Building my own little Can Am collection

[3TV]

I just bought this DS 450 today. It is for my son, but of course yours truly had to check it out, ... to make sure it was safe.



It is a 2008 that has about two hours of ride time on it. The owner had all five recalls done, and added a number of aftermarket upgrades, then parked it in his garage. It has the Can Am race spec clutch, Can Am race spec ECM, "X" handlebars, aftermarket front and rear bumper / six pack rack, aftermarket tires and wheels, upgraded DID gold chain, FMF Factory 4.1 exhaust, Power Commander for tuning the EFI. I bought it for $3500, so it was nice to let someone else take the hit on depreciation for a change.

I must say I am impressed at how good this EFI 450 cc engine runs. It is super crisp and quick responding, even though we rode at 10,800 feet elevation today. Suspension is very plush and well controlled, this thing flys great, and lands even better. Suspension is better than a stock YFZ 450. Handling is to die for, and beats any other ATV I've ever ridden. I would say handling is this ATVs best feature, and it is better than a Yamaha YFZ 450, Honda 450R, and Kawasaki KFX 450 in that regard. I think it will make a good quad for the kid, he had a great time (as we all did) today.

3TV

[Ven]

it looks great.. I've never been into the 2 wheelers.. But would one day love to try one.. who knows might change my mind lol

Great score

[Koko]

And I thought my $3500 quad was a good deal.

[dieselpowered]

The DS450 is a great quad, I think you made off with a fantastic deal, congrats!

If your kid ends up not liking it...I know someone who will take it off your hands

[3TV]

We just got back from four days riding on the Paiute Trail and Fremont Trail systems in Utah. We now know the DS 450 will go at least 68 miles on a tank of gas, which is enough to get the Renegade and Outlander down to the bottom bar on their fuel gauges, with the fuel light flashing on their dash panels. I think the DS 450 and Renegade and Outlander would all run out of gas at about the 75 mile mark.

The DS 450 did great on these mountain trails, even with the handicap the previous owner gave it (a three tooth smaller than stock rear sprocket). Only two problems, one of the rear wheels got bent by a high speed impact with a rock, and the OEM plastic swingarm skidplate didn't make it through the first day. Seriously, there were just a few shards of plastic hanging on, and the rest of the plastic skidplate was gone. We had to baby it somewhat with the rear disc and sprocket completely exposed to the rocks.

The DS 450 is awesome though, and my son loves it.

[dieselpowered]

Thats awesome...sorry, I just really want to do the Paiute Trail one of these days!

[Mack450]

Very nice 3TV! Although I highly doubt it beats a YFZ450R

[3TV]

Handling and suspension are better than the YFZ 450. Haven't ridden a YFZ 450R yet, although I'm sure Yamaha improved the YFZ considerably when they made the R model.

[GRIZZLYWIZARD]

I love the DS myself! When I test rode it I thought it handled superb in just about everything. I think the 450R has a slight edge over the DS450. However, countering the handling shortcomings is the DS450's suspension. I think aside from the KTM, the 405 has the best suspension out there in stock form. Since I ride more woods than track, I would have liked to see the DS450 have a bit more on the bottom end, I am sure this can be fixed with a fuel controller.

I really like the YFZ too and think both machines are perfect, but only in different scenarios. As mentioned for I like the woods, the Yamaha is a little too wide for me and it suffers a poor bottom end also.

Thanks for the pictures 3TV. Nice collection!

[Mack450]

The YFZ450R is insane and handles great. But they also run lean as fuck out of the box and puke oil out and over heat unless you add a pipe and fuel controller.

I guess I cant diss the DS because it doesnt do that! lol

Hell lets all just ride dirtbikes instead lol