One of the things we take the most pride in here at ATV Connection is our readers and how we’ve been able to be a tool in how they enjoy their ATV’s. In the past we’ve heard of a few occasions where people met here on our forums and then went on to host events and even start ATV clubs.

this quad looks like its all motor, that’s because it is. That’s an inline 4 cylinder 1300cc Haybusa motor strapped inside a Can AM (Bombardier) DS 650 frame.

Recently, we tagged along to one of these events out west, to the Little Sahara Sand Dunes in Utah to see how much fun a weekend in sand would be. Let’s just say we wish it would have been a little longer of a weekend…a week longer. Weather was a little warm over Labor Day weekend, but there were clear skies and a cool breeze to welcome you to the almost 700ft dune called, “Sand Mountain.”

This was the fifth annual “DS Days” the group of ATV Connection forum members held. It was their first time at the Utah location; the previous four were at Sand Mountain Nevada, near Fallon, Nevada. Almost 30 DS’s showed up for this years gathering, which is about half than last year, but with friends and family members it still made for a camping group of about 60 people or more, which was plenty to have a great time.

Over the 3-day weekend, a group of riders went out at least twice a day to ride the dunes. The groups ranged from five to 12 at a time. We went out a couple of times, just to see how fast they rode. Let’s just say it was plenty fast to keep us smiling and wanting more!

It wasn’t much of a surprise to see DS’s in many forms of modification at this event. In fact, we only saw one “stocker” in the whole bunch, or at least as stock as you’re going to get, it had a K&N air filter and a DG pipe. The next least modified was a Stage-one Ron Woods kit. What was the most modified you ask? Other than big bore kits, nitrous and turbo’s were the biggest additions to the already beefy 650cc Rotax motors. And there was that one Haybusa turbo motor that cranked out 300 ponies. That was a special treat to watch in the dunes.

When you have this much motor, you need to know how hot and how fast it’s running. These gauges let you know what is going on…and they look cool too.

 

We were so impresses with that Haybusa powered DS, we wanted to get a little more information on it. As it turns out, Gregg Underwood from Rio Linda, California who built this hot rod of a DS has built many big motor quads. It’s his fourth DS project that included a 1300cc Haybusa motor. The engine by itself puts out 185 horsepower and with the turbo kit from Mr. Turbo (.com) in Texas, it puts out 300 horses to the rear wheels.    it was common to see small groups of people gathered at the bottom of the main dune  to watch the hill racers. In the late afternoons, the crowd got to be a few hundred people at a time Underwood told us there is another guy who actually owns a Haybusa that puts out a lot more than his, but it breaks down too often, because the parts can’t hold up to the pressure of that much power. “The thing about my setup is, I can do dunning all day and then go race up big hills and still not break down. I’m not committed to just one kind of riding; I can have fun with trail riding in the sand or up the hills.”

The group of riders are already planning for next year’s event and would like to welcome any DS owners to attend. After spending a few days with them, it’s clear they care how fast you are, because it’s all about having fun. Believe it or not, they even let a banshee into their camp site! If you’re a fellow DS enthusiast, check out the threads under the Can Am header to see what is being said about next year’s event. Good riding.

this may be the most stock of those DS’s that showed up, but man look at those wheels. They are prototypes from OMF. Look for those same designs (12” rims) for the big bore quads and Rhinos.