ScottMontgomery, Would you send me some free complimentary C-Dale stickers?? I feel it would be an HONOR to ride for a company like yours. I'd peel off all my Yamaha stickers and put Cannondale all over it!!! Great company. Hey, if you won't send me some stickers... wanna trade a 97 MX shee for a moto440?? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] lol Keep up the great work cannondale

 

Does this mean you are going to be visiting with us in the forums often Mr. Montgomery? I sure hope so. We will try to keep it real,and not ask you to give us secret information or free MOTO 440s or anything. I cant beleive we now have a manufacture thats down to earth and cares about us and its products as much as Cannondale. Keep up the awsome work.

 

Scott, I realize that you are probably too busy to camp out on this forum to hear every word we say, but I gotta be honest. I think we have stumbled onto a real find here. When has there ever been a better interface between customer and manufacturer? Forget focus groups. You have a pretty good group of hard core enthusiasts right here. Do you realize that over 400 people have read these posts? Not 400 Wal-Mart shoppers, or 400 people in line at the post office or at a Nascar event. 400 ATV loving,Cannondale interested,computer savy,"might buy one,maybe already did", hard core riders. Talk about communication! For any of you fence sitters out there, I think you have a lot more information than you had before. Granted, individual dealers will vary in their ability/desire to satisfy the customer, but thats a variable that honda and the rest have to put up with as well. For those of you out there that have good dealer experiences, post them here. Heck, if we keep an open mind maybe we can even post the bad ones in an attempt to rectify them or make every body better. I know if I were a cdale dealer, I would not want a call from Scott for the wrong reason... This is a real channel of communication! I want to see a lot of Cdales out there when I go riding...Like I said, I am saving my money because I WILL GET ONE!

 

C'mon CDaleRacer, I was kidding... although it would be greatly appreciated.. lol Newzboy is right, Mr. Montgomery, if you want straight up answers, from ATVers, right here is where you need to be! I have heard rumors that Yamaha, and Honda ask all the "pro" riders for tips, and build their bikes around that. Well I have a lil newsflash.. Not everyone races! On this forum, there are people that go in 4ft of mud, to 20ft or air. What more could you ask for?

P.S.-seriously, that was a joke..lol

 

Lonestarbanshee, I wasnt refering to you. You're cool. Free stickys are cool (being that my C-Dale didnt come with the big C on the radiator shrouds). I just figured that some one in a few days would say "MR. Montgomery could you please tell me how much cannondale pays ohlins for the shocks on the quads" ect. You know the people that im talking about.
Or "Mr. Montgomery could you please call my dealer and get him to cut me a realy good deal on an new Moto 440". I just feel lucky to have some one from ANY manufacture talking to us and dont want to make his experiance a bad one. I just want to say that I havnt heard from any one that owns or has owned a Cannondale say anything realy bad about them. The few things some complain about are in my opinion minnor, like needs a steering stabilizer, seat to firm, or I lost both contacts out of my eyes the first time I realy got on the gas (that was me). So far so good Cannondale. Keep rolling'em out and we will keep buying'em up.

 

I know what you mean CDaleRacer. We should hire a moderator to delete all posts of that nature. Every time I read this post, it gets better and better, and makes me want a C-Dale even more. Maybe someday!!

 

Well, I read all of the posts in this thread and I must say that I was stirred emotionally by all of the patriotic references. So, I donned my best American made T-shirt with unfurled star spangled banner front and back, grabbed my checkbook and headed for the nearest Yamaha/Suzuki/Cannondale dealership. I walk through the doors and what do I see? Two Cannondales, one red, one silver just waiting to be bought by this fortunate American! What luck! What a great day to be an American! Wait it, it gets better! As I am oogling my next ride, a salesman approaches. Too good to be true! It is an old aquaintenance of mine and I am sure to get a great deal! Just as I am ready to tell him to wrap one to go, he tells me that he is not allowed to sell either model. They both are awaiting new front spindles under recall. Apparently the spindles aren't up to the job and the front wheels have a tendency to depart from the quad at the most inconvenient times. And to make matters worse, as we begin to discuss the numerous pros and cons of the quad, two gents walk up to check out the bikes. My friend offers to show them the quads. With smirks on their faces, one of the gents comes back with, "Our friend has one. Can't keep it out of the shop." Having succeeded in shooting down my friend,they walked away. What a lousy day to be an American! The flags nearly fell off my T-shirt!

My fellow Americans, the bottom line is - POOR R&D! I don't care how many times the owner visits this forum or how much more padding he PROMISES to add to the seat, this quad is an embarrassment! The problems with this quad aren't typical first year/new model teething problems. Someone dropped the ball in the R&D area. This quad has all of the earmarks of a production schedule that had to be met,come hell or high water. Spindles have been around since the beginning of time, it is inconceivable that a super priced, super quad like the Cannondale should suffer from this problem. And if they can screw up spindles, what next!I suspect that the Cannondale folks studied at the Harley Davidson School of Business. If it doesn't sell on it's own, wrap it in a flag and slap an import tariff on the competition (probably their next move)! In the end, I bought a Banshee. It may be old but it works, by God! And I am confident that when I touch down from a 20' launch my wheels will still be on the quad. What good is a suspension if the wheels are in the weeds and your *** is headed for the hospital?

If you sense frustration, you are right. I don't necessarily want to bash Cannondale, I am just a frustrated American. We are the greatest country in the history of the world and we cannot build a superior motorcycle or quad, even when we try. Instead we resort to flag waving and denial. Well, my money went to Japan and will continue to until we build a motorcycle/quad worthy of the American label. Flag waving is for parades, I want/demand value from the items on which I spend my hard earned money.

 

Well you don't know much about those weak axles on the Banshee that your going to have to replace with an aftermarket after a couple of those 20' jumps,yeah your wheels will still probably be attached but that axle might not [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] And then they go and put that same axle on the Raptor, but I suppose thats ok for you AZRENEGADE, atleast Cannondale has made a commitment to fixing problems and not just let them slid for years.

Also I bought my FX400 back in May and the shop I got it at had just finished upgrading the spindles and I've had it in the shop once, to get the upgraded ball joints. Mine hasn't broke anything but I guess there were a few that broke ball joints so C-dale put out a safety recall on those. The thing is C-dale is new to motorsports and for them to make a few mistakes, I can understand, but they've taken it seriuosly and are fixing the problems, unlike most or all other manufactures.

R&D can only take you so far and that goes for even the more established manufactures, Kawasaki,Honda,Suzuki and Yamaha have all built bikes with inferior components on all their ATV's and motorcycles. I've been a big Kawi fan for years and raced their bikes and will continue to buy their bikes(well until C-dale builds a Sportbike that is,hint hint[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img], but they do make mistakes. C-dale has developed one of the most hi-tech engines in motorsports and a beautiful and strong frame to go with it. I'm not one to go out and buy something American just because it's American made, I want the best product for my money and I got it with the C-dale, it's lightyears ahead of anything out.

Moto24
'01 FX400
'98 Kawi ZX-9R
'90 Kawi ZX-7 (superbike)
'84 VF750R
'80 Kawi KZ650

 

Let me make sure I have this correct...AZRENEGADE is so sure he wants a Cannondale That he takes his checkbook to a dealer and then when he finds that the Factory has a recall in place to show that they are responsible he loses faith? I know several people who have quads in and out of the shop because of :
A. The person is so incompetant that they can't change the air filter.
B. The person is such a knucklehead rider that they crash every ride.
This means NOTHING!
All that crap about the American Tee shirt was just there to break your heart... Nice try AZ! I will not alter my plans to buy one because of what SOME guy sez he walked in on...Gimmee a break! And another thing, If this quad is an embarrassment, Its to the people who bought quads from companies who were content to produce the same stuff (I'm being kind) every year with bold new graphics and nothing else. I'd be embarrassed too! Think how many time Yamaha could have and should have fixed the air box on the banshee!!!!!!! When they went to A-Arms from J-Arms, what prompted that? Are there any 88 models with some of each? NO! They waited until the next model year to fix the design..I have news for you pal, Get used to a company that fixes it now, not later, cuz if they want to hang with Cdale they better start thinking that way!

 

You know what AZRENEGADE? It all comes down to whats important to you. Some guys would rather wave the flag than run it through someone's guts. Some people would like to invest in a Company, a product, an ideal. Some people get really tired of the same old crap every year..Some people can feel a literal KICK IN THE GUT when they see a company pull the wraps off of a "new" quad with just BNG (bold new graphics) at a dealer convention. No quad is perfect. We've established that. Its all in how the company handles the problems... I'll bet you would complain if you were seated on an airplane and they cancelled your flight after finding a crack in the wing!!!!Some would say "Good work guys!" You? "Shoulda flown Delta!" I would love to be there the first time someone pulls up on a Cannibal and smokes you like a cuban cigar! You wont admit it, but you will secretly study the back end of the Cannibal as you try and stay with it and say to yourself " Man,that's a cool quad!"