the people who think that ds650's are to wide for trails can't ride. if I can fit I'm faster then you! as for mud its not the weight its the placement of the bumpers and the mud sucking the tires in. I weight 160 and I have no problem lifting it.

 

Yeah i just bought a 2004 DS 650 Baja and i love it, it has way more bottom end torque than my 250R and i only have one thing that i would do to make it a better trail rider and that it change the sprockets to make it slower it has a fairly high first gear for just putting around corners but i seem to be able to trail ride it with ease. I also race the Local motocross races with it and i am doing fairly well considering i am competing with quads with thousands of upgrades. I have also found that there is a certain pride of owning the fastest quad around, i haven't been beet yet in a straight line, i have raced many 400 EX's some were modified and some weren't and a raptor 660, a preditor 500, a suzuki 400, and the new Kawi 400, and a Cannondale 440, and a Kawi V-force 700, i have also raced my 250R against it and the closest race yet was from the 250R.

 

You know, people always say the DS is too wide to trail ride. But on the other hand the people that buy the smaller narrower quads 99% of the people get wider a arms or deep dish rims or spacers or whatever to widen it. I honestly don't know what people are complaining about, may be because they dont have a reason to spend more money on aftermarket a arms and shocks?? I love my DS for trail riding and wouldn't trade it for nothing!!

 

I wouldnt get the DS for trails because its heavy and doesnt have reverse, now if i were you i would get the V-Force or a raptor. Both are really nice trail quads and have reverse which you will need. It may have not have seemed as bad not having the reverse on your 400ex but it didnt weight in at 500+ pounds either.

 

If i were you i would just fix up your 400ex with a performance exhaust and what ever you might feel would be neccesary for where you ride. A ds is just too heavy to not have reverse as a trail quad. I think you should just stick with your 400ex or eventually get a raptor for tight trails. If they are real tight, a vforce would have trouble getting in and out of them, but they do have reverse so you need to test ride them all before you think of getting one of them.