it was a good idea to go through
the upgrades afterall. Even when it is over 100 degrees out there, the motor
runs well.

Something to think about.

I've ridden both, the Raptor and the DS650. I liked the Raptor, so I bought one. No problems whatsoever. But then again, I love my 250r.

Hey thanks guys for all the info on the head gasket,
When I had it dyno'ed I would have thought they would have
looked at that also... And when the impeller got replaced about
3 fins were GONE plastic looked like it had flaked away.
So maybe some of that plastic is blocking ports some where ??

I've already got a Z400, it's the wifes bike. Feels to short for me
to ride comfortly ( sp. ? ).

Is the DS650 and Raptor about the same price wise... weight
shouldn't be a problem since I'm the biggest hunk of weight on
the bike... An extra 20 pounds isn't going to be that big of a deal.

Thanks again...

I went from my 1987 Banshee to a 2001 Raptor. If I was to do it now YZF 450.

As far as speed and power......i like my banshee.......as far as power.....YFZ

YFZ hands down. If I was a little :cough: slimmer :cough: I would own one, instead I own one of the fastest raptors in AZ

If you're a big guy and want a big comfy bike, DS hands down. Or, you could always man up and keep that two stroke...hitting powerband on a thumper just isn't that lump-in-my-throat-eff-yeah-woohoo feeling...

One of the fastest Raptors in AZ? LOL

If you are a BIG guy get the DS the BIG people like them.

Fixed that for ya.

KR, You might want to check around , when was the last time you SAW my bike , much less with a motor in it,I'll just say it is simular to your "wifes dune bike" but only faster

You could run a Kenz 770/780 stroker motor on 39mm FCR's in that bike and not beat the wifes dune bike, you know that..............

So when's the race? I wanna watch.

unfortunatly 24v, 40 psi does not run anywhere in AZ during the warmer months,he is a sand duner first and foremost but I plan on rolling mine out near memorial day at the cinders in Flagstaff but Oct is only 6 more months away and the start of next years dune season.

I can wait till October. Hopefully mine will be a little faster by then as well. Maybe I can hang with you big cc guys.

Michael is correct. Come summer time my quads are basically retired for the season. Although last year I went to Pismo on July 4th and to Sand Mtn. Nevada for Labor Day.

It's funny to hear you guys talk about your season coming to a close. Ours up here in the NW is just starting. You guys need to come up here so we can ride together. It would be cool to meet you guys.

Jeff

So back to the head gasket question...
Is it as easy as it looks to replace ??
Just remove the 8 or so bolts from the
head and lift up ???
Any thing I'm missing ??? sounds like
I should give that at least a try since I've
done almost every thing else....
Thanks again for the replies....

On edit - would I have to go with a cool head
to replace the gasket ?? Or was that just done
since the head was off ??

Anyone know about replacing the head gasket ???

My understanding is that it is fairly easy. As you said take the bolts off pull the head off and throw on a new gasket.

I believe there may be a certain pattern to tightening the bolts back down, and a certain torque spec. Best bet would be to pick up a good service manual and go at it.

No need to go with a cool head, just an easy upgrade since your already pulling off the stock one.

Good Luck!

Like Rock said, it is a fairly simple task, but I don't know if there are any torque specs or tightening patterns you ought to follow. The cool head is not mandatory, just a good idea since it would be a convenient time to install it.

do you know when your last rebuild was,doyou know what the bore diameter is.?

I seen a few people on there last bore and the mechinest went to much over specs,and it was always running hot.

Never had any engine work done, bought it new in 03 and had the
problem over running hot right away...
Sounds like maybe a cool head is in my future...
Thanks for all the updates....

run a cool head, and the raptor has clutch and tranny problems, it is also top heavy, or i would get a yamaha or honda 450

Yup looks like cool head or a Noos Machine head?? How much of a pain is it to replace the studs ?? nothing has been done to the motor and it's about 2 yrs old....

The studs are easy to replace. You just put 2 nuts back to back and tighten them against each other. Then use the bottom nut to unscrew the stud and use top nut to screw the stud in. It's simple. There is a pattern and torque spec. I'll look it up tonight if you need me to. I would also put some blue lock tight on the studs when you put them in.

Just for some information a cool head does really nothing more than add some volume to your cooling system. A motor wont run any noticably cooler with one. Most banshees overheat or at least blow coolant out from day one durring extended slow running or idling. I shut my shee off when ever I stop for more than 20 sec. On top of the stock head are numbers by the studs for the torque sequence. I'm not positive on the torque spec thou..

That's correct. A cool head alone won't get the job done. The cool head adds coolant volume. You will need to upgrade the radiator to effectively cool it. And to complete the job you should also install an aluminum impeller to cycle the coolant more efficiently. Not much of a job and much less expensive than buying a new quad that will probably have upgrade issues of its' own.

OK thanks, Already have the bigger radiator. Replaced the impeller last year, but with a plastic one... The original stock impeller had only about half the fins in place... the rest were gone !! I thought this was my problem, but it was not...

I'm really hopeing that the head gasket is the problem.... the cool head will just be a little more insurance...
thanks for the tip on the torque sequence...

I would have to disagree with you about the cool head not helping with colling issue, #1 yes it allows more coolant, #2 it is better design and is made out of aluminum, which does a better job of getting heat out quicker. We had one banshee never stop over heating, added a $350 Toomey radiator, billet impellar, stock head and it never worked. Here is my advice to you, buy a cool head, or better yet get a NOSS head, David noss is a nice guy and he will let you know if this will help on your cooling issue. All my banshee's have some sort of aftermarket aluminum head, both mine are NOSS heads and my wifes has a cool head, I never have any cooling issues, all have stock radiators, too.

Kevin

I ordered something like a cool head, but it used the stock bolts.
Only reason I didn't go with Noos was $$$ it was about $35 more for the black colored head.
Kevin I did the same upgrades on mine, and added the engine ice stuff... hoping this last upgrade will be the one...
Thanks

The factory head is made out of aluminum too. The main advantage of a cool head is the replacable domes not the cooling.... Getting it for cooling is a waste of $250 dollars.

Yeah I think I already knew that, but isn't the cool head
supposed to have different and/or larger water passages ??

Usually you will see some temp decrease, but it won't save a dying beast. You should setp up to a billet alum water pump impeller too.

The main advantage to the coolhead for you will be the o rings, no more headgasket to leak. I always put some grease on the o rings when I install, and be carefull not to pinch them. I have never had a leak.

Also, a replacement set is cheap (less than 20.00) so I change the o rings whenever the head comes off. (Not that often).

Cool
Thanks Monkey.. do you use plain old wheel grease ??
And you don't happen to know the torque numbers for the
studs on the head do you ???
Thanks again...

That's what I use...

I beleive it is 21 ft/lbs final. Torque them up in 5 lb increments.