I think the reason that some racers didnt switch quads could be that its hard to switch to an entirely different kind of machine when you put so much money and time into one kind of quad.

How could kawi get into racing before cdale thought of making a quad? Kawasaki didnt even have a sport quad until suzuki gave them one, and that was long after cdale had come out with the fx400, and even the cannibal.

I agree that the 250r is an excellent machine. My father raced them for over 10 years, and owned 4 of them. I still miss them, and wish i had one. But, I love my raptor, and it is better than the 250r in a few important ways. I dont have to wrench on it as much, I just load it up, drop it off, hit the electric start and go. I can beat stock 250r's, and Ive run accrossed some riders who had a faster 250 but couldnt ride. I miss that 2 stroke sound and smell though, every time i see one....

 

Mxer - I'm talking about MX. I honestly couldn't care less about what goes on in GNCC. Also, Kory Ellis, Ben Jackson, and Jeremy Schell ran Cannondales. Also some of the other top riders like Nate Leverenz ran C-dales too. Yeah, almost all the quads are based off of the R. The R's were the only ones that handled good since it only had 2 quads to compete with. Now that there are more sport quads out there, you are seeing more quads out there besides the same ol' R's.

Sure the R's were great quads but in that class they had VERY LITTLE competition. The Lt, the Tecate, and the 400ex. Now that more 250 class quads are being released, the number of R's in the pro class will decline.

Makes you wonder if the R's are really the greatest quad ever or if they are just so widely used because of lack of choice. Because now that there are more choices coming out, more R's are going up for sale.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.......

 

Agreed. I owned an 87 TRX250R and had to sell it back in '92. I loved it and still think they are awesome. But the fact is, if I ever wanted to own one again, I could buy them for a dime a dozen. I couldn't do that five years ago. They are so numerous and played out, hell you could even make one from scratch with all the aftermarket frames and parts and such. CDales are RARE. You couldn't make one from scratch for anything. Ten years from now they will offer TRX250 kits in the backs of comic books. CDales will hold value on rarety, not popularity.

 

bicker, bicker.

ride what you want but I'll keep my C dales.

I have a 250 R and though it is nice, I'd still rather ride the Dale.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

how many of you guys are still paying on the loan of your dales? i sure wouldnt want to send in a check on a quad that you probably will take a killing on trading in or selling.

 

What is unfortunate about the Cannondale is that it is fuel injected and that is going to be a bugger to keep running in 5-10 years since you won't be able to get parts. With the 250R you could still buy parts be it engines, frames, whatever you needed. I've already seen this type of thing happen with snowmachines. Polaris doesn't even offer a fuel injected machine anymore. At least the parts are still available and they are way more expensive then buying carb parts.

I think the C-dale will be an interesting footnote in history but a guy won't be able to give one away come 2 years from now. If I had a C-dale I would be trying to get out from under it as soon as possible. It is really too bad they went under. The ATV market sorely needed some innovation.

 

I highly doubt that the C-dale will hold its value. They were not in production for long enough. There wont be the number of aftermarket parts to meet the need of the C-dale owners in the future. Even thought they came out with the first aluminum frame and FE for a quad, I dont think it compares to the 250r. And whoever up there said they can find them for 2500 is stupid. If you do find one that cheap its beat to crap. If you want a decent one it will cost over 3500$. Thats pretty damn good for a bike made 11-17 years ago. They hold their value better than any quad ever.

I do hope whatever honda comes out with next will be close to the C-dale. Aluminum frame and FE. C-dale was going the right way, but the quads were too pricey. It was worth the money, but they werent selling as many as they needed apperently.

 

It's funny. I went looking for a pair of side panels( probably $40 a piece retail, back in the day) for my '87 Tecate. I went bidding on a set on e-bay that eventually went for $355. My point- 16 years ago Kawasaki made a bike for 2 years that wasn't nearly highly regarded as the honda 250R and today people (not just me) are willing to sell a kidney to buy 2 pieces of plastic for it. You need to realize, if this was a piece of crap bike whose only claim to atv history was that it was a piece of crap, it would go the way of the Yugo. But it's not. This is a revolutionary machine that made a huge mark on atv history. Bottom line- 10 years from now I can find 250R stuff for pennys and If i go nuts enough to do so, I be parting out the C-Dale for $400 a side panel. The 250R was awesome, I owned an '87 for 4 years. If I had it today, I couldn't get crap for any of it's parts, the Tecate is pure gold to the right people.

 

those people have problems in the first place riding kawasukies.. And the 250r parts are cheap because there are a million aftermarket parts. The kawasuki parts are more expencive because they are rare. The bikes are cheap though. So if you have a c-dale, the parts to fix small things are going to cost you a fortune in the future.

 

Notice all the people bickering about not getting parts.....don't even own a Dale!!!!!

People, don't worry about us. We'll still be kickin your butts on the weekends and getting parts. We have it all figured out....so don't get too happy, you will still be gettin spanked......


Oh and Cannondales won 3 National Championships last year. on a second year bike from a small pennsylvania company....not too shabby. That has to prove something to you. Oh, and yes we did revolutionize the ATV industry...you will see what's coming in the next year or so.....Who else out there makes a COMPLETELY race ready machine??? The Predator is the closest thing....