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View Full Version : DS450 Wood Trail Riding impression and review



xk47
05-06-2008, 06:00 PM
Hello all,

i'll do my best to review the DS450.

Trails : deep woods trails and rocky mountains.

Previous Rides :

-Suzuki LT250 84
-KLF300 93
-TRX300 4x4 88
-TRX350 4x4 87
-Foreman 450 FE 04
-400ex 05
-Can-Am Outlander Max XT 650 V-twin 08

There is many trails where I ride and the is no sandpit or else. It's very rocky, lots of bumps, muds and very technical places.

There is many uphill and downhill, great straights.

I drove my DS450 for about 3-4 hours and what I found is the lack(what all people says...) of bottom end makes the machine a more comfortable ride and very practical for slow riding. In rocky places or technical places I had a good smooth ride without being overwhelmed by tricking the clutch.

The chassis is awesome, handling a lot more precise than the 400ex. The grip is well balance and the acceleration is good to awesome (It depends how you choose to ride it).

The 2 stroke feels is definitly there, in bottom end is feel just like a smooth(not lacking feel) but when you pass 6000 rpm, you are just feel the power coming like a turbo charged vehicule. I'm not the kind of rider that jumps or do tricks and wheelies, I'm just a fast trail rider.

The starting in cold condition is very pleasant and easy. The Efi system is weird sounding at first when you're use to carburetors.

I didn't have the clutch problem even at cold weather.

The engine is very silent; the valve train is less noisy than 400ex.

The exhaust is the least noisy of all my previous rides. And people that don’t like noisy vehicle didn't complain about the sound. And by the way, if you do wood trails you just respect the nature while making a very aggressive riding.

Water, mud protection is very good and better then 400ex.

High speed stability is excellent; the suspension is awesome and very responsive.

Lighting for dark or late ride is kinda disappointing. I'm upgrading the light bulbs for the next weekend.

The braking is good and I like the adjustable brake lever.

The frame look not that strong when you look at it, but when you ride it this preconception goes away. This machine can take some serious abuse that's for sure.

There is some rattles that I noticed for the front end of the vehicle. This is coming from the tiny yellow reflectors that are riveted to the bumper, I'll upgrade this too. I had a weird sound coming for the chain and the dealer didn't adjust it. The chain adjustment is ultra easy and yet the best one I know.

Just loose the two nuts on the rear axle and put the screw driver is the sprocket hole and advance the atv for loosing the chain or backward for tighten.

I've been used to Bombardier (BRP) Products in the past, Skidoos and Seadoos... they are just as reliable has Japanese competitors but they need a little more attention to maintenance just like German cars.

This machine is definitly a head turner. I'll upgrade this post later with further time I'll spent at that beast.

Quad_Runner
05-10-2008, 06:36 AM
NIce review, keep us posted.