Yeah its good to be home and yeah the healing is going good, riding is in the future, I have a torn acl to deal with but actually it was a option to go a year and see how limiting it is. And I didn't get anything as bad as many.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: AZSAND

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: DSNUT



<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: AZSAND







YES GREAT TO SEE YOU SANDMAN430 CALL ME SOMETIME IM EXCITED TOP SEE YOUR HOME.[/Q













Good Lord, Richard! Look at this sentence![IMG][/IMG] Get an education! [IMG][/IMG]</end quote></div>





Ive got your education hanging.[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0[/IMG] LOL.</end quote></div>


lmao [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: DuneMe

Hey Sandman!



. . . . . . .



On to the subject:



I'm amazed at how many of the 450's seem to have been quickly replaced with the Raptor 700's. I think people that jumped on the 450 craze are realizing how nice their big-bores were.



Conversions:

I agree, there will be a lot more that come out in the next few years but, as Marky has said, interests will change and people with them will sell out too. Prices will come down from the $15,000 for some of the recent Bomb-Busa's to a range 1/2 that price. Supply and demand. Especially as these conversions age and wear.



I was amazed at how many conversions there were at the Hill for DS Day's. . . Not the DS's (knew about them) but the Banshee's that had them too!



The other thing that suprised me was the lack of 2-strokes. Hardly any were racing up the hill.



The 450's are great for those that are VERY aggressive riders. I like a bit more suspension and like to not have to shift so much so, the big bore is better for my duning style. I have a feeling that more will feel that way over time and the big-bore will remain the bike for the dunes.



Time will tell.</end quote></div>

Mark,

I suppose time will tell regarding price. But we do have history to look at. Have prices come down with the custom Harley market? Nope - its gone up! Of course, quality has gone up as well as design. What we are seeing is that builders are separateing themselves by design features and quality.

Most of us didnt even know what a Harley custom was - other than some chrome, exhaust and funny handle bars! Now, you have all kinds of builders thanks to the Internet, TV and their satisfied customers.

I think we are at the cusp of something totally new. How much has the average performance owner spent on upgrade to their Quad? For the DS, I think we know that number is between $15,000 to $25,000 to get you to the 70hp threashold. These conversions quads are that ... for the entire machine! and they get you over 180hp ... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

Its crazy, man ... what were we thinking???? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Dang... I haven't been getting email notification...

Anyways... crap, there is no wonder this DS450 is a big yawn with you guys...
Crap, yall have turbos and big bores and all sorts of stuff.
I didn't realize until I looked at some of your pics...

I guess the 'bomb crowd' is really way different than anything I have seen.


And when you guys say "conversion quad" what do you mean?
Are you talking stuffing streetbike engines in quads or what?

 

You hit it right on the nose. Our DS brothers hold King of the Hill for the last 2 years running, and a few others have done some nice things in the stock bore and duner classes. We also have one of our builders who currently holds the 300' 4 stroke record at 3.91 Most of us are always looking for the next thing to make us even faster.

As for the conversion, you got it right. We have Gixxer 1000s and Busa 1300s and even a couple of busa turbo's. Thanks to Bud I even had the oppertunity to pilot one of his gixxers at the big hill. That is a sweet ride.

The guys around here take a bit to be a believer in something new. It has to go out, in the real world and prove it can hack it without major issues. Don't worry, once they are being sold everywhere, and we start seeing them and test them out a bit ourselves we will be talking about what we think it is, and even better, what we think can be done with it!!!!!

 

Conversion Quads or ATVs, some people call them hybrids (Ive only seen them described at that on one other forum) . It means taking any other engine from another application and putting it into a frame that it wasnt meant for. The DS frame seems the be the popular frame of choice - Because its beefy. I've seen some cool ones, like Busa engines in a the DS frame. But there are other decent choices, and Im not the guy to ask from a fabrication standpoint, why one works better than the other. I just know what I've ridden, and I know what makes me feel giddy all over again! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

[img]i/expressions/beer.gif[/img] I own a stock 700 raptor, and yes its quick, light and fuel injected but the ride will shake you to death. the yzf450 and yes I've rode one in our glamis camp and it rides a lot harser. I don't think the 700 guys are going to rush out and buy a 450. You can't beat the ez chair ride of the ds[img]i/expressions/sun.gif[/img]

 

Oh, OK... so I see where you guys have taken things...
You guys went for the big bore DS and it time started looking for the more extreme.

You all a probably into drags, sand drags, dunes, ect... no?

You have to forgive me as I have only ever rode with one DS guy and he has already blew it up and went to something else.


Myself, I've kinda started going the opposite way from you guys. I grew up trail riding the mountains and racing the 2 stroke screamers of the 80's and early 90's. Over time I lost interest in the sport somewhat when those went away. But I continued to just ride here and there for years. Then I blew out my back and spent several years unable to ride.

Then when I got back in the saddle it was on a YFZ450. I was quickly reminded of the old race quads and instantly thrilled. But over time I decided that it really wasn't set up very practical for all the types of trail riding I like to do. Tracks and open trails... GREAT... tight woods, not so great.

My thoughts are that when I buy another I will likely go down actually, or to a very practical 450 setup instead of up.
So I'm going in the opposite direction from you guys.
I'm headed more for something that is good for everything I do and very simplistic... low maintenance, etc...
Something fun as-is instead of modding something to overkill.

On the maintenance thing... I never had a single issue at all with the YFZ... but I never kept it all that long... and all the talk on the honda 450R maintenance had me concerned.

So what do you guys GUESS that the engine will be like on this new 450?
Do you guys think it will be high maintenance, requiring frequint valve adjustments, etc...
Or can you really not judge from your experience with the 650 engine?

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Big Ray 800

[img][/img] I own a stock 700 raptor, and yes its quick, light and fuel injected but the ride will shake you to death. the yzf450 and yes I've rode one in our glamis camp and it rides a lot harser. I don't think the 700 guys are going to rush out and buy a 450. You can't beat the ez chair ride of the ds[img][/img]</end quote></div>

Yes... that too was an issue for me too.
Handling great, ride harsh...

People say the 700 is far and away better... I dunno either way.

 

The rotax motor is tried and true. And I do believe that the frame would hold up just fine. Some of my questions come in with the shorter lightweight axle with the extensions to the tires. I have not been able to see one in person yet, and am just not sure about it. The front a-arms are a question mark for me also. Keep in mind that my concerns are from the stand point of liking the big jump and agressive riding and I am almost 300 lbs.

The other thing to keep in mind, is that no matter what a company does there are always some problems with first year models. It just seems to be the way it is. Even at that, I am tempted to pick one up myself at somepoint. I want something light and quick to play dune and jump the heck out of. And keep my DS and finish it up for the big hills and such.... Just my .02