this is copied and pasted from the Honda forum...

"That's right, in the April 2001 issue of ATV Sport the 400ex beat the Raptor, DS650, and Scrambler in a shootout of four-strokes. The riders were able to post consistently faster wooded track and mx track times on the Honda than any of the others. They said that even though the Honda was a little underpowered compared to the Raptor and DS650 it's superior handling characteristics more than made up for it. Just goes to prove all those extra cc's aren't helping in my neck of the woods where tight trails are the norm. In the flat out speed drags the winner was the DS650 at 68 mph followed closely by the Raptor at 67mph, then the 400ex at 60 mph, and the Scrambler at 58 mph. The 400 was 6-9 seconds faster in the woods laps than it's next closest the Raptor. On the mx track the Raptor closed considerably closer to a 2-3 second advantage for the 400ex.
I know it matters about the rider but they used the same two for all the machines and times. And
I don't care about who supposedly has more ads in
the mag or whatever else. I just thought you guys might like to know the outcome of this shootout. Oh yeah the DS650 won the best jumper award too."


Poor, Poor, Raptor... not the best at anything, and WAY over-priced for a "middle-of-the-road" quad.

By the way, how many off-road races has the DS650 won now, world-wide? I think it's up to 4 or 5...

 

Whats more important is whos mother runs faster in the quater mile, mine or yours?

 

What is with ATVsport saying that the DS650 sputters when you jump. I just got mine and there is still snow on the ground so I didn't get much time on it, is this true??!!

 

TWO WORDS

WHO CARES??????????

 

COOL!I think that so far ATV Sport has been reporting the best true facts about DS, out of the three mags out there.I dont like what the ATV Sport writers had sead about three wheelers.

 

In my 4 hours of riding, with plenty of jumping, my DS never sputtered or anything odd. It would jump like a dream, I didn't have any even slightly harsh landings. It jumps like a dream come true.

 

Sandmanblue, Are you one of those pre-mix junkies? If so I'll be kickin up roost when your busy changing spark plugs!!

 

Like the man said, "WHO CARES?"

 

WHO CARES,WHO CARES,WHO CARES,WHO CARES,WHO CARES,WHO CARES,WHO CARES ABOUT YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU........NOT US

IF YOU DON`T HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO SAY DON`T SAY F**K ALL

 

Looks like a lot of Yamaha riders in the Bombardier forum.