i have an opposrtunity to get a ds650. can yall tell me something about them. it is a 2003 it has no reverse (i dont like that). i rode it and it has pretty good power i mean i have a raptor700 so im used to power. should i get it? is it reliable? can you get parts? hows the handling?

 

I have only had mine for a little time now, but I have had worked 400s, worked 450s and this DS is a beast, I will say that no reverse is a downfall, but its easy to make mid 50 to 60hp on these with stock bore. Ron Woods Racing and OMW Racing have parts for these quads in stock. Right now I am running a stage 1 Ron Woods kit with a 11.5:1 piston and have a 40 shot of nitrous on it, its not tuned yet for the nitrous so I cant tell you how it feels yet cause I dont wanna blow it up. I ride coal hills, open trails, rocky trails, and woods, and this thing is soft and still fun, if your a small guy its not an easy quad to throw around or move.

best luck.

 

They are extremely reliable! I had over 7500 miles on mine and not a bit of trouble! Yeah it didnt have reverse... but I could usually apply the brakes and wip it around if I got in a jamb with it. So if the price is right I would jump on it!

 

Very reliable and well built, (if not over built) quad. I'm very impressed with how strong the components are and the quality of most of the parts.

I had an accident with mine months ago where it flipped my off of the back of it going up a hill in 1st gear. The rotax has so much torque that it kept climbing the hill for another 8-10 feet, went up over a ledge, drove across a flat area and over a ledge, flew 8-10 feet through the air and nosedived into a boulder, flipped over backward and landed as you see in my sig pic. It bent the handlebars and steering stem as you would expect, and it bend one of the foot pegs. Of course, it mangled the front bumper, and I had to slightly tweak the bumper tabs on the frame, but the frame itself was fine. Luckily, I picked up a used bumper shipped for $20 and added some fresh paint.

I know that the DS is pig heavy, but I would rather have the strength than have to spend $$$ to replace parts in an accident. I'm a mechanical engineer, and when I look at the front end of a Raptor and think about what might have happened to it in the same accident, it is no comparison. On a Raptor, I believe it would have tweaked the frame enough to effect the steering geometry of the lower a-arms for sure, and it's doubtful that it would be repairable.

I'm also a big guy (6'6" and 225 lbs) so the smaller bikes just don't feel right to me. If I was younger and really wanted to tear up the trails, I might consider a Raptor 700, but for my age, the DS is a comfortable bike, that I can still throw around a little bit, and I still keep up with the motorcycles most of the time (except in the whoops)

by the way, I now have a $16 tethered kill switch I got off of feabay that I hook to myself every time I get the the bike now. I don't want to chase that thing through the desert if I ever come off it again.

 

If you're a big guy the can't be beat for performance, comfort and handling. I'm 6'2" 275lb and I don't have any trouble blowing a banshee away on the dunes. I love the way it handles on the trails, but there are a few places where I wish it wasn't quite so wide (close trees in places). As far as parts availabilty goes, I've been noticing some of the places that I used to get parts and find diagrams are no longer carying parts for the DS650, but there are still plenty of places out there that have parts and ebay is always an option. Reverse would have been a nice addition to them, along with a kick start backup, but they are already heavy enough, so I imagine that along with cost is the reason they left them off.

 

thanks guys i did buy it and sold it with ease a week or two later turning a great profit!!