I wouldn't say polaris is completely slow. A 400 sport with pipe, clutch, and engine mods kept up with my 400ex (DMC) within a couple feet.

 

I KNOW I KNOW you honda boyz can take any quad ever made and some that has'nt even been built yet seing as your 400ex'sssss are the best ever built,,,,,,NOT. sorry, guess i'm not quite believein you yet,,but keep tellin me maybe i will later,,,,,,,NOT.
Yes i ride a polaris and no i didnt say it was that fast...polaris does NOT advertise thier quads as bieng fast..

 

learn how to spell

 

You're right about your polaris being slow, Spanked. No-one ever said polaris's were fast.

But they sure are reliable, huh? ...

... NOT!

 

When comparing the 400EX to the FX 400, you should brake it down to which has the better brakes, shocks, frame and geometry, handling, reliability, motor, ease of maintenance, tires, etc etc.

On paper it would seems the FX would be the better quad as its all high tech, and not some outdated 80's design like the EX.

 

Unfortunately, we actually ride our machines, so they need to be compared side-by-side. We already know that the 400EX doesn't give up much ground to machines w/more power because of its excellent handling, Ie brakes, frame geometry, shocks, etc. The question we all want answered is ," is the FX400 8000 dollars good?".

 

Once again Spanky wants enlighten us with his vast amount of atv knowledge. Spanky, I would personaly like to thank you for your input, it was a big help. Is there anything else we should know about the 400ex and it's owners?

 

Well, it still sound like everyone's looking for reasons not to like the new Cannondale.

I met up with a buddy I met at the dunes last year and also races the MHSC. He just happened to have Cannondale #25 and let me take a ride on it.

Just rode it around for a few minutes, but here's my observations. Also, the owner (who also races harescrambles and owns a tricked out 250R) said he hasn't had any trouble with it yet.

Upon first start (yes, it started easily and right away - don't touch the gas, just like a fuel injected car or truck), it's exhaust note was fairly quiet. I stabbed the throttle a couple of times to see what it revved like. It instantly put a smile on my face with it's instant, extremely fast revving throttle response - free revs MUCH more quickly than my modified EX.

The clutch pull was the best I've ever felt on a production quad, felt as light and smooth as my RM250, a far cry from my 400's clutch. The thumb throttle felt light as well.

Ergo's felt good, the tank/seat junction narrows up where your knees sit. The bars were a bit high for my liking and felt a little weird compared to the low bars I run on my EX. The seat was firm (geared more toward racing than comfort for long trail rides).

I then took off and hit some high speed sand trails with it.

The engine is noisy, it's gear driven cam assembly makes quite a bit of gear noise. The engine is very free revving, it doesn't have the bottom end my EX does, but when the power comes on, it really comes on. It has the closest thing I've felt to a 2 stroke powerband out of a 4 stroke engine. The throttle response is very fast, and when in the trails the throttle is touchy enough that you have to be careful not to get yourself into trouble. Watching the bike being ridden you can also see that the engine is very responsive.

The handling felt good, the bike feels different, but not different in a bad way. It's definitely built with MX in mind. The rear shock handled the sand whoops beautifully, can't comment on the fronts because the owner put the his TCS's off his 250R onto it to see how the lowered stance would work. In the few minutes I rode it, I was already getting comfortable enough to start tearing up the trail - It didn't have any handling anomilies that spooked me right away like some quads I've ridden.

I don't know what the deal is with the drag race reports I've been seeing on this forum.

This weekend I drag raced some piped Raptors with my EX in the sand, I could outrun them pretty consistantly, seems like I ran a DS650 with the same results as well. Although we never drag raced the two, this Cannondale felt like it would give my EX a big spanking in a drag race, so therefore it should be able to smoke stock Raptor's, piped Raptors, fairly modified EX's, and DS650's. My guess on the Cannondale's HP is in the upper 30's. Maybe these folks losing drag races on the Cannondale aren't used to riding a 4 stroke like a 2 stroke.

You also have to bear in mind that a drag race isn't the only measure to compare engines - keep in mind why the EX's engine works so much better than a Banshee's engine everywhere except in a drag race.

In closing ---- Is the Cannondale worth $7,500?

I would say yes when compared to what you get for $5500 - $6500 from the Japs, as long as it doesn't end up having loads of reliability issues (the one I rode felt very solidly made). It seems to be kinda a mixture of a woods and MX bike, so it can likely be modified to excel in either, or be raced competitively at the local/state level in pretty well stock trim (at least much more than any other production machine currently offered). Don't expect to buy one and start winning national events - You will never be able to buy a production machine in any sport that will realistically be competitive at that level.

Here's a pic of the one I rode, sitting next to the owner's 250R after a race (the owner didn't want to break it in at that muddy of an event for obvious reasons).