RAIDERMIKE67,
Bombardier did make dirt bikes in the 80's under the CAN-AM name. Search under bombardier and CAN-AM in yahoo or google and you can read all about i>>>>>>>

Interesting, I wasn't aware of that. Entering a pretty well established dirt bike market in the 80's was probably similar to the ATV market of today although there is much more upside in the ATV market right now.

Another kind of obscure name in the dirt bike market is Husquvarna.....Steve McQueen drove one in one of the Baja races, supposed to be a pretty good dirtbike in their day but never seemed to gain the popularity of Kawi, Yama and HOnda.

 

husquvarna makes a killer chainsaw as well. they suffered from the same as BRP cost was high for the time but the machine was superior. most people live for the bottom line $$$ a buddy of mine owns a preditor, its getting faster now with abig bore, head,cams,pipe,cdi etc.. not much $ less than th ds but the reson he owns a polaris is "the DS is to big" comffy ride but to big.. all his $ for motor stil can't catch me. in all fairness i have had work done as well but it has cost much less $ to get the extra ponys. my wife rides my ds a bit, she is 5`11`` , the ds is a hand full for her but she can do it. maybe there is one in the future for her(back up for me). its obvious to me that the ds is a bench mark or a target for all others to compare, but in most cases it is the one out front. just my 2 cents

 

i dont see how people think only larger people should ride a ds. when i bought mine i was 16 and it was my first sports quad, and i was 6'3" 155, its easy to handle once u get used to the power

 

800cc twin would be way cool![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Why is the DS so underrated? It shouldn't be after today... Huge congrats to the DS crew that sent the 450's packing. HPR/Ondunes, way to go guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Okay.........here is my .02......My entire family which includes Myself, My Father, My Brother, Three Uncles and over 10 cousins were ALL HONDA guys!! My Dad and his brothers started out from motorcycles to all getting 1983 Honda Big Red Three Wheelers. From there one of the uncles got Hondas first year of four wheelers in 1986. It was a 250. Next came the 350 foreman and a 300 fourtrax. Next us younger guys started getting the speed going. It started with a 1984 200S, which wasn't a racer, but it was the fastest thing in our family, and it was mine. Then my cousins got a Honda 350X and a 200X, which ruled all. Then at age 15 the 350X became mine. There was a few 250R's in the mix as well.........both three and four wheelers. So then I joined the Marine Corps and brought my 350X with me. I rode every now and then on the beaches when I had time. After a while I sold it because I could never ride. Anyway a few years ago when I got out of the Marine Corps I wanted to get back into riding. I was riding my Dad's 300 fourtrax that is still running like a champ. I started doing research and Honda was not even in my top three. Everyone told me I was crazy and an idiot because I didn't want a Honda. I WANTED A BOMBARDIER DS650!!! Everyone said it was way too heavy for trails and way too wide. Well I'll just tell you this much..........every time the whole family rides together........everyone has something to ask about my DS650. You can tell nobody wants to admit it, but they know the DS whips there A$$E$ in every category!!

 

Nice story alba, I think it's the best one yet. =]

 

Some great comments on the DS here unfortunately it isn't the quad for everyone. I have a haunch BRP knows this and will have something new to offer for this summer. For me the perfect ATV would be a cross between the Raptor 700 and the DS......Reverse, lose about 50-60 lbs and reduce the overall size by about 10-15%.

 

something between a Raptor and the DS would be a waste of engineering.
When I started riding in the early 70's Honda introduced the 3 wheeler. Until then the Japanese auto industry was not very well liked by Americans. I was just a kid and heard it all. Jap cars are pieces of junk. Then the same grown-up would, in private, exclaim how easy to work on and simple-straight forward it was to take apart to fix. Or that they never had a problem ever. It was the pride of Americans toward USA that clouded the truth. A love for the 3 wheeler led to Yamaha making one. And everyone but someone who bought one, hated them. Go figure? So after a while people begin to see the truth in ingenuity the Japanese were producing and embraced it as quality. Am I wrong for saying a Lexus is far better quality than a GM? I know I am not the knower of all. Just an observation. My friends all think the Japanese machines are easier to work on and parts are more readily availible. I said "call me when you are finished working on your TRX so we can go riding!"
So here comes Bombardier Rec division, who has been around for a LONG time, and they make a DS. Hmmm... Dune Sport. It is the baddest, production ATV the public has ever been privy to. But it stopped there when it comes to sport models. Why, I'll never know. So they have been labled as too big for anything other than Dunes.
AND I remember the DS was way more than the YFZ or Honda. Now they are the same price. Who is making out???
People fear change and don't want to accept new and unproven. They like familiararity.

 

I have acually stopped reading ATV magazines for the mear act that they tend to pander to Honda suzuki yamaha and gnc racing which is not what the DS is about. It is an awesome dunner and a decent trail machine , it is also the most comfortable bike out there, it just gets no respect in the magazines.