I spent last week on my first ever trip to Glamis (what a rush that was). My new 03 DS 650 ran well overall, but there were a few things that concerned me some:

1) From what I could tell, the cooling fan never once came on, but the red oil/air temperature light never came on either. The temperatures were mostly in the 70's, so it was not too hot. But I did ride it pretty hard. During normal dune rides at Glamis, does the fan generally kick on?

2) There were a couple of instances when I had a hard time getting the transmission into neutral. I would have to rock the wheels back and forth a few times, and it would finally click in. The worst case was when I was unloading the trailer after we got home. I had put it in gear along with locking the parking brake for the trip home. When it was time to unload, I could not get the thing into neutral at all (the motor was off, of course). After we got the bike unloaded, I started it up while it was in gear, and then it went into neutral after the motor was running. Does this sound normal?

3) At least once or twice, the transmission popped out of gear and into neutral. For example, I would climb a dune in second and then slip the clutch at the top just before going over the razorback. Then, all of a sudden I was in neutral with the motor revving out, which kind of freaks you out when it happens.

I am planning to take the bike to the dealer soon for the initial oil change and valve adjustment, and I am hoping that these are minor problems that can be dealt with then. Anyone had any problems similar to these? Any thoughts or advice would really be appreciated.

 

My cooling fan doesn't come on very often either. Only in extreme temp like above 90. My DS occasionally goes to neutral when shifting, Hate when it happens while climbing a big hill when every body watching. I usually stop get off and look at the motor and pretend like something mechanical broke. The getting into neutral is not a problem for me, but try adjusting the clutch cable a little tighter. GOOD LUCK

Rob

 

your second and third problem happens to me a lot !!! what's going on there??? i don't think its the clutch cable

 

What i noticed is the tranny is very sensitive, just barely touch my shifter and it went
to nuetral. Also before my first service i think my oil was wore out and caused it to
not want to go into gear,after my first service all was good. Dont know about the fan.

 

I was at glamis also (mlk weekend) and my fan only came on a couple of times. usually after some hard dune riding. I didn't do a whole lot of hill shooting though.
As for the tranny mine always harder to get into neutral when the engine is off vs. when its running. I don't recall mine ever just poping out of gear though. so that would definaltely be a issue to take up with the dealer under warranty. Be persistant though because they probably won't be able to duplicate it at the shop.

 

you can test the fan by removing the temp sensor leads and jumping across with a wire. mine would also jump into neutral when climbing dunes. I found that shifting down using the clutch was my problem. now I just down shift by letting off the throttle a little and I don't seem to have that problem anymore. I am sure most poeple all ready know this. I had to learn that the hard way by missing a gear in front of a croud.

 

my fan works all the time at slow or stoped speeds on my 02 and 03 baja

 

Don't worry about the valve adjustment they are suppose to be self adjusting as the tranny whew you got problems that little problem there can get you hurt, I would push the issue with the dealer to check it out and fix it.

 

huskerjim,

The DS650s valves are a shim type and don't auto-adjust. To adjust them they must be re-shimmed.

jusrlax,

The fan sounds OK, over MLK weekend at Glamis my fan only came on during slow riding.

The Trans thing sounds normal if the ATV is stopped, you just have to move the machine a little bit to get the gears to mesh.

The trans coming out of gear on a hill is not normal. If you were shifting from first to second and hit neutral, that is one thing, but if you were in 2nd, just going up the hill and it slipped into neutral that is something I'd want fixed. I've never used any clutch slipping techniques, so I dunno if that could be the cause.

Welcome to the DS family. You should try and make it to Dumont for president's day - you'll see all kinds of DS650s showing up that weekend!

 

popping from 2nd to neutral happens to many people.

One reason is your shifting fork might be bent.