I'll answer as many of your Q's as possible:

1. As far as the 'smaller' oil filter - it is not a screw on, however if you buy the oil filter cover for a 2001 model (or newer) it will fit your 2000 and you can install the larger filter, case closed.

2. The fan on the 2000 & 2001s dies often due to lack of a rubber mount, many people just stop using a fan and add other items to make the fan less necessary. I'm going to make something to rubber mount a fan on my 2001 one of these days, it can't be THAT hard to do.

3. Get a skateboard wheel & 4 bearings, no more trouble with the chain roller on 2000 & 2001 DSs.

4. By now the stock tires on most of the 2000 & 2001s have been worn out & replaced, however if you find one that has stock tires you'll likely want to replace them with different ones.

5. A-Arms on 2000 & 2001 DSs you can get some aftermarket upper a-arms to cure some of the weird steering problems people say exist on the DS650. I can say I like the way my 2003 Baja handles over my 2001 however I'm not sure it is a 'huge' difference.

6. Bleeding the oil when changing the oil - behind the oil filter is a small screw that needs to be unscrewed then crank the engine over a few times when changing the oil to get a little extra oil out. This is only a concern on a 2000 model.

7. There is an extra hose added to some part of the oil system to alleviate the need to bleed the system during oil changes as well as prevent air pockets in the oil lines during a rollover. I am sure this could be added to a 2000 model if needed.

8. The engine and trans are nearly perfection in all years.

9. There are no major flaws in any year DS650.

That should be able all you need to know. Anything beyond that is probably getting into aftermarket parts & what is better (which is mostly opinion & bench racing.)

 

So the reason the fans fail is because they get rattled to death?

 

Pretty much. I have yet to hear of anyone with a 2002 or 2003 that has had a fan failure. 99% of the 2000 & 2001 owners have had multiple fan failures. my 2001 has gone through two fans, and I plan to make some sort of rubber mount setup before I buy the third one. (First replacement was under warranty.)

 

Couldn't you just buy the pieces off of the '02-'03 models?

Also, if you went to the oil cover/filter setup of the '01, you wouldn't have the bleeding problems would you?

Also, explain to me the chain roller problem. When you're talking about the roller, you're just talking about some kind of tensioner? And you actually rip a wheel of a skateboard or what?

Sorry for all the stupid-a$$ questions, just trying to get some info before buying. Thanks.

 

You can buy the pieces for the later models and put them on an earlier one. Most of the time it's cheaper and better if you get aftermarket stuff, or the "problem" isn't bad enough to bother fixing. My quad still has stock a-arms and it handles well enough that I'm not inclined to go buy new ones.

The oil filter/ housing for a later model year will swap to the '00 models, but I don't think it fixes the bleeder problem.

If you get a DS and the chainroller is gone, I've got a skateboard wheel and new bearings I can set you up with. You could just rip one off a skateboard but then you'd have to deal with the pi$$ed off skater that would come after you.
I used a used rollerblade wheel until the bearings came apart.

I was originally going to get an '00 model because of the used prices, but I found an affordable '01.

 

As BigBen said, you can buy all of the stuff from the later models.

The longer oil filter housing does not solve the oil bleeding problem as the 'problem' is the necessity of a hose being installed between point A and point B on the oil system which helps the flow a bit. (The whole bleeder/extra tube deal isn't something I know very well since I bought a 2001 and the problem had already been fixed.) I'm not entirely sure where the additional oil line runs, there are others on this forum who know the answer to that very well. The longer oil filter merely gives you an oil filter twice as large, which is a decidedly good thing.

The chain roller is a small wheel that sits just above the chain, near the countershaft (small) sprocket in front. (It should be about, 6 - 8 inches back and 2-4 inches up) basically when the suspension is compressed a lot the chain will roll against this chain roller and cause it to spin. For whatever reason, the chain roller supplied by Bombardier for 2000 & 2001 will literally discintigrate in a matter of seconds of it rolling. If you never compress the suspension that far it will never have a problem however at some point the suspension will likely be compressed that much.

As far as the skateboard wheel, it is almost exactly the same size as the chain roller, which is why myself and many other DS650 owners have used it as a substitute. On the ATV, the skateboard wheel with bearings would be mounted on a bolt.

No questions are stupid as long as you don't know the answer. It is good that you are here getting all of the information you need before making the purchase, a well informed buyer will be a happy buyer. Knowing more about a DS650 when you buy it means you'll be that much more likely to buy a well kept one and be more able to spot one that has been poorly kept.

 

Are there any particular spots on the frame that get bent or cracked more quickly than others if the bike has been jumped too hard? Just so I can look for this if I find one... Thanks.

 

Not that I am aware of. Check the areas where all the shocks mount, if it has been jumped & had bad landings that is where that kind of stress would show up. The benefit of these quads is how durable they are compared to others, there just isn't much to break without some serious speed & a crash involved. I'd stand the quad up & take a good look on the underside, that will give you an excellent insight on how it has been used. Lifting the ATV up is a pain, but it can be done by one person or easily with two. See if the owner has kept a log of hours for the machine - I do since all of the maintenance is scheduled by hours. Find out if the vavles have been adjusted - ever. (they are supposed to be adjusted at the 10 hour service though many dealers skip this step.) Check the mounts on the headlight for cracks, if it has been rolled this will be the first thing to crack. If the headlight looks newer than the rest of the quad that is also an indication. Suprisingly, even in a rollover most of the quad will stay relativly in tact. I can't think of anything else, perhaps someone in here has more experience buying a used DS, both of mine have been new so I'm just trying to think of anything I've heard other people say about buying used machines. You might also try doing a search of the forum for more info on that as well.

 

I thought I remembered reading somewhere that the 2000 DS had some problems shifting from 1-2, and some minor carburation problems. Were these pretty common or just on the first few off the line?

 

I've never heard of those problems.
If you don't shift hard enough from one to two you'll hit neutral...