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View Full Version : My first Dune ride report



jawalt
04-28-2008, 12:59 PM
Just wanted to share my experience and issues I had with my DS450X on its first dune trip.

First 5 minutes were a little scary and I thought the weekend was going to be short. The Flag holder on the rear grab bar broke, though should have seen that coming since as soon as I put the flag on the flange started to bend and then it broke after the first massive acceleration. The weld was poorly done and they should probably look into redesigning it. Though with some tape and hose clamps things were ok again.

For the next hour or so I spent time drag racing with an 06 YFZ450, Jetted, intake exhaust and an 05 which was running 116 octane.

My mods for the DS include FMF Mega Bomb and 4.1 System, Velocity Intake, Lid off, and pink wire cut.

Out of the hole the YFZ would always get a little jump on me, maybe 1/2 quad though then DS would pull and definatly had a lot more top end. If we both had a perfect start the DS in the long run would win against the 06 by 2 or so lenghts... the 05 though with porting, high compression piston, stroker kit and other goodies would nudge the DS by around 2 or so quad lengths down the stretch. I could for some reason get him out of the hole most of the time.

We swapped rides and had around the same outcome and we all agreed the DS has a lot more top end then a similiarly modded YFZ and the lowend is a little weak, though i guess you could just rev more off the line...

Ride and overall comfort was definatly great and better then the other bikes, the whoops and jumps were a lot easier on the body with the DS then on the YFZ, I was a lot less worn out after a few hours riding then my friends. We swapped again and I defiantly couldnt wait to get back on my bike :-).

One other issue did arise and again thought the weekend was over. On the 2nd day the Clutch cable came off inside the clutch cover. I am sure it was user error since I did not adjust the cluth at all since purchase and there was a fair amount of play. It was an easy fix though, we turned the bike on its side, removed the cover, reattached the barrel of the cable and all was good.

I also lost one of the long bolts on the fender/light support, but maybe I did not put it back together tight enough when I had the plastics off to cut the wire.

Summary...

I am very happy with my purchase and so far minus the issues above I am very impressed with the bike and its handling out of the box.

ds450
04-28-2008, 06:38 PM
Im glad to hear that you are happy with your purchase. I own a ds450 and I love it. I live in New Jersey but my buddies and I took a trip to glamis California last month and I had the same problem with my flag flange so I had to buy a clamp for the flag. But the can am reps were out there and they said the next batch of ds450s have a dif grab bar with a stronger tab. I talked to them for a while since they were on their way to my work after that. The ds450 is def a fast bike and handles so well compared to the others.

Punk'd
04-28-2008, 10:50 PM
Sweet ride review. I know the feeling of riding your buddies bikes and then you cant wait to get back on your DS. I love mine I wouldn't ride anything else.

The only problems I have had are my rear brake pads wearing fast and the grab bar flag mount breaking off (prolly due to my insane riding skills) :blah: