hey guys, i am a midget, well close enough 5'4 135. i just love the ds. i think the problem with the shoot out is. well, who takes a sport atv to the dunes with knobbies? they should at least use practical setups for the conditions. i do.

 

From Dirt Wheels, talking about the DS650 "It seems to be designed more for big riders who want lots of brute hill-climbing horsepower. Our biggest test rider, Pro racer Nic Granlund (6'5", 225lbs.) actually voted the DS650 as his favorite overall machine". They say it like they're shocked, I've thought they must all be shorter folks for a long time, if your over 6' or 200lbs you'll love the DS, I'm 6'5" 220lbs and I'll never go back to those little machines, I still rember riding my first quad a Warrior and after getting a kick back thru the bars getting my thumb smashed between the bars and my knee never again

 

I ride 4-wheelers and snowmobiles more then I ride motorcycles-but I (try too)read all magazines that represent all 3 every month. Of those 3, it's a toss up between 2-wheelers and a few of the snowmachine magazines on who's is better overall. (Test rides, editorials, compairison's etc..) Almost every 4-wheeler magazine I have ever read, 95% of it is mindless dribble. Their shoot-outs are a joke, and most of the race coverage is also an embarrasing joke. For instance like one mag, a DS 650 won the Baja 2000 in December, it was not reported untill almost Febuary, because they were saying how great their own entry on a Raptor was gonna be. Even did a feature 3-4 page story with a cover. DS wins race, and gets 2 pictures and mabey 2 pages.
I'm not sure why I buy/read some of the magazines, probably morbid curiosty, like a car accident. Don't put much faith in anything they report, it'll only give you a headache. I think many of these writers/test riders are trying to hard to please a group of first time buyers or something, or just trying to write to/for people who can't tighten their own chain without looking at an owners manual.

 

Ridzhard,I would almost agree with you,except a 250R would have to be a "+2" chassis set-up to handle better than a stock DS.Sorry DS guys...just my opinion.....Yes I do have +2 way modded '86 250R.
There both great machines,I have the best of both worlds...4-stroke,2-stroke.

 

These mags are not going to slam the vary manufacturers that pay the most in advertising.

 

Well, I did go through my old dirt wheels mags and guess what I found? issue March 1990, project ultimate quad, a 604 Rotax powered quad with electric start, 12 inches of travel, 5 speed, 3.5 gallon fuel cap and a 1990 suggested retail price of $6500-$7000. They would like it to wheelie easier and noticed some bump steer. Sound familiar? 10 years later and the DS is nothing but an improvement on their own ultimate quad. I don't mean to belittle anyone's choice of bikes, each has it's good and bad points and each has a terrain it really shines on. I'm 6'3 235# and if the DS hadn't come out I would have bought an LT500 Quadzilla, another great bike that never got the credit it deserved. I also wouldn't expect a LT500 to be a narrow trail bike. I have to ask the raptor supporter in this thread, which Power Ranger turned into a quad, I would have guessed blue but now they make them in grey/black. In all seriousness now, the magazines hyped the Raptor as the fastest thing ever but I haven't seen that bear true. Guys on stock Raptors wouldn't line up with the boys on yellow each time we hit the dunes, when they did, I was surprised at how badly they got beat. I guess they knew who had been suckered by all the hype. My theory is they need to vent by coming to the Bombardier site and badmouthing the DS.

 

I like how the Raptor won most and lowest was second. And to top it all off, the Raptor won in the Desert (sand) shootout and the DS was 3rd! What's that all about, whos selecting these bozos! I think Dirt Wheels should select riders that aren't Team Yamaha Riders, Family, Friends nor Employees. People, people.......Come on now.......You really think that full back cover add really cost that much?

NUF SAID!