I'm going Sunday to look at (and probably buy) a 2003 DS650. The owner says that it has seen very little use and the pictures show it to look great.

Is there anything I should be on the lookout for? Any problem areas with 2003's to be concerned with?

This is not my first quad by any means, but is my first Can-Am and my first Rotax.
As always, your help is appreciated!

 

You cannot go wrong with it. Let us know what mods, if any, that it has. I have two 03's and prefer them over the other three that I've had that were different model years.

 

The 03's are a good solid bike, Just check the usual stuff like the color of the oil and tire wear and such. As long as it doesn't look all used up then it should be good.

 

Good to hear that the 2003's are well sorted out!

It comes with brand new rear tires on polished rims (Fronts are original) as well as the original rears (Unmounted, Show some wear - maybe 75% or so tread left).

There aren't any mods - it is very stock. It does come with a 3rd set of rear tires (mounted on the original rear rims) with 270 Woody's Ice spikes in them. The owner claims roughly 10 tanks of use since new. Like I said, the pictures seem to correlate with that - It looks cleaner than most.

I just want to be prepared as it is a 60 mile drive for me - each way.

 

Sounds like a good buy.

 

Ditto, good buy, but what is the asking price of it?

 

dude you cant go wrong with a ds....They are damn near bullet proof. But be careful, once you go cadillac, its hard to go back.

 

Actually we've almost settled on a price (Because we are going to meet on Sunday - The current owner is a couple hours away) and it is indeed a very good one (For me at least). Put it this way, I've always wanted a DS 650 - ever since I saw one in person back in 2000 or 2001 doing doughnuts on pavement with extreme ease. The problem was always the high cost or a really beaten machine - neither of which are of interest to me. This one is both nice AND really well priced. I'll report back on Monday with the final number.

 

the 03 is the year before all the changes, but it got the fan mounted on the rubber mounts to prolong fan life. the sprocket star was made of aluminum, much lighter. the thing to check on a ds oiling system (other than level of oil) is the screen in the black oil tank. if it only has ten hours on it, not to worry. but if the front tires are worn 25 percent, probably more than 10 hours. if it has kenda tires those were not good for the ds to start with.

 

I said 10 tanks of fuel (Not 10 hours) - my guess is maybe 20-35 hours. Tomorrow is the big day! Thanks for the help and advice!