When I walked into the indoor MX race in Akron Ohio this weekend I was suprised to see a Cannondale quad sitting there. A local dealer brought the quad and a Cannondale MX bike to gain some exposure and potential buyers.

I have been following the development of this quad from the beginning and now after seeing one in person it looks like the real deal. Fit and finish looks perfect and the design has a very practical look to it. I sat on the quad, jumped up and down on the pegs, pushed down on the front and rear suspension, lifted it up from both ends, crawled around to look underneath the plastic and basically looked like an idiot while looking this thing over. The ergonomics are absolutely perfect and I could not find one thing that looked poorly designed. The quad looks very Honda like and appears to have the same bolt pattern on the wheels. It even looks like it 400EX or 250R a-arms would be close to bolting right up. The only thing I found disappointing was that it looks the same width as a 400EX which means it will need a wider axle and a-arms to be competive in MX.

I am very happy with the performance of my 500RX quad, but the 350X motor is now 16 years old and the 250R frame is 13 years old. Parts are becoming harder to find and metal fatigue is taking its toll on the frame. I had about a dozen cracks to weld this winter when I stripped it down so I would love to have a new quad.

I have heard a lot of complaints that the Cannondale is too expensive but when I compare the price to a full race 400EX I was suprised how much cheaper this quad would be. Here are my numbers:
New 400EX - $5,000 Cannondale - $7,950
Motor - $2,000 Pipe and filter - $440
Chassis - $5,000 Chassis - $2,000
Total - $12,000 Total - $10,390

For the 400EX chassis I figured new handle bars, nerfs, bumper, grab bar, front and rear shocks, a-arms, swing-arm, axle, front and rear tires and rims, twist throttle, kill switch, steering stem, steering stabilizer, steel braided brake lines, and new sprockets. The Cannondale chassis will only need handle bars, nerf bars, tires and rims, twist throttle, kill switch, steering stabilizer, and I included a-arms and a wider axle. The motor will be competitive but I even included the cost of a pipe when I don't know if a pipe will add performance.

I am considering a shift from my normal conservative nature and being one of the first to buy one of these quads. I am concerned with reiliability, service, and parts availability but plan to visit a dealer this week to talk about these things. The dealer also offered a test ride and even offered a Raptor rider to bring his quad and they could conduct their own shootout!

Maybe I had better get my 500RX put back together so when the weather breaks I will have something to ride or I will end up with one of these on the first warm spring day! Let me know what you guys think.

 

Ok I see a problem already.....I am going to be getting a 440 kit from gt thunder and it will be $500 and then a custom pipe for $400. It will give me 42 hp and that only $900 not $2000. Also, $5000 for the chasis and everything. Be realistic...first of all you dont need a longer swing arm (and thats the most expensive part i think) unless you are dragging. There are also more. I would say it is more like this

5000 for the bike
0900 for the engine work
3500 maybe not even that much for the chasis stuff
----
$9400 and i think it would be better than a cannondale, not neccessarily faster, but overall a better jumper, and more reliable. But I dont know, still havnt even seen a cannondale.

 

derekhonda,

My prices are very realistic. How many full race national caliber 400EX's have you seen built for $9,400? How many national ATV races have you attended? You definately need a swingarm for two reasons - the stocker is too short and the stocker only lasts about one season of racing motocross or at least it did for the people I race with. Also a big bore kit alone with a pipe will not be competetive on the national level or even the local level against the 2-strokes. I have read all the dyno graphs at GT Thunder and he did the work on my motor. A 440 kit alone does not produce 42 HP without a cam and some porting.

But lets not argue and wait until we have some fact-based evidence when the Cannondale starts showing up at the tracks this spring and summer. I still have not made up my mind but may wait to buy one since I just spent another $3,000 on my RX.

 

I needed a new swingarm because I broke my stock cast aluminum one. Most of the people I know that have a 400ex that was the first thing they broke. We ride mainly MX and stadium. You might be alright if you don't ride very hard, but if you do your swingarm will break too.

 

I trashed my swingarm bolt last season yet no problems with the swingarm. What gives? Is it if you go farther than 60 feet or higher than 13 feet? I have never lined up against a race ready 250r, but I can run with a stock Banshee and a stock Raptor with a 416 kit, xr400 cam, factory highly modified exhaust, air box mods and porting I did myself. Grand total for my motor was a whopping $284 including jets. I got +2 a arms from JD for $445, Works fronts $500, Works rebuild rear $285, wheels and tires you need for both, as with the kill switch, nerfs, etc... but I think you are way out of line on the pricing. A 440 kit full blown is about $600, a pipe is about $400. A arms and axles and shocks are needed on both also, so it looks to me like the only debate is whether you can get the same power out of a 400ex or not. Everything else is the same.

 

Gotta have a subframe for the 400 too... They break real easy from what I've heard... add 700 more bucks to that hehe

 

Exactly hakmazter, I just checked gt thunder and guess what, a 440 kit (yes,...including cams and everything, even install is only $500, play porting is another $50, and a custom pipe (to out it up to the 42 hp) is another $400.
Thats $950
a-arms $500
Axel $300
nerfs $150
subframe $400
handlebars $100
steeringstem$300
shocks (all)$700 (guessing, not a clue)

3400 for all of that
5600 for a quad

Only 9000

 

hinson baskests, and new cluch cost money to, gotta include that.

 

make sure not to buy a lonestar swingarm ive broken two of them until i got a lager, rolldesign looks like it would hold up

 

Disappointed with the width?

If I remember correctly, it is a tad wider than an EX.

Probably as many or more people race XC as MX, the 400EX's width is perfect & will probably work excellent on the Cannondale.

If it were any wider from the factory, that would be a big turn off for me.

It'll be very interesting in the coming months to see how this new quad fares.