Hello all!

I took my new(to me) 2000 DS out to Glamis this last weekend, what a great ride! My previous duner is a 2007 KFX 700, and the DS beats it hands down in stability, comfort(except for the small choppy stuff and the hand-numbing vibration). I was ridin bowls and climbing big-a$$ dunes with ease that would have just scared the bajeezus outa me on the KFX. I thought it would be more work changing gears all the time, but actually it makes the ride easier. I notice that the torque is great throughout the powerband(Thanks Vic for the carb and the help setting it up!!), so precise gear changing isn't an issue. The steering is very fast, but after you get used to it, then there aren't too many surprises.

The KFX seems unresponsive I suppose because you have to mash the throttle down all the time so the trans catches up to the speed and hill. It just doesn't have the instantaneous response that the DS does.

Now to be honest, the KFX is more civilized than the DS, in a large part because I did quite a bit of work on it, widening and lowering, drilling here and adjusting there. I have 22" sand stars on it, where the DS came with 20" 10-paddle Haulers. I will be replacing those soon. But the KFX does not vibrate your hands off the way the DS does, and for just tooling around or for someone who has never ridden before it would be a good choice. The KFX does wheelie a whole lot better and more predictably than the DS tho. The DS feels better in the air and does beat some fine folks up Old's, even if that one KFX 450 thought that cutting me off was the wise way to beat me up the hill. You gotta follow the gross-tonnage rules baby!

A couple questions for you seasoned sand riders. How do you care for your chain? I realize that chain lube probably wouldn't be the best choice for sand, so I hit it with some dry-lube before I went, but still it was makin some noise about half way through the first day. Would moving up to the TM 45 make a good choice when everything is working fine now? What problems/advantages would I gain?

Thanks!
John