General Discussion Forum

alright guys, im going mad right now. i love anything that has a motor, if it goes i like it. im able to purchase a sandrail, a banshee, a 450 either yamaha or honda, or a streetbike. each has great features, but which is the right one? theyre all about 3000 bucks give or take. this is like so confusing i have no idea what to do. they all have motors and they all go fast, so the sandrail has a fresh motor with new shocks and springs, its super clean. the streetbike, is a cbr600, a 1998 banshee, with wide a-arms and new shocks, the bikes are 2003 crf450 and yzf 450. somebody get me to an insane asylum lock me up and throw away the key this has like had me going for about a week now, and ive made no progress or step whatsoever towards a clear choice  

Well, one thing is you can count out that Banshee first as they were never a very good handling quad (even though Banshee enthusiasts will deny this) but they do have a screamin motor for the sand with a plethora of aftermarket mods, but we're still back with poor handling compared to other makes even at the same year model.

The sandrail? very fun and exciting, a good friend of mine has a new long travel with a 325hp subaru motor and it is scary fast being that it only weighs about 1100lbs. Do you have access to sandunes? unless you get an Off-road style buggy, it won't be very versatile. Personally I'd get bored with a sandrail fairly quick.

Dirt bike's, lets see, they do everything pretty good and you can still play in the sand with it if that's your thing. All the 450's are good bikes, but if you want a really good "dunes" bike, look at getting a used CR500 or one of the Service Honda 500's, they just rip in the dunes.

All in all, these are just my opinions so they may or may not affect you in any way, but you asked, so I did my best to answer.

First u need to decide what u want, a dirt bike, a quad, or a street bike.

Seriously, stay away from the Street Bike! There are already too many Street Bike "casuallties". Unless you have a death wish or want to end up in a wheel chair, just say NO to the Street Bike!

Since your name is yz250 man, I say kick it with the Yami and go for the YZ450f, it is a great bike, one of the most reliable, but it does hi haaard in the bottom and mid, so that would be one fast bike if you want a bike that screams. The CRF450R is also a great bike, but personally I would keep away from used CRF's unless it has been fully rebuilt by a professional. Just make sure that it runs great, starts great, rides great, and shifts and clutches great.

Banshee's are way over-rated IMO. The porting design on those engines is like from 1976...no joke. A modern version of the banshee should make over 60Hp(which is way to much for a quad) but it makes 37. It has a hit, but a pokerface said, they handle pretty poorly. They can be made very fast and you can get all the aftermarket stuff to make it handle better, but its not worth putting over 10k in those quads.

Please stay away from the street bikes. I am only 15 (almost 16) and no i have not ever ridden one, but I have heard about how much people get into trouble with those things, never the less hurt! Unless all you plan on doing with it is cruise (yea right) dont get one.

Dune Buggy...hmmm could be fun for a few weeks, maybe...

Cool dilema!

Buggies are a pain in the a$$ and a real money pit.

Street bikes will make you an amputee!  Eeeek!  Cars do such a fine job of crushing body parts.

I have a YZ250, but I think having a 450 would really be cool too.  But how much would I ride it/both????

I am not a quad fan at all, BUT I think having one to let someone (female) else ride would be cool. 

Or, I imagine after the sun goes down, eating dinner, and then getting a bunch of quads out on a putt-putt for an hour, then come back to camp and sit by the fire and party.

Get the quad.

i have eliminated the streetbike, and sandrail. i rode a banshee, and it felt much much better than my friends 2006 trx450, i just went riding today, and man do i love the feel of a bike. i was hitting my friends freestyle ramp, and it just feels like if i had anything else it wouldnt be right. unfornately i twisted my right knee in a corner (i dont have an ACL in that knee) and it pretty much ended my riding for the day, but ill be out there in a week or so. what do you guys think of knee braces? i had a pair of asterisks and i wasnt too impressed, i couldnt pinch the bike at all, and everytime i'd corner i couldnt feel my knee against the radiator shroud. it felt really sketchy. okay back to the bikes lol.  im about 90% sure ill get another bike, thanks for your opinions  

Dude, You made my day when you said that you were not going with the street bike! I lost two of my riding buddies due to a street bike crash. They were brothers and the youngest one bought a new Harley (Dumb move!). He took his older brother out for a spin around the block. A lady ran the red light and killed both of them. What a waste! When I was in High School I worked for a cycle shop as an apprentice mechanic. I would test ride all of the bikes after they were repaired. I had so many close calls because people don't watch for motorcyclists. One day I kicked in this ladies door because she was changing lanes into me. That got her attention and she went back into her lane!

you should get a banshee 450 those ones are fun to ride on sand dunes, i used to have a 01 banshee 450 and i took it to this place called sand lake oregon and i jumped this HUGE sand dune and flew like crazy up in the air. u can have alot of fun with a Banshee 450

Banshee 450'??? hmmm

yea, a Banshee 450

is there a such thing? or are you really a crazy motoman? ive just never seen one.  

im a crazy man lol

Yea...its a banshee 350 man...not 450. Are you thinking of a yfz450? The banshee is two 175 2 stroke engines put together, which makes 350.

Yea i think you may be talking about the yfz450, the banshee is a 350 twin, boy do those things haul ass