Well I figured I'd provide a little personal update on my daughters DS 70 since there doesn't seem to be a whole lot on these machines. She has had it about a month now and while I still feel it is underpowered it seems to be a pretty reliable liittle machine. It starts and idles easily even when the weather is about 20 degrees and once warmed up it runs pretty flawlessly. When the weather is really cold towards 0 degrees it takes a little more to get it going but once running, it is fine. A battery tender is all this would probably need between weekend rides when the weather is really cold (Wisconsin). It's a good little machine on snow but can get stuck pretty quick if it's not on hardpack. This spring I'll probably disconnect the gray wire that everyone has said limits the power this has and see if removing the spark arrestor does anything worth while. I'm tempted to take it up to the dealer and tell them to replace the throttle cable with a ds 90 but if that would wind up costing a couple of hundred bucks then forget it...and I'm not about to start dismantling a machine myself so I guess she'll have to live with it. I do notice this little 70 does go up hills pretty good but we haven't been on anything really steep yet. Top speed is definitley 15mph and thats probably with a tail wind. Aside from all that it's good machine but a little more power is needed. Hopefully this spring that will happen. If anyone else has any feedback on a ds 70 I'd be happy hear it.

Jon