Trx vs Can Am Ds450

[TJ Bradley]

Lets hear what yall have to say about the Ds450x mx, which is the Full Mx factory bike, which comes Full long travel, 50" wide and all that. How does it stack up to a fully built honda.?
I have always had hondas and love them but i have an opportunity to trade my Rc51 streetbike for a 2009 Can Am Ds450x mx. Trying to figure out if i want to try out the can am or just trade it for another Sweet Trx.

[Trailie400]

my reply to this thread

ds450 review (http://www.trx450r.org/forum/92-lounge/176316-can-am-ds-450-a.html)



this is all personal preference.

Went down to a well known track in ohio and I'll give you a ride review.

What I have is a houser/fox/motowoz honda with mild engine mods. Port, cam, 12 to 1 CP. Filter and Sparks.
Rode on the track with my bike for a while and a gentleman asked me to help him tune his suspension on his Ds 450. He has the same X package with the mx arms and the whole 9 yards. I agreed and enjoyed about an hour and a half on the bike tuning his shocks.

Bike was super plush, but felt tall, but managable in the corners, remind you though that I like my bikes to sit low. But the seating and ergo's felt great in the corners. I'm 6 foot 2 so take that in to consideration. Acceleration seemed pretty good with some good pull out of the corners, but it seemed like the throttle was almost delayed compared to my R. Like the power wasn't on tap, but if you kept your revs up it would pull. Overall liked how the bike felt after a while, got comfortable and started throwin it around. Really neutral in the air, my honda is a little nose high sometimes.


Biggest complaint, throttle response. Just seemed to lack it. Also seemed tall, but was comfy to get down on to make magic in the corners.

Went back to my honda, deciding I'll never make that trade.


DS owner rode my honda, agreed about the snappy power and how it sits. He said he would trade me a 10' DS for my honda, an 04.

Final story. Liked the DS, just not snappy and a little too high for me. Combine the two and thats the main complaints. Comfy, yes, fun to ride yes. Would I wanna race MX on the X package, noo.

Hope that helps...

[TJ Bradley]

Thanks man, one of the biggest things ive found so far is that the can ams are just not reliable and still trying to work the bugs out of theyre design. I've got some decision making to do.

[airmobile101]

Originally posted by TJ Bradley
Lets hear what yall have to say about the Ds450x mx, which is the Full Mx factory bike, which comes Full long travel, 50" wide and all that. How does it stack up to a fully built honda.?
I have always had hondas and love them but i have an opportunity to trade my Rc51 streetbike for a 2009 Can Am Ds450x mx. Trying to figure out if i want to try out the can am or just trade it for another Sweet Trx.
Your going about this all wrong. What you should be asking is,"How much money is it gonna take to keep this POS running to finish a race???":D Granted, you said MX, but I can tell you straight forward those Canned Ham's are just that. CANNED HAM'S! You can preach all day how Natalie and Wienen race them.Still junk when its all said and done. IMO:devil:

[curryd]

Sounds a little harsh. Definitely a built anything, will be better than a stock machine. Even if its a mx version. Can't get what you want out of a mass produced machine, even if youset it up to your best taste. Nothing beats custom built, especially Honda.

[DEVINF450R]

Originally posted by curryd
Sounds a little harsh. Definitely a built anything, will be better than a stock machine. Even if its a mx version. Can't get what you want out of a mass produced machine, even if youset it up to your best taste. Nothing beats custom built, especially Honda.

VERY well said. I have rode a fully built DS450 and it was pretty sweet. I loved my LTR i had and my KFX, but none had the motor or reliability the honda has. You can mildly build a Honda and it will out perform most full built bikes and be 10x's more reliable. I will say that Hondas w/ air shocks tend to have a tad too much roll for me... im having the crossovers changed in my Axis Pro-Airs so lets hope it curbs that tendency

[curryd]

The biggest thing against Can Am is the fact that they are a "new" company. There are too many die hard brand loyal people. This is including me. I have rode Honda atvs for most of my life. I have had a Yamaha Blaster, and a Suzuki LT 500r but I always went back to the Honda. I still love my 86 250r. The 450r is better in the tight woods more though, so I tend to ride it more than the 250r. But, I would never give up the 250 completely.

[TJ Bradley]

Stickin with HONDA guys. Thanks for the input. RIDE RED :D

[rollie]

a ds 450mx model doesnt have a chance against a fully built honda, but its apples to oranges, that being said i love my honda and dont think i would trade. There are alot of DS450mx's up here and there very nice bikes, what you get from the factory in the way of shocks and stuff is awesome!, and they have(or had?) contingency! Don't listen to the guys telling you there POS's and always break, they have them figured out good and with the right maintenance there just as reliable as anything else, what scares me about them mostly is all the electrical. my walsh PEP honda has beating stock ds450mx, and they have beaten me before, there both great bikes if you want the latest design and want to be different get a can am! if you want to play it safe get a honda!!

thats my take on it :cool:

[DEVINF450R]

my buddies race ECU went bad, $1100 for a new ECU from the factory :eek2:

but if you race nationals and think you can finish on the podium in your class then I would def consider a can am..... they pumped out some serious contengency money this year

[curryd]

$1100 for a ECU? Thats crazy. Thats a 1/6th of the price of buying a new machine completely. Ski Doo, owner of BRP, has always been on the higher end of pricing for parts for their sleds. Seems they are continuing the trend in atvs as well.