These two arent even remotely comparable. A banshee is fast as heck, easy to mod and work on, and an all around good bike IMO
a 400ex is a relatively slow, good handling, reliable bike. Neither ride to well. One rides stiff because it handles good, the other cuz the suspension sucks.
crap i hate premature posts.....
the banshee will win in a drag race, take em to a track and watch the honda hand it to em.
better quality and better made goes to the ex.
I dunno. I have to work on a 400ex alot and I dont like it. All the little bolts snap before they are even snug, it stretches studs when you hop it up a bit, the stocker rocker faces cant handle much more cam, there are no grease fittings on it anywhere so it sqeaks alot, and the plastic snap thingies that hold the plastic on fall apart. What are the complaints on a banshee? the chain adjustment is difficult? 400ex will beat it on an MX track and maybe in tight woods but thats about it.
The only place i can see a banshee beating a 400ex is in a straight line or open dunes. The ex handles better, jumps better, is more reliable. The banshee is easy to work on, responds well to mods, is scary fast when mildly modded. Drag-Banshee TT-banshee, MX-ex, woods/trails-ex.
The 400ex puts out so much less power they really arent comparable for dunes or any other high speed application, the 400 handles better though, which is probably its main selling point, considering all its other faults, its outdated engine, outdated looks, lol, and a couple other minor things. banshees have a lot of faults too, which is why most people with em only ride dunes. they handle badly cause you can barely keep the front end down, and the suspension is too soft for jumps. its really all about what you want to do. if you want slower twisty trails, 400ex, if you want awesome power and superfast drags and hillclimbing ability, banshee.
as for quality, its another toss-up. banshee has been around for 17 years so yamaha has had every opportunity to tune it right and get rid of any engine bugs, but they havent focused much on the other aspects of the bike, such as the frame, or the suspension. the honda has better ergos (you feel more comfortable on it, it has a better instrument layout and the handlebar reach is good, etc.) which is a major honda trademark, but they havent focused much on extracting the available power from the engine.
400ex vs banshee
