I live about 2 miles from the C=dale plant and the other day I rode on the track where they tested the first ones. Its cool how something nationwide came out of the little ttown of Bedford. THey had some innovative ideas. EFI rocks. I know some guys that were very high up in there, but they got screwed when the plant shut down lost all stock benefits. But thats business. THeyre pedalbikes are one of the best though an d they still make them at a different plant down the rode. RIP Cannondale Plant

 

I'd love to ride their test track . I'm dissapointed about the outcome of the motosports but at least i'm glad i got me one . No looking back now .

 

Thanks to cDale for getting the ball rolling again on makeing a high performance quad. I wonder if there would be a ltz400 or yfz450 today if it werent for Cannondale.

 

Ahh, C-dale had nothing to do witht he current sport quad market. The 400EX started it all, then the DS 650, then the Raptor. The C-dale was nothing more than a problematic quad that a small company raced for a while.

 

The 400ex is the very least Honda could do after dropping the 250r after 1989, took em long enough to try and fill a void. I dont even look back when I am passing a 400ex[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img] with my 89 lt250r.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

The raptor and ds are in a completely different class, you dont see many of either in motocross. All of these machines are very nice for there intended purpose. I still beleive Cannondale had huevos to build a race ready quad and they set the bar for the other manufacturers. The machine they have created with no prior experience commands respect. Even the established manufacturers have flaws in their new machines and if they are any good they will correct them and stand behind their product as it seemed cdale triied.

 

Bigugly wrote - You are so right! The LTZ400, YFZ 450, and the new Honda 450R were spawned by the Cannondale challenge.

 

i wouldnt go that far. they had some awsome engineering but every quad built raises the bar shees zillas ex cannondals Z rap heck even the warrior

 

The Dales will alway be unique. EFI ,aluminum frame, reversed cylinder, computer, It's to bad they had all the right intensions and it didn't work out. 600 people out of work. Made in American is special to some people and some it isn't. Ask the Harley guys..... If C-Dale was still around you can bet they'd be improving the product w/ improvements and refinements..