Well, how bout it guys? Cannondale has my vote for the most progressive manufacturer of the year. They have produced 4 "off-the-wall" quads, and put all others to shame. Another excellent point.. They are backing quad racing! FINALLY, a company has taken a step up to our needs! You national guys better watch out for Nacs/Cannondale. Guys seem to think that the Moto 440 is overpriced. Get real! Have you actually tried to build a nationally competitive 250R, or 400EX? I left the Raptor out because there aren't many aftermarket MX mods out. K&K Racing has one hellacious 250R for sale... Guess how much weight your back pocket would lose? $18,300. Travis Spader's 2001 Race quad was on eBay with an opening bid of $16,000. The Moto already comes with 95% of the mods needed to compete in Pro and Pro-Am racing. Also, it comes with (drum roll please) technology that doesn't have 12 years under its belt. I say let the doubters doubt, and let C-Dale prove it on the track.

There have been a few posts on this site about Cannondale reliability, and the fact that a dealer wouldn't sell a CDale product because of a faulty part. If I were them, I would be most pleased. My dealer would go ahead and sell me a quad, even if it had a part that wasn't right.

I'll finish this up with this statement. Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki... You have alot of catching up to do. Better get your books out and study up.. Cannondale's going to be putting you to the test VERY soon.

 

Geez, tell Kadafiy to read this!!! Read the ongoing bickering in the Suzuki forum, The new LTZ400 from the horses mouth. Anyway. I completely agree with you. Oh yea, I just went to some races for the first time(how sad) and there were 7 quads total, 5 250R's, an Lt250 and a Raptor, well the 250R's were stomping all over the Raptor, and I was just wondering if the R's do the same to the C-dales, since after all the Raptor and C-Dale are "Virtually the same on a MX track" according to Dirt Wheels.

 

Well said lonestar, some people may say I'm going to eat my words but I seriously think the Moto 440s are going to do realy well. Another thing I think people should consider is quad weight. Page 52 of Dec. Dirt Wheels list the dry weight of all the sport quads. Z400-373lbs. 400EX-375lbs. FX400-355lbs! DS650-460lbs. 660R-399lbs. Now I know these numbers arent always right but they can't be off to bad. Now how much is the dry weight of most YZ426 quads? Ive read it before but cant remember. What about the 250R? I would think the Moto440 would be alittle heavier than the FX but shouldnt be by much. I guess what I'm asking is will the Moto be competitive in weight. I think it will (maybe not close to the Rs weight but neither are the 426s and they seem to hold their own). Anyway maybe this weight thing should have been a new topic but what the heck. ltracerx alot that goes on at the track has ALOT to do with rider. As far as Dirt Wheels they also said a 400ex with a pipe was never more than a lenght behind the FX. Not knocking the EX its a good quad but it aint that fast! My bud owns a 250R mostly stock just wider with pipe ect. and he smokes me on the track but like I said, has alot to do with rider. He would probably tell you his self that he could turn quicker laps on my FX. he loves the thing. As far as the FX and Raptor being the same on a track. They are close in power the C-dale will break the tires loose if you need to alot easier though I think. It also Slides better and isnt as tipy in the turns as the 660.

 

ok, thanks for the info CdaleRacer. I was just wondering if I should just go buy a nice 250R instead of spending 8 g's that I don't really have on a C-Dale. I was just thinking I would buy a 250R for the first year of racing(that way if I suck I won't screw up C-Dales already slowly progressing but still small reputation[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] )and then see how the Moto does and trade my R in on one. Now I am just waiting for the money from my ATC.

 

CdaleRacer, another thing you must account for is the power-to-weight ratio. That's why the bike engines are so good in quad frames. Yes, they weigh more, but they have alot more HP. I'm not so sure it's weight that makes a quad feel good, but more of the power to weight ratio.

 

That is a tough one ltracerx. Everyone thats bought the C-Dales have probably had to make that very same decision. The thing with me was that the kind of 250R I wanted would have costed somewhere around at least $5,000. Also I wanted something right then and I may not could have found an R that I wanted. Cash money is something that I didnt have so I had to finance something. Anyway Ive already let you know all about that. Its up to you my man. I will tell you this don't worry about not doing good at racing. Practice as much as you can. Get to know the track and your quad and have fun.

lonestarbanshee, I didnt think about it like that "power to weight ratio" good point.

 

I totally agree. Cannondale has done what the other manufactures are afraid to do. They are the first company I can think of that said they would come out with a high tech high performance quad, then actually came through with it. I was actually a little skeptical at first considering all the companies that have said they would come out with something then were never heard from again. I apploud Cannondale for having the guts to give the people what they really want. You think they will come out with a Sport machine so I can buy one? Maybe a 250-300 that will blow down all the other sports and handle better, and still be cheap enough for me to buy.

 

In atv sport it says the Cannondale weighs 370lbs?

 

Yamaha, Kawasaki, and all the others don't care about racing. 95% of the riders just want to go out and have fun on the weekends, these are the people they are aiming for. These people don't want an aluminum frame that in a year will have cracked four times and a highly stressed engine. My friend just got a 400ex and loves it, I think I am dropping Cdale and going with a Craptor or a 400ex.

 

The frame will crack??? Have you checked up on the bike world lately? They have been using twin spar aluminum frames for years, and I've NEVER heard of one cracking. It seems funny people always put Cannondale down for being different... But heck, I've seen many Raptor problems on this board... but never a Cannondale problem.. Wake up guy, its the 21st century.