Ya, Ellis switches back and forth to what ever he feels comfortable on, but either way, he is still racing in the Pro GNC level (and is one of the top racers) on a Cannondale that is relatively stock.

 

Yes it was walsh jr.
This is the same guy that started the rumor about overheating cannondales failed to tighten cap on resevoir or who failed to put oil in tranny blamed a tranny filter that wasnt installed right.I ran mine for over a month without tranny filter wouldnt recommend it but it didnt hurt anything.Why would cannondale help a team out that puts 250r plastic on the dale?Cant say I blame them makes it more comfortable but what kind of recognition would cannondale get?
Walsh makes the best frames in my opinion but if he was looking for more factory support he went about it the wrong way.
If this is a different article and Rath is the one who wrote it Rath is a paid Polaris representative of course he wont have anything good to say about the cannondales they are the only real competition.

 

Sunday at Budd's Creek he was on the Dale.

Ellis

 

It was Michael Walsh that made those comments about the Cannondale. I have been to all the Nationals this year and talked to many different people about the Cannondale's including pro's and amateurs. I will share my information that I have gathered over the season from all these different people.

All the pro level riders say that the Cannondale does not have as much low end power as there hybrid yz and crf motors. They also say the Moto 440 does not handle as well, but when aftermarket a-arms and shocks are added it is close to their Laeger and Walsh framed quads. Walsh raced the entire season (except for the last 3 GNC races) on his Walsh prepped Cannondale in the 4 stroke pro-am class. He did very well hanging with and beating yz and crf motors. Kory Ellis raced his Cannondale at Macon, GA in the 4 stroke pro-am class and was going to win easily until Luburgh crashed him. I never saw him race it again until his motor quit (yz motor) on the hot lap at Budds Creek and he had to run from the track to his pits to get his Cannondale. All the pro's had already taken off before he even made it back to the gate. He finished 15th the first moto and 9th the second moto on the Cannondale. Kory also says the Cannondale doesnt have enough bottom end as his yz. But you have to know Kory is a big guy that probably weighs around 225 or more.

Mark Burns who runs the 250 pro-am and if I am not mistaken won the class overall is on a Moto 440 with PEP shocks has been smoking people with no problem on his Cannondale all year long. He also ran the pro class at Casey and finished around 11th or 12th I think.

Now for the amateurs I have talked to. 90% have had nothing but good things to say about the Cannondale. They love the power the Cannondale has. The ones who didnt think it handles well enough have changed out the front end and shocks and from what they have said cure the handling issue. If you look over the overalls you can see yourself that Cannondale has racked up many wins in many different classes.

What it comes down to is that if you like the Cannondale or not. The Cannondale may not be up to a par for a pro racer yet but for anyone who has ever been to a National and seen the por's run you can see that they are not just you average racer, they are the baddest of the baddest and they can tell when something is off even its just a little. But for an amateur racer these little things will never be noticed. One thing Kory did say is that the Cannondale can easily take an amateur to a National Championship title and that it is very close to taking a pro there.

Rumor was at Budds Creek is that one of the top 3 pro's will be on a Cannondale next year. The top 3 this year was 1. Tim Farr 2. Jeremiah Jones 3. Doug Gust. Now I dont think it will be Tim Farr and I dont think it will be Jones either. So that leaves Gust. If this rumor is true I think it will be him and if anyone can win races on a Cannondale it is him. Also his quad (DRZ) was not at Budds Creek on time Friday for practice so do you know what he practiced on? A Cannondale Moto 440.

I know this is a long post that probably makes no sense at all but I just thought I would give you some input from a person who has been to all the Nationals and seen the Cannondales perform in all the different classes.

 

I don't understand the top heavy remarks... the gas tank is under the seat, the battery is on the bottom frame rails, sure there is a small amount of oil in the upper frame spars, but not enough to equal the weight of a full tank of gas, right??!!!

 

The "top heavy because of oil" claim is bogus- the guy is obviously just looking for something bad to say about Cannondale's.


Mr. P, nice to hear from someone who's seen and heard what you have. Interesting about the new rider. It would be good to see what a rider who's been proven on top switch to a 'Dale and see what it's got. Another possibility, and it's purely speculation by me, is what about Shane Hitt?? He broke his arm, right? There was an ad up at Budd's Creek for a tricked R for sale- reason for selling was posted as a broken arm. There were also many other R's for sale at BC- what are they being replaced with? Any idea's? I don't pretend to believe they are all switching to 'Dale's, but why would they sell their tricked out R?

 

I haven't read that ATV Sport article yet, but if what you said is true, it does just sound like unwarrented nit-picking. All the gas under the seat pretty much negates any oil in the frame.

People can try to talk all the smack they want now, but Cannondale is here for good, thank God...

Everytime I look at the Blaze or Moto I just start drooling... wave rotors, steel-braided brakes, aluminum frame, hydro clutch, steering damper, Ohlins... you know, $10500 isn't alot to pay for all that. I have about $8500 into my Raptor for the pipe, filter, damper, skids, and other accessories. I could dump another $2-3000 into the suspension, and it still wouldn't come close to the C'dale. I have no illusions to what competition is on the market right now... for racing competitively there is really only one logical choice...

 

NRATH- Im sure Shane Hitt will be on a Sparks powervalve next year. I could be wrong but that man loves his 2-stroke. The only reason he even ran his crf450 this year was to promote it for Sparks. At Casey, IL he was back on his 265r. And I think he will be on it next year. As far as all the 250r quads going up 4-sale, its usually common at the end of the year to see people selling their quads for new ones. I will say this though. At Macon (first National) this year there was a decent amount of C-dales racing. But towards the end like Casey and Budds Creek there was an overwhelming amount of C-dales. Im talking like 3-4 (plus more than that in certain classes) in each race that left the gate. Next year there will be even more C-dales. And if the ATVA votes to have a production class you can expect to have just about a full gate of C-dales and only a handfull of other quads.

 

I too was at Budd's Creek. Parked two sites away from Gust. There was a C-dale parked there. Someone said it was a girlfriends ?? My son had to race our C-dale for the past month because the tranny blew in our YZF. The parts came in yesterday and we will be riding it this afternoon. We have to agree 100% with Mr. P. and his comments. We have Walsh's first C-dale and the thing runs great. Just doesn't have that bottom end that the YZF does. After one HARD crash on friday in the whoop's section and running two classes on Saturday and Sunday, I have to say that the Dale took a beaten and kept on ticking. We had NO failures other than the Walsh swing-arm cracking. Mike said it was an early design and sent us a new one yesterday.

Kyle at R&S Performance said he can tweak another 3-6 HP out of the low end. We are going to have him work on ours this winter. We will be running both quads this spring and building a Yamaha WR-450 quad late spring.

A guy named Saun from Cannondale was there racing and helping fellow Dale riders. We could not thank him enough for all the help he gave us.

This was our first National and we finished mid pack in both pro-am and 4 stroke A. Riding hurt from friday's crash and being late off the line, we feel we did good !! There where YZF's and CRF's on both sides of us at the end of both moto's. So we know the Dale can do it !!

 

mrp, nice post. just to back up what you said, i have a 2001 full lonestar mx 250r that i'm selling. switching everything over to my new c-dale. with my hmf full exhaust and motto mapping, i cain't believe it does not have enough bottom end for anybody, but i'm not a pro rider.