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Posted 7/7/10:
A few months back I wanted to come up with a project to promote the
Powder Coating end of our business. I decided to rebuild and refurbish a
Bombardier DS650. The DS650 is such a unique ATV. In 2008 Can-Am decided
not to include the large 650 into their ATV line up so the 2007's were
the last ones you could buy. A perfect way to show how to make old look
new. My hunt started in May to find the right used DS to do our rebuild
on. If you have spent any time searching for a used ATV you know this is
not an easy task. I know this is a "Rebuild" project but we had to have
a decent platform to start. I quickly found out that there are plenty of
used DS's out there that have seen their better days. After a few weeks
of searching and a few not so confident test rides, we settled on a 2003
Baja addition owned by a friend of one of our local sponsored riders.
To make things even better the DS was delivered to me. I decided to buy
it after it arrived to me at a very reasonable price. This turned out to
give me a series headaches between getting it to run because of a
trashed battery and many other little gremlins. After replacing
the oem battery with a new YUASA I quickly realized it had other
problems. It appeared the previous owner installed a HMF exhaust system
and never took the time to install the proper jetting. It would start up
perfect but giving it anything other than quarter throttle resulted in
completely falling on its face. To remedy the fix, I installed a dynojet
kit changing the main jet as well as the needle and clip. The air screw
was also adjusted to specs. I also installed 2 new NGK plugs. This
brought the machine to life but things still weren't perfect. I knew the
DS has been sitting for 3 plus years so I removed the carburetor and
brought it to our local Honda dealer to have them boil and clean it. I
would highly recommend doing this to any bike that has been sitting for
any period of time. This process will make your carb better than new.
Below are some photos of what the DS looked like when it arrived to me.
As you can see, it was a nice start.
Now lets get to some powder coating. The first thing I noticed was the
AC nerf bars , bumper and grab bar were pretty scuffed up from a few
normal years of wear and tear. For the completed project I have decided
to convert the orange and black color scheme over to our company colors
of red, black and white. First I prepped the grab bar and bumper then
coated them in a super mirror black from Columbia Coatings. Then I
started on the nerf bars. I contacted AC Racing to order another set of
nets because the existing orange nets were shot and I also wanted to
change the colors. I decided to go with black because I wanted to still
be able to ride it with out looking to crazy with the existing colors.
AC also sent me another tab for mounting the nets because one was
missing. It was very easy to TIG weld in place. The rear fender brackets
were also refinished in super mirror black. Here are some photos of the
finished pieces.
After the powder coating updates I decided to replace the handlebars
with a set of Protaper contour bars. The oem bars were still in decent
shape but I like the feel of the new bars better. Up to this point there
hasn't been many updates but It was Memorial Day Weekend. I loaded up
our 4 seater Rhino and our new DS behind the motor home and the family
and I traveled about 200 miles south west to a place called smurfwood
trails located in Northeast Missouri. The DS performed very well and
made for a great weekend of riding.
After returning home I was
eager to continue the rebuild process. One of the steps to rebuilding is
not only refinishing warn out parts but also fixing or replacing broken
parts. One of the front Baja lights was broken when we bought the DS so
I looked up the part number on the internet and ordered up the
replacement light. I was also able to bring the Baja light casings back
to life by polishing them out with a simple SOS pad and some water.
Posted: 7/8/10
As previously stated, we are planning a trip to Silver Lake sand dunes
in Silver Lake Michigan. I have about a week and a half to put the DS
back together for the weekend ride. Our DS was accessorized with a
series of orange accents from the front radiator grill, front and rear
hubs, exhaust heat shield, side engine accents, to the gear and brake
levers. Although this didn't look that bad when the quad was orange, it
had to be changed to compliment our new colors. Below are some before
and after photos.
To remove the orange accents
on the side of the motor I matched the grey engine paint and used a foam
brush to gently go over the pieces blending it back to the original
color. As for the heat shield, radiator cover, and all hubs, I used a
super mirror red powder coat from Columbia Coatings which perfectly
matches the oem viper red plastic.
Posted: 7/9/10
Since we have our OMF bead locks, I
wanted to do something cool with the oem wheels. I decided to do a 2
stage powder coat of super mirror black & super mirror red on them. I
started with the red shooting the outside rings. After cooling I masked
the rings with high temp tape then shot the remainder of the wheels with
the black. Here is a photo of them installed on our paddle tires along
with our new OMF's wrapped in a set of Kenda Kutter XCR's. Cant wait to
get them mounted up.
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Posted 7/10/10
The Durablue axle and OMF's with our
new Kutters were installed this afternoon. The oem axle along with our
new durablue came off and went on with out a glitch. I have to say the
DS has one of the easiest rear ends to work on. Special thanks to Jimmy
G for helping with the installation. Here are a couple photo's.
The beginning phases are really starting to come together.
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Posted 7/23/10
This past week, we adventured off to
Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Mears Mi. A perfect spot to test out our new
updates on our DS. Silver Lake is located 325 miles north thru Illinois
& Indiana and up the Michigan coast from us. To say things went smoothly and as
planned would be nothing less than a little white lie. Its always the
not so fortunate times in life that really make you appreciate the good
times. Thank God for the good times!! Our trip started out leaving a
couple hours late which was no big deal. We traveled along with our
friends whom also wanted to experience the dunes with us. About a 100 miles into
our trip the motor home suddenly wanted to pull me into the right ditch
and then we smelled something burning. I quickly phoned my buddy Paul and
told him we had to pull over. We pulled into a farm house with a turn
around drive about an eighth mile up the road. After stopping we realized
the passenger side front caliper had froze up against the disk. Our left
front wheel was completely locked up. I am a believer and I do believe
good things do happen to good people. As soon as we pulled into the
drive, the owner came out of his machine shed to lend us a hand. He
offered to let us pull our motor home into the shed and he gave us a
hand removing the front wheel and freeing up the caliper. All in all
this took about an hour out of our trip. Something that could of very
well cancelled our trip turned into a very grateful experience. I would
like to thank that man for lending us his tools and experience to
get us quickly back on the road. What a blessing!! Before heading to Silver Lake we had
planned to stop off in New Buffalo for a couple of days to hit the beach
with the kids. What a beautiful area. The beaches along the coast of
Michigan are gorgeous. My family thought they were looking at the ocean.
After hanging in New Buffalo for a couple days we continued north to
Silver Lake. We planned on riding the dunes on a Monday and Tuesday to
stay away from the weekend rush. Its now Monday afternoon and we are
getting all checked into our camp site and registering all our vehicles
and ATV's with the conservation. After this we had about 5 or 6 more
hours until the park closed so we decided to check things out and go for
a ride. I'm so glad we did. As soon as we took the ride to the guard
shack before entering the park I realized the DS as well as our Rhino was not
equipped with a proper approved spark arrestor. They will not allow you
into the park with out one. I'm also glad they didn't have the sound
decibel tester up because there is no way the HMF on the DS would have
passed. We also had to modify a front flag mounting
location for our Rhino. A couple trips to the local bike shop while the
family was patiently waiting in the motor home and we were good to go.
After going thru the guard shack we had about a half mile ride thru a
one lane sand rode that opened up into the park. As soon the park opened
up every pain and headache we had prior to this was all behind us. What
an incredible site. The dunes over looking the coast of Lake Michigan is
breathtaking. Now on to our ride. The DS performed as expected. I
quickly realized the machine was properly named (Dune Sport). The big
650 powered up every hill I could aim it at and the suspension was very
plush and controllable. Our new Durablue axle gave me a sure feeling
underneath and performed perfect. Not to mention looked great too! As
for rating Silver Lake Dunes as a great place to ride, I give it a 10
out 10. The dunes are laid out great with a directional section thru a
series of hills and sections of winding sand trails up and around trees.
The park is also well marked and very easy to figure out. Its just the
right size and no worries about getting lost. You can also park you
vehicles along the coast of Lake Michigan and go for a swim to cool off.
I will be uploading some helmet cam video riding the DS in the dunes
very soon. Please stay tuned for the video and to see up coming changes
and places we take our DS. Thank you!! Drew
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Posted 8/18/10
Our Latest upgrade was the installation of a
new Durablue foam air filter and a Big Gun CDI box. The CDI box was a
great add on because every DS owner knows you hit the rev limiter way to
quickly. The Big Gun Rev box allows an additional 700 RPM's and has a
slightly different curve to it. A definite must have! The new durablue
foam filter is another must have. The quality and installation was top
notch. In the mid west a foam filter is my filter of choice. It better
shields the environment we throw at it. I give both products a 10 out of
10.
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