When Re-Do Banshee rebuilds or builds your Banshee engine, we want to make sure it runs great and is hassle-free for you. To help ensure you receive a quality engine rebuild, we do some of the work for you to test it, break it in, and check for problems. The engine is then ready to be installed.
Once the engine is installed in your Banshee, there are a few steps you should take to dial it in. Read on for all the steps to properly break in your engine.
NOTE: These steps are summarized. We may post videos or blog posts with more detailed information on some of these steps.
Shop Steps for Engine Break In
After Re-Do Banshee rebuilds your Banshee engine, we do the following to help break it in.
- Install the rebuilt engine in our shop’s test stand.
- Test stand is a Banshee frame minus the rear subsection. It includes a small tank for gas and a radiator, with hoses to connect to the engine. Also includes 2 throttle setups - TORS and TORS delete.
- Use water for coolant because it will only be used for a short time.
- Fill transmission with ATF Type F.
- Use fuel mixed with Klotz R-50 2-stroke oil at 32:1 ratio.
- Heat cycle the engine 3-4 times.
- Heat cycle means we start it and run it for 7-15 minutes, depending on how much we throttle it. We vary the RPMs. We let it cool down, then we repeat.
- We use a thermal gun to check for even and consistent temperature. This allows us to check for coolant circulation and even heat distribution.
- We watch for any coolant or oil leaks.
- We shift through the gears to make sure nothing is binding up.
- We verify the engine runs smoothly without any weird sounds or knocks.
- If we find anything that needs attention, we fix it before it leaves our shop.
Shipping
If we are shipping the engine to a customer, we drain all fluids from it, remove the spark plugs, put silicone plugs in the holes, and box it up. Engine is shipped with ATF type F, and the spark plugs that it was heat cycled with.
Carbs and Jetting
- Customer may have sent their own carbs, or may be buying an engine with carbs. If either of these are true, we tune the carbs to make the engine run in our shop. If a customer is getting their own engine rebuilt, we request the carbs are sent to us with the engine. We send the carbs to the customer jetted and adjusted to run well in our shop, but also with some extra jets.
- Customer may buy an engine without carbs. We send a note describing the carb settings and jetting we used when heat cycling the engine.
- The extra jets we provide will vary depending on our discussion with the customer about where they will be riding and riding style.
After the customer installs the engine in their Banshee, customer needs to verify the jetting works with their exhaust setup and elevation and adjust it as necessary. We are available by phone for advice as needed to help the customer dial in the jetting.
Plug Chop
Plug chop verifies the jetting. To summarize this process: Warm the engine up. Drive to a flat area. Install a new set of spark plugs. Do a full throttle pull 1st - 5th gears, similar to drag racing. When in 5th gear at full throttle, pull the clutch in, turn the engine off, and come to a full stop. Swap back to the original spark plugs. Take the full pull spark plugs and use a grinder to chop the threaded part off exposing the inner ceramic. The brown rings on the ceramic tell you how to adjust the jetting.
Once the engine is correctly jetted, the customer can go on a ride. The piston rings will be seated within the first full tank of gas.
Shifting Gears
Re-Do has tested the shifting in our shop to check for binding. Now that the engine is installed in the customer's Banshee, the customer should verify the engine shifts smoothly while under load.
After an engine has made it through these steps, it should be ready to ride as desired.
Now, go out and RIDE!!