Dirt,

Thanks for not busting my chops, I enjoy a GOOD informative debate as well as the next guy. Now on with the show.

Harry at Trinity may be the only one who is planning on doing anything motor wish that I've heard of. My motor is apart right now, by the way. There is more HP there it just takes TALENT and CASH to find it.

As far as the old school carbs stuff. How many hours does it take to rejet run, rejet run, rejet run. Most people don't figure that into the maintance of the quad. With my speed I'm done. Remap and Pipe. Now I can go anywhere and ride due to the presure sensor in the ECU. Glamis or Big Bear to ride without taking jets and what not. Long term FI is easier, if you get involved with it.

I looked at a Z recently at the dealership. Reminded me of my 400EX alot. Question is how did they save on weight? They had to use LESS of something or go thin wall on the tubing. Less gusseting, so on adn so on. Nothing is for free. I'm sure that most of the quads will not be raced and have nice easy lifes with no problems. The ones that are raced will have problems. Axles come to mind. Not bashing Suzuki they where my first quad LT230 Four stroke.

If I had to do it again, I would still get the Cannondale Speed. Long term I think it will do just fine. Like Knowsalot said I have 10 years after they stop being producted to get parts.

Just my thoughts.

Smitty

 

This is great, I would like to hear some more opinions. Knowsalot, do you know if the steering dampener off of the moto will bolt up to the cannibal with an aftermarket steering stem. Alot of these companies recommend their stem and a-arms togethor to eliminate bump steer. I am pretty sure cannondale is the bike for me. They sound great, now I need to sell my 250R. OUCH! I hate to say that. I love that bike. Wish i had the money for both!

 

<< Hey - StreetOutlaw, would like to know if you ever raced MX ??.

My son started three seasons ago with a brand new EX. At the end of the season we where on our third swingarm, second set of stock shocks, stock rims and tires where junk, had to get bead locks and tires, two batteries, bent sub frame, two skid plates, bashed frame, two bent rotors, two seats (staples keep coming through), tierods bent, ball joints broke and on and on. Got enough points to advance from novice to amature before the end of the season. Got in three races in amature class and came in 5 or worse each time. Needed more power and better suspension.

TMM did our motor to a 416 = $1800
+2 a-arms pep shocks lonestar axel and swingarm $3000
lonestar frame and sub frame $2400
(would never buy another lonestar frame = JUNK)

Now we started our second season with all that new stuff. Still have to buy the stuff that bends and brakes. Tires, handle bars, steering stem, levers, more seats, rotor and on and on.

By mid season we pointed out to expert class. Man do them guys fly !!
Motor back to TMM for 440 stroker upgrade. $1600
Man do them guys fly. Ended the season with fifth in points Need more power

We are now running a YZF426 in our quad. We figure we have about $20,000 in upgrades and we now need a new frame.

We also picked up a Walsh prepared Cannibal. We have the same finishes and a lot less to invest in all that after market stuff. It was well worth the $13,000 they are asking for it. We missed one race and stalled the YZF in one moto. we are 2nd in points and hope to win by the end of the season. Our C-dale has been flawless so far.

It does take about an hour longer on the C-dale to do the same maintaince as on the EX. It is a hassel to adjust the valves but I'll live with that.

If I had it to do all over, knowing what I know now CANNONDALE all the way !!!!

Look at that &quot;Z&quot; real good and tell me you dont see EX there. The frame, shocks and look at that upper a-arm by the ball joint. Looks like a weak link to me.

I love the Z. Its a great woods machine. Cant beat reverse. The motor is awsome. But if you are going to MX, think real hard. >>





My gawd! It sounds like your son is one hell of an aggressive rider. I raced one race on my stock 300ex and then I broke my collar bone. I bought a set of nerfs, pipe, K&amp;N power kit, shaved fenders, flipped the front wheels around, Tamers rear, 400ex tires front, took the headlight off, and bought a Graydon front bumper... I never got to use them because by the time I recovered and was able to race again, I already traded my EX in for my Cannibal. This is my first season to race (starting in February) and the Dales must be tough because I have flipped, rolled, stalled, and just ran into other people with my quad and still NO cracks, NO bends, and NO mechanical problems. I have had some bolts fall out, and some weird stuff happen but thanks to the guys on this forum, I haven't taken the Dale to the dealership for ANY reasons. Action Power Sports in Ennis (where I bought my quad) wouldn't know how to work a telephone, let alone a Cannondale, so I wouldn't take it to them in the first place.

StreetOutlaw - if you want to race MX, BUY A CANNONDALE!!!!! If the maintenance is an issue, just remember that if you race, the Z400 and the Cannondale will require the SAME AMOUNT OF MAINTENANCE. I usually change my oil after every 3rd trip to the track on my Cannibal, and I did the same with my 300ex. You're goin to have to if you want to keep anything running a long time. I'm sure you already know that since you are a racer, but I thought I would bring that up to inform other people that might not know.

 

Yo! StreetOutlaw in the house. To answer the question &quot;Have you ever raced motocross before?&quot;. The answer is yes. If you look at my profile you will see 3rd overall for the season in 86' in the 200 Pro class. I was sponsored by TC Racing then and let me tell you guys something about that man. He's a really great guy and he gave us the power to run with the anybody in the country including the names previously mentioned. And he's a hell of a nice guy on top of it. He actually stayed a night at our house when he came to Florida on vacation. He's a &quot;stand up guy&quot;! Enough about all that stuff too (BTW Sparks and Dunlop are great guys too). That doesn't mean that I'm Gary Denton Or Goug Gust but back then I wore the # 3 plate @ AGE 16 and the only 2 people that beat me that season were Curtis Sparks(Team Honda) and Mickey Dunlap(Team Powroll). I would have actually had the #2 plate if I could have just entered the last race but unfortunately I was 16 years old at the time and couldn't make the last race because I was still in high school and it would have conflicted with my schedule. O/k I'll confess, I was in summer school that weekend. Anyways that was then and this was now. I went to look at the stupid Z again saturday. It's not hard core enough. So the next thing I know I am over at the freaking Cannondale dealer again looking at the Speed on the showroom floor. So I'm looking at the thing and I figure !@#$ it I'll just get the Moto440 and be done with it! So I ordered it it and it will be here in a week or 2. The deal I got was 12k OTD. That's including 6% sales tax. Hopefully I got a good deal. I'm sure you guys will let me know if I didn't. I think $11,280 + tax is decent. There's more to the story. I go to dinner with my sis &amp; her husband that evening and I'm getting him pumped up to get a Dale (or any quad for that matter) and we decide to go by the dealership on the way home to look through the glass (10:30pm). Next thing you know the Cannondale rep out of Orlando pulls in the lot with a Blaze demo in the back of his pick up. He unloads it, fires it up and says &quot;take it for a spin&quot;. Wow!!!!!!!!! This thing flys!!!! It's not a toy. You guys are right. The Dale is a good deal. I plan on breaking the quad in (or is it breaking myself in?) and then going over to the local MX track (Pepsi Air Dania) and see if I still know how to ride. I went there wed. nite (practice session) and there was about 8-10 quads there and they didn't look like too much a threat but we'll see. So I guess that's it. Once again, !@#$damn that thing flys!!!Here's the local MX site http://daniamx.tripod.com/pepsiairda...ark/index.html BTW in case you didn't know were Davie is........ It's basically in Fort Lauderdale and it's Rodney Gentry's home town. We grew up together racing 3 wheelers and he actually got the big deal back in the day.

 

Anyone know of a real good OTD price in the Oklahoma/Arkansas area? Maybe even Texas? Probably looking at a cannibal.

 

StreetOutlaw,

It sounds like you got a real good deal on the Moto being that I know what dealer cost is. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

If I remember correctly, Rodney Gentry was the last rider for the Team Honda powerhouse before they abandoned ATV racing wasn't he?? That guy could ride.

 

Outlaw,

I hope we didn't have anything to do with your decision.LOL

You must have been the man back than, I hope you come back to form quickly.

Good luck, although it doesn't sound as if you need it.

Smitty