I can't figureout why my DS650 handles differently than other DS650s I've ridden. There is something not right with the frontend/steering. I have excessive bumpsteer/steering stability problems. I am constantly fighting with the DS650 to keep it heading in a straight line down the trail. When a front tire hits a bump or dip, instead of the front suspension absorbing it, the tire will turn, jarring the handlebars and at times trys to send the DS650 off of the trail. Also, when riding in sandy whoops, when the frontend enters the crest of a whoop, the tires want to jacknife on me and dart the DS650 off at an angle. It seems like the frontend bangs into the whoops, jars the steering and makes the rearend bounce out of control.

Under acceleration on dirt, the steering seems unstable and I am fighting to keep the DS going in a straight line. On rough, bumpy, rutted dirt trails, if I let go of the handlebars, when the tires hit bumps or dips the handlebars will turn and the DS will drive off the trail. It is not even fun to ride the DS because of this - instead it is a constant struggle to keep the DS on the trail and thus I am always worrying about the bumps on the trail instead of just enjoying the ride.

Whenever I pop a wheelie, the DS feels out of control and unstable, will go off at an angle, when the fontend comes down the handlebars will jerk and sometimes my right hand will be knocked off the handlebars.

If I ride on a berm, as soon as I start up it, the DS becomes very unstabe with the steering starting to wobble.

When I jump the DS650, it is extremely picky about how the frontend hits the jump. The DS just seems unstable.

My DS650 is one of the first ones built. I have ridden a couple second production DS650s and noticed a big difference in the steering. I haven't been able to figure out why.

The suspension setup does have an affect on the steering but I have only been able to make it worse not better.

In sand, the frontend seems to have excessive plow and when you let off the throttle, the DS comes to a stop very quickly as if the front brakes were applied. Today I was riding on soft level sand in 2nd gear and let go of the handlebars and the DS felt like the front brakes were applied and my upperbody leaned forward as the DS same to a quick stop.

I have looked at the A-arms and everything looks fine to me. Part of the problem is the design of the DS650, but I know that something is different with my DS and I can't figure it out.

Selling the DS seems like the solution to all my problems.

 

I don't have any of these problems. How do you know if it is a first or second production model? Mine says 11/99 as the manuf. date as well, so if that is it, mine is a first run too.

Could it actually be something with the brakes?

 

11/99 was first production run.

I did have problems with brake squeal, and one side grabbing before the other when the DS was new. The dealer bled the brakes for me, but one tire seemed to drag more than the other when I jacked the DS up and spun the front tires. After the brakes were broken in, the squealing went away so I didn't worry about it anymore. Today when I jacked the DS up and spun the front tires they seemed about even in drag and spun more freely than when new, so I guess they are alright. However, I notice when I back the DS up the front brakes make a dry, grabby sounding, low frequency squeal.

I think I found the problem with the frontend. It turns out that the A-arms have a tendency to freeze up on me, even though I have lubed them on several occasions. Also, I removed the bolts on the A-arms and cleaned out some dirt that was clogging the joints. I noticed that each bolt was set to a different torque. I lubed everything up and tightened all the bolts. When I lowered the DS from the jack, I immediately noticed a difference in how the A-arms looked. I sat on the DS and the frontend seemed more plush. So I think it was the A-arms that were freezing up or not moving freely enough that was causing some of my handling problems. I will test the DS out on Saturday.

I notice that when I back the DS up by pushing on the handlebars from the front of the DS, and I start to make a turn, the handlebars have a tendency to jacknife as soon as I turn the handlebars just a little bit. I find this odd. I want to be able to limit the amount of rotation the handlebars can have to minimize the impact of a jacknife if it ever occurs, otherwise you could be thrown over the handlebars. If you turn the handlebars all the way in one direction and look at the front tires, they look out of wack to me - the tires are not parallel to one another. It just seems like there is too much rotation allowed with the steering.

Because of the geometry of the DS, the front tires move outwards significantly when the shocks compress. I wonder if this could be a factor in the handling?

 

hi scooby

your problems dont seem to end.

why dont you go back to the basics?
check if you quad is 100% straight.
put the bike on blocks and remove all the wheels.
check if the distance between left rear hub and the right front hub are the same as the right rear hub and the left front hub .
that is the most importent setup on any thing that has 4 wheels.

paul

 

I did check this a while back and it looked fine.

I forgot to mention that I also decreased the rear shock preload tonight. I think it was set to stiff causing the rearend to be to high, shifting weight to the frontend.

 

Have you thought about a steering dampner? I thought I saw one somewhere for the DS.

 

Scooby,

You said "If you turn the handlebars all the way in one direction and look at the front tires, they look out of wack to me - the tires are not parallel to one another." I have noticed the same thing on mine and thought that was probably how it was supposed to work. I am still tinkering with adjusting my front end to keep it from darting around when I hit the tire tracks in the sand. I may need to add the steering stabilizer. I need to do some adjusting on the rear suspension as well. Mine shows mfg. of 04/00

 

Toe out in turns, is the term used. It is inherent in all front ends because of the caster settings which are needed to ease the effort to steer. If caster were 0 on both sides there would be no "toe out in turns" and that is a bad thing.

 

I think Ang is right. What you need is to adjust your caster. You would have to go to an after market A-arm to do that. Stock DS650 arms have no adjustability.

 

SCOOBY, LIGHTEN UP FRONT END PRELOAD AND ADJUST THE TOE INWARD FOR BETTER FRONT END TRACKING.SORRY, THE DS HAS ALOT OF CASTER/CAMBER BUILT INTO IT FOR BETTER MANUVERABILITY ITS NOT THAT IT LOOKS FUNNY, IT WAS BUILT THAT WAY, ITS ACTULLY VERY GOOD. ALSO, IVE FOUND SAND TIRES IN THE FRONT ARE A MUST IN THE SAND ACCOUNT OF THE 650S FRONT END WEIGHT.