i heard it was b/c their motors kep blowing. is this true ?

 

Im sure the bashers would want you to believe that but it goes way beyond the quad itself. I believe they were doomed even before the quad line was even released. The R&D costs for the motorcycle and quads turned out to be far in excess of what they could afford combined with less than favorable reviews of the first year bikes caused them to drain money from the bicycle division to keep the motorsports going. Looking back there are tons of things they could have done. They could have save millions by holding off development of the engine and done like polaris and arctic cat by outsourcing an already devloped engine. They should not have tried to take on Honda and yamaha in the dirtbike arena because bikes are highly developed machines whereas quads were still stuck with 1980s technology and beating them turned out to be much easier. Offering a race ready quad in a market where people are used to paying a lower price and replacing half the parts on a new quad with aftermarket to get them to perform like race quads is a new concept that is still not really accepted. You can argue the yz 450 is a race ready but it doesnt come with nerfs ,beadlocks, race pipe,number plates,ect. I would also like to throw in the wierd reviews of the quads by dirtwheels and other mags who never bothered to mention all the extra trick features the dales had and just complained about the higher price. Yes there were many engine problems that they worked very hard at fixing and had customer service second to none which I guarantee you will never ever see again. They also should have spent some money on advertizing instead of just winning races to promote a product. I heard about them when they first came out in 2001 and didnt even realize they were still around till I started looking for a new quad and just happened to see one at a dealership.

 

ok thanx

 

I agree with wistech.Another reason is every Cannible quad they sold they lost money on.So the more they sold the more they lost.Not a very sound business plan to have in a bad economy.

 

ya thats true to

 

Good post Wistech! I've harped about C-dales before but that little history lesson shows they should have pursued the quad market. Designing and building their own engine was dumb but I remember the original engine supplier, Folan, fell through and caused C-dale to delay the intro of their MX bike by about a year. At the time it probably made sense. Of course, as the old saying goes, hindsight is 20/20 and they should went to Rotax, Suzuki or Fuji, etc. to get an engine nad not built there own from scratch. The other thing that put them under was the fact they had to be different. Some of the the things they did didn't make any sense, like two air cleaners on the MX bike. The backwards engine. Fuel injection was a big leap and they should have done things like the snowmachine market and offered a choice of EFI or carb. Oh well, its really easy to play Monday morning QB.

Had C-dale stuck to the basics and just produced an improved 400EX for a comperable price they probably would still be around, especally with that cool aluminum frame. Bicycle companies know more about aluminum then anybody else outside of the aircraft industry.

 

You know what would have been cool is offering something that is largely a thing of the past. Custom ordering of quads. Since many of the parts on the quad were aftermarket they could have offered a basic kick butt frame and your choice of shocks ,a arms length,,fuel system,(carb or EFI)wheels,tires ,bars,plastic color,ect. Since everybody wants something different and end up changing parts to thier individual specs they could have offered kit quads and you wouldnt have pay for parts you end up tossing out anyway. For example I bought a speed because it had the cushy seat,stronger mapping and better tires than the cannabal but I wanted the long travel moto suspension but not the loud $1000 titanuim exhaust and the $800 wheels. So after I bought it 6 months later I upgraded to the moto suspension and now have a set of short a arms and basic shocks that I paid for but cant give away because everybody else ended up doing the same thing. Wouldnt it be nice to pay for exactly what you want . I know it would slow down efficency at the factory but since these quads were never going to sell in the millions they would have the niche market . Im not so sure that building a better 400ex would have been just enough to pull brand loyal atvers away from thier normal chioces but it would have been a good start. .Now that someone has snapped up all the dale intelectual properties and factory inventory they will be able to start up without the debt load burden and not make the same mistakes from the first try at a superquad. Even if they dont come back I am no longer worried because Ive already got mine and when its time for me to get a new quad I should have one heck of a market to choose from now that the big manufactures are starting to get back in the game.

 

I'm no financial genius, but my understanding is that they ran out of money.


Sorry, couldn't resist. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Marc

 

no crap, i was wondering how they lost all this $$

 

They sold the quads for less than it cost to produce them, and at the same time, warranteed rediculous abuse related falures in the name of good customer support. Oh, ya, and some of the motors blew up, which they REPLACED, instead of having dealers repair. They really should have seen their own demise on the horizon. Oh well, hindsite is always 20/20!