Hello guys. Scooped up an 06 DS650X today for 1800! Spent the day riding it any I loveeeee it!

I did have a couple questions. Unfortunately none of the stickies work for me?

My suspension is very stiff. Riding fast on a semi rocky dirt road it almost feels like I'm on a hard tail or something. Very rough ride. Also, it feels very... darty? Like.... I have to hold the bars very aggressively so I don't shoot off the side of the road. Any ways, any beginner tips on how I should try to set up my suspension would be greatly appreciated! Also I'm not familiar with the suspension. Haven't looked at the shocks they are all bagged.

Second question is about the throttle. My uncle has a 2000 ds650 and his throttle takes about 1/3 the pressure to push as mine. I'm trying to hold the **** with my palm lol. I was thinking about pulling apart the throttle body and snipping a couple coils off the spring that closes it? If thats a bad idea or any one has any better tips please let me know.

Thanks guys!

 

Hi the DS 650 X is a great machine, I owned one since new in 2005.

The suspention should not be stiff at all, Its desinged for 175- 200lb. Im 150 and it still works very smooth

So if yours is that bad there is probley to much spring preload or something binding, you can take off the dust protectors and back off the spring preload nuts. Also you can adjust the valving a bit with the adjusters on the rear shock.

As for the darting around feeling, your front end needs to be adjusted so you have zero toe in or max 1/4" toe in. The DS is a beast of a sport quad, so it could be that your joints are worn out, if so it is actully cheaper and a better value to replace the entire A-arm with upgraded Amercian star arms and tie rods kit. It is a really nice setup as it come in any color and also makes the machine just a bit wider so it is more stable.

Ya the throttle should be realy easy like mentioned on your uncles DS unit, You might wana get a new cable and take everything apart and grease it, there is also a nice throttle upgrade that can be done with the vacum activation....

Last off check your rear axle bearings they are a good tapered design on the DS-650 that can be regreased and adjusted, but if they have never been greased you will have to replace them as they are most likely toast.

Good luck

 

Thanks for the info DS! I did find that the front suspension was almost all the way preloaded... much softer ride but still darty after adjustment. I will have to check that toe then, thank you.

Also I made some progress with the throttle. Found out I have a Mikuni throttle on it.... which is I guess notorious for having a very heavy throttle. I did pull the cable and make sure it moved smooth and was routed well, also ran WD-40 down it, but still heavy as ****. So I did clipped a coil off but extended where I put the new 90* grab pont by about 1/3 of an inch which took a good bit off the throttle but still positivly closes the carb.

I will check out that rear bearing thanks!

One last thing I noticed... the engine seams a little noisy...

My DS sounds pretty much just like the motor in the video. Not noticeable once revs start going up, can really only tell it sounds a little noisy at idle. Is this normal for these?

Thanks!

 

Oh see your talking about a totally different quad, I was thinking you got a DS-650x sport quad.

 

Hey sorry haha, I do own a DS650X lol. I was just using the video as an example.

 

Haha I see,

The DS dose have a bit of noise at idle, but no matter what, it is well worth it to make sure the valves are adjusted correctly and the cam chain is properly adjusted.

The spark plugs on the DS are also very cheap, so replacing them is always a good idea

As for the throttle, ya it should have a easy to push thumb unit that say's Bombardier on the cap. You can try to remove the internal spring in the thumb unit you have.

The carb is vacuum assisted so it is important the rubber diaphragm is in good shape and all the lines are connected.

There is also easy modifiction to get a quicker throttle responce, involving drilling two small holes in the carb slide, but I would figure out the stiff throttle issue first.

We are running our DS with a Yoshimara Exhaust and Air filter, and it has never let us down once. The DS loves a clean air filter as it draws a lot of air for the big bore past a relatively small filter... We also changed the gearing a bit to a lower plus 2 teeth rear sprocket.

If you keep the filter clean, change the dual plugs and oil often it will be well worth it.

 

Welp, my valves were all jacked up. Zero gap on the intake valves.

As for the front end its a little better. I'm going to rig up a Chinese steering stabilizer and see how that helps.

How much slop is normal on the front tires? I can wiggle them justttt a little without the steering stem moving. Not sure if thats normal or not.