Best Carb for Yamaha Banshee: Stock & Modded Setups

I wish we could’ve gotten a few more years out of the Yamaha Banshee. The good ol’ YFZ350 halted its US production in 2006, yet the little monster persisted until 2012 in its birth country Japan.

Personally, I think it’s the coolest name Yamaha has given to its ATV line-up.

What’s not cool is having a carb throw a tantrum and stop working. If that’s your case, here’s what I consider the best Banshee carbs.
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• For stock carbs: Mikunis are a pain to find. This 28mm carburetor from Niche Industries is a respectable OEM replacement. Manual choke, main and pilot jet properly set up, all that jazz.
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• For stock/light mods: If you want more leeway on your Banshee, 30mm is cozy. This Nibbi PE30 is the leader in higher-quality knock-offs. Durable, flows great, and has jetting parts included in the kit.
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• For power users: Slapping mods calls for a 32mm+ setup. This Keihin PWK35mm Air Striker should accommodate heavier mods. The heat-resistant aluminum body helps out with extreme ATV action too.

Since 30mm has been pretty popular in the Banshee community, there are some alternatives to the Nibbi.

I know some of you are nostalgic about the OKOs (despite the divided opinions on them). If you prefer an OKO 30mm variation, this one’s not half-bad:

With these recommendations in mind, let’s talk a bit about the difficult situation with exact OEM replacements. While we’re at it, let’s also discuss the ever-relevant topic of Yamaha Banshee carb sizes.

Alright, so the stock carb plugged into Banshees of any year is a Mikuni 26mm. This is similar to the Blaster 200 which had the same size and manufacturer.

This leads to many people looking at the most common 26mm Mikuni and thinking it plugs right into a YFZ350. My friend who lends me his Banshee over the weekend did the same initially.

If you’re wondering, I’m talking about this Mikuni VM26-606. While it sounds good on paper, it isn’t.

The issue lies with the needle jet size and inner design/diameter. You’d need to play carb-carpenter to make things fit, and even then it isn’t guaranteed.

There’s a reason why I mainly recommend knock-off Banshee carbs. Finding a genuine Mikuni that fits is a pain in the ass and costs more than a pretty penny both online and offline.

Speaking of my friend’s Banshee, it’s been running the Nibbi carbs (check reviews) for 4 years with no issues. Here’s the hungry beast in its rear glory:

Where carbs are involved, there are also heated discussions on carburetor sizes. The Yamaha Banshee isn’t an exception.

Look, you don’t need to be too flashy. A big carb on a lighter 350 setup means you’ll mess up not only your fuel economy – your throttle response will also suck.

If you’re strictly stock, anywhere from 26-28mm. Most 28mm carbs should fit right in the stock boots.

If you want to leave yourself a door to light mods despite running a stock Banshee now, go for a 30mm carb. Both PWK or OKO varieties are alright, and 30mm will be a safeguard for future tinkering on your ATV.

Mods are a wide topic. You can do well with 32mm or you might need to go all the way up to 36mm+ on monstrous setups. Some people like to slap stuff on their Yamaha Banshee.

This includes but is in no way limited to mods such as:

• Big bore
• Boost bottle
• Cool heads
• Modded exhausts/pipes
• Stroker crank

Dune riders or adventurers leaning towards ATV extremity will need bigger carbs, and the slope is extremely slippery when you start tinkering with mods.

Additionally, some people prefer running a single bigger carb compared to the stock-styled 2-carb setup.

Alright, so the majority of Banshee enthusiasts run their YFZ350 on the stock (and recommended) dual-carb setup. This means you need to remember something when changing your carbs out:

Yes, I’m talking about checking whether they’re synced properly.

A bad sync equals worse performance, subpar throttle response, and a rougher ride than you’d want to see.

The Rocky Mountain guys have a great video guide on this. Other community-based tutorials also exist, but this one’s got good, clear camera work to help you through.

So, yeah, that would be my general recommendations re: the best carburetors for Yamaha Banshee. It kinda sucks that it’s so hard to find genuine Mikuni carbs that fit the YFZ350 as they should.

Luckily, among the knock-off brands, there are several options that aren’t cheap junk.

As I pointed out, keep in mind your Banshee needs too. Don’t go overboard and clutter your setup with too huge of a carb that will choke your ride.

You know, 2006 is a funny year for Yamaha. The Banshee stopped being made and sold in the US, while Yamaha sunset all of its Blasters worldwide.

At the same time, 2006 also gave birth to the more powerful Raptor 700.

I sometimes wonder what made this year so special for the company. Guess we’ll never know.

In any case, good luck with your carb adventures! Let me know what you decided to run on your YFZ350 – and how the whole process went.