You ever look at a picture and are able to smell it? I know, it’s about as intelligent of a phrase as they get, but you know what I’m getting after. The sound of the red ball that most people remember clearly from dodgeball games, the sizzle of bacon in the pan…you just need to see one still frame of a moment and it all comes back to you. That picture does it for me. I can sense the warmth well enough, I know the gritty feel of sand well enough, and if you don’t know the two-stroke wail of a Yamaha Banshee that’s built to kill, I suggest adding an item to your bucket list. But it’s the smell that I’m picking up, that distinctive odor of mixed fuel. For years I ran two-stroke Yamahas…I know that smell well.

Many, many copies of Dirt Wheels with Banshees in the dunes floated around my house as a kid. They seemed to come straight from Yamaha with paddle tires affixed. I was warned by people that Yamaha’s raspy stroker wasn’t for the timid or faint of heart. I wanted to call bullshit on that so badly, especially after I made the jump from Honda “Big Red” three wheelers to a 400EX, but about six years ago, I rode my first Banshee. It broke the tires loose in second gear on pavement and went immediately into a fishtail I was not expecting. Fast, I expected. Behavior like a properly provoked V8 Pinto, I didn’t anticipate. Banshees are the real deal and a romp in the dunes sounds like an awesome way to spend the day.