engine swap suzushee 350cc
 

Hello all going to try this again. Figured I would share with you guys and gals my gz250 engine swap. This banshee motor puts out 48whp double the power of the stock motor. This may be the only gz250 with a engine swap on the web. This was a long process and time consuming but it has payed off with tons of power and fun for the city streets hear in florida. As you can see the gz is water cooled now for the banshee motor. Also the whole front frame had to be customized to fit banshee motor. Still have some gear tuning and tire size changing to do and wiring :biggrin: For the ones that don't know the banshee motor. Its a 2 stroke 2 cylinder 350cc 6 speed trans.


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Re: engine swap suzushee 350cc
 

Welcome....That's awesome.More pics please!!! ;) :)

Re: engine swap suzushee 350cc
 

Thanks.. I will be posting more pics once I get more time, also start up vids and test ride. I test drove it last week with the 2 into 1 exhaust it killed my top end a lot. So I am in the process of fabing dual exhaust for it. I also need to change the final drive it has a 13 front sprocket and stock rear. This setup propelled me to 65mph real fast lol but that was it toped out with a lot more room to go with gearing. I would be happy with 85 to 95mph top speed. The rd350 transmission inside the cases are geared more for street and there maxed out mph is 120mph I don't think I would feel safe at 120mph on a gz frame lol.

Re: engine swap suzushee 350cc
 

Here is a start up vid hope its not upside down :??:

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2...esphone207.jpg

Re: engine swap suzushee 350cc
 

She sounds nice & "strong. Lucky you got that exhaust fan running. ;) :)

Re: engine swap suzushee 350cc
 

Thanks again I just cant wait to ride it legally on the streets.

hey ive got a question since your messing around the motor. ive got a 1999 gz 250 myself and i bought it used with only 6000 miles and since ive rode it ive noticed that i seem to run thru all the gears quick and i can only top out at 50 maybe 55 and thats really pushing it to the limit and i dont understand whats going on with it. i thot maybe it needs a tune up or timing needs to be reset or valves need to be really cleaned and reset but i honnestly dont know and im getting fustrated trying to figure out whats going on and how to fix it. so could you or anybody elts give me some ideas on this, it would really help. thanks

Rebel, These bikes are small bikes that when going uphill or against the wind can top out around 55. If your looking for a little more power or top end you can search for threads on here relating to "power improvement" and "jetting". There is a ton a great information here and many of these kind of questions have been discussed in great detail. You might also look up "16T gear", I know that's another hotly debated modification discussed on the forum. If you have any questions that you don't see feel free to start a thread and we will all work to answer any questions you may have.

Suzushee-

Love what your doing here. I can't wait to see your pictures and hear how she rides and what issues you may run into. If things go well I might have to take a better look into this kind of project. Love my little 250 but a little more power would be nice.

Just like goose said check the jetting or maybe a exhaust system and a re jetting on the carb.

Thanks.. I actually already test drove it with the 2 into 1 exhaust and it killed my top end hp and overall peak hp by at least 10 to 15hp. it also had a top speed of 65mph but man did it get there fast. When I had this motor in my banshee with the pro circuit exhaust it was dual exspansion chambers and dual mufflers. I took 1 pro circuit pipe and ran a 2 into 1 pipe. My old jetting was 350 mains on both carbs when I went to test drive the bike it would not rev threw the rpms like it use to, it almost didn't even rev up because it was so rich, when I put 220 mains she had lots of low to mid power but lost everything up on the top end. So now im redoing the exhaust and trying to fit dual pipes and mufflers, but the bike drives nice and straight and feels real sturdy with the extra power.

Also it has the stock 41 in the back and 13 on the front. So I wanted to go with a 15 front 39 back with a 150 90 15 tire and see where the top speed is with this setup. But being that the banshee motor has short gearing inside the trans and now its only spinning 1 tire I guess this will just be trial and error lol.

Sounds like a fun project. Can't wait to see how it turns out when you get it all figured out.

You still in riding weather down there?

Yup its like 75 out during the day. Yea im hopin to be done with it around the beginning of next year. When I finish the dual exhaust I will post vids of it running down the street. But it will deff be a head turner when she is smoking at the light lol

I got the dual exhaust all finished up just have to load all the pics and vid. I also ordered the 16t front for the banshee motor. I wanted to know where you guys found that 39t rear sprocket im not having to much luck finding one. Also just an update the dual exhaust made the bike so much faster.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2...sphone1031.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2...sphone1032.jpg

Good to see the project is still ongoing. Sprockets can be likely found at RonAyers or Bike Bandit. If that fails then just Google "SunStar sprockets". SunStar makes most of the sprockets for Japanese bikes so they surely have one available.

Thanks a lot! I was checking with JT sprockets no luck there I will deff try SunStar and bike bandit.

Well no luck on the options listed. I would of thought it would be easy to find a 39t rear but guess not. I installed the 16t front sprocket today along with new chain. It feels awesome! I would love to try the 39t rear with a 140 tire. if anybody can find one send a link thanks alot

Sprocket Specialists has a listing for the GZ. Had to really reach back into the memory cells to find them.

ww, you beat me to the punch. I was just on their website and it said you could specify the tooth size upon checkout. I was just going to tell him I remembered reading about sprocket specialist in the forum.

Man you guys are great! I will give that a try later on today. I will be working on the wiring soon so I can keep my turn singnals, horn, brake lights, head and tail lights all functioning like it should on a gz250. I did some research and will have to float the ground on the banshee stator because it is AC power and needs to be DC power to charge the 12volt battery. Also wanted to thank you guys for staying posted on this little project I have going on.

Also I need some opinions on front forks and tire size. Right now the bike has stock size tires all the way around. when im making a right turn kinda leaning the right exspansion chamber is scraping the ground so I cant really lean in the right turn kinda same goes for the left turn. ? if I got bigger tires and lifted the back some it seems it would help out a lot but for the front all I can find is race tech fork springs and gold valve. does anybody have experience with the race tech setup? also do you think the gz will benefit from the race tech setup?

I won't be silly enough to say "don't lean". Offhand I can't think of a fix.
Hmm. Longer forks could help but there is a lot of variables to consider. Maybe just slide the forks down a wee bit in the triple tree. That and longer rear shocks could gain a little clearance.
Longer forks would be a solution if all went well. You would likely need different forks with different brake parts as well as a fork brace which I think would help with fork flex but mighty hard to find for the GZ fork diameter and spacing.
A long shot here but maybe...........just maybe a complete front fork assembly from an older dirt bike. Brakes, suspension, triple tree, wheel and all the goodies. The downside to this idea is finding a front end to fit the GZ.
Just throwing out ideas here.

Yea that is true the fork diameter on the gz250 are like pencils. I was looking at a gs500 front fork with rim and tire with brakes but the rake on the front would cause an issue I think lol not sure guess I would have to try. Also yea that's funny lol don't lean lol. I mean for now she is ok at the moment but something I will deff have to address later on in the future is the front end

Well moving kinda slow now but did some part ordering. Just ordered used front rotor and new pads and some heat wrap for the pipes. Then I have to order a new rear tire thinking about the 140/90/15 full bore usa tire, I like the tread design. Also I have the front fender tank and rear fender all off getting painted a base coat clear coat ppg gloss black. I went with a 2006 yfz350 engine harness that has a brake light/tail light, so now no battery or turn signals for a cleaner look. I also plan on having the frame powder coated gloss black as well. sorry for no pics but will have up shortly

When you say "no battery", how are you going to start the bike? :confused:

Kick kick.....ring a ding ding ding.

It is a kick start system that's factory on the banshee engine.

lol you got it warrior

Funny!

I look at the GZ250 and say "No kicker? How are you going to start the bike?"

(We call that feature the "Electric Leg".)

lol never heard that one before

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ey0423/010.jpg

I tried to paint frame with $5 rattle can did not like the outcome so off to powder coating she goes

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2...ey0423/011.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2...0423/016-1.jpg
you can see in this pic the orange peel and over spray from rattle can yuk lol

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2...0423/001-3.jpg

hopefully by next week I can send her out to powder coating.

Suddenly I really miss a garage for neat projects.

you CAN get good results with a rattlecan (I did my engine guard) All it needs is preparation, preparation, preparation.

Warrior I don't think I could live with out one. what happen to yours?

very true. I was reading on a site for vintage bikes and back then there was no powder coat for the frames and swinger. They used a epoxy primer with epoxy paint. I even heard at a vintage bike show they will deduct points for a powder coated frame. I have been getting powder quotes for the gz frame but its not cheap to do it right.

Had a nice well lighted and heated large double garage and home on 6.5 acres. Life's little speed bumps appeared and it all went away. Probably for the best though. A few years later I was retired and living in a much warmer climate. And totally debt free.
Dark underground parking will never be like a nice garage and I have named it the Bat Cave with good reason. After trying many methods of lighting providing light to work on bikes or the Ranger I settled on an LED light that clips to the beak of a baseball cap. Hands free and always pointing in the right direction.
The thing I miss most is having the tools all readily available in a garage and enough room to swing a cat or three. Apartment living isn't for everyone but I do like it in general. So far so good in this location after 8, almost 9 years and I can afford the rent.
With a portable table and tail gate of the truck I can usually keep tools sorted and never loose any. Still looking for another bike to tinker with. Was going to go see a GL 500 Silver Wing but I did not like the last email from the seller. A non answer to a question makes me suspicious and leary about something hidden.

Yea those bumps in the road suck the financial ones that is. I used to bring my bikes in threw the front door and had a spare bedroom which was my garage lol. Till the wife said no way Jose!! and 2 kids later lol

Funny you guys should mention it, I'm wrestling with making the same decision, stick where I am with a house (that I hate) or move somewhere that I would have to rent. I see the pros and cons of both but it seems like such a counter intuitive step to no longer even try to own a house.

I do worry about where to work on my bike and vehicles. I won't miss working on a house though.