I'll be honest with you, I havent come acrossed many ds 650's in Michigan. Even at the dunes at silver lake they are few and far between. I am sure that I've haven't seen a total of more than a half dozen, and one of them belongs to a friend of mine. I've never seen any run on asphalt, just dunes hill climbs, sand drags and back roads.

With that small of a base, its hard to draw conclusions but from what I've seen its way too close to call. The rider makes all the difference on 2 stock machines.

 

You havent come acrossed many ds 650's in Michigan, Why is that do you think?

 

Starting is no problem as long as you have a good battery.
Joe

 

Probably a couple of reasons, I specutale based upon my own ideas and info from others.

First off there arent as many bomb dealerships in MI as there are Yammi, Honda, Polaris and Zuki. I've seen a few dealerships that carry Bomb sleds or PWC that do not carry, or at least stock, the ds or the utes. The dealerships that carry bomb atvs that never have more than a handful of ds's in stock, vs a dozen or two of the more popular yamaha, and other atvs like the raptor, 400ex, yfz, z400 etc.

They also arent the most adept to the trail conditions here in michigan. They are a little wide for some of the tighter trails that you see in say Gladwin (M61). Their large size and lack of reverse seem to be a deterrent to many trail riders, and since thats the vast majority of Michigan riders you can see a trend. Over by silver lake or up by some of the other, more open riding areas they are more common, but still not a frequent site by any means. This is actually where you expect to see them, places like the dunes or the hill climb at Bull Gap in Mio.

They are great machines and I think that many average consumers dont have good information about them. I cant ever remember seeing a commercial for a DS 650 and the dealers dont seem to push them much when new customers come in. Its a shame, my friend has an HMF piped 04 Viper and loves it. He eats my cousin's piped 04 Raptor up on the flattrack and ice.

 

Thinks for the info I was looking at getting a 660R Raptor then i seen the DS 650 at a dealer my dad took me to now i want to get the DS650.lol im 6' and 285LB and it looks a alot more stable then the raptor for someone my size.

 

its THANKS ... not thinks

 

My father is around the same size, an inch or two shorter though, and he fits great on the rap. Another buddy of ours weight over 400 pounds before he had his gastric bypass surgery and he rode a stock 01 raptor before and again now after. But I agree that the ds is more friendly and stable to a bigger guy. My rap is about 5 inches wider than stock so just about anyone can ride it now.

The ds is a great bike, the only downfall I really see with it is the lack of reverse. I've tried pulling the raptor around in neutral many times and its a heavy girl, the ds weighs a little more and you dont have the option to make the bike back up on its own. Otherwise the width isnt a big issue. Like I said my bike is about 5 inches wider than stock and even though I'm tight on a lot of trails I havent clipped any trees hard or found places I couldnt go. The tires do rub the sidewalls on a tree now and then though.

 

The stock raptor width is 43.3in. and the stock DS is 48in. If you are 5 inches wider then your at 48.3in. lol Thats more then the DS.

 

2 and a half years for me [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Thats what I used to run in mine(87), it will make more power with the lower octane fuel.
Justin