I really want to get a sport/high-performance quad this fall, but, there are now more choices. Machines that I am considering are the 400EX, FX400, and whatever Kawasaki comes out with. I am afraid that the 400EX won't be enough bike for me (i used to own a highly modified 250R), but I am also concerned that the Cannondale will be too maintanence intensive and it will experience teething probs. Kawi is a wild card. I just am not sure what to get. What do you guys think?

 

I guess the only way to find out, is to wait and see. Gas Gas could be a big hit as well. BTW, what happened to your 250R?

87 Banshee
99 Banshee

 

i would to with a 400ex. when i went to my first race the only thing people were racing in 4-stroke class were 400ex. except 1 mojave

 

If kawasaki doesn´t make a quad competitive to the FX400, I would buy the cannondale, maybe wait some time till they fing out some problems in the first production quads, Fuel injected, thats great.

 

Get the fx400. It's fuel injected and really light. It also has at least 2 years worth of research. I don't think that they'd work on it that long and have it be a really poor quad. It's got plenty of power and is light as a feather. I think it'll be a really fast and fun quad.

 

have you looked at the yamaha raptor, I think its gonna be the best quad around for a while. only problem is the price and avalibility.

http://hometown.aol.com/toprope247/m...e/profile.html

 

Availability on the Raptor is bown way out of proportion by dealers who want your deposit. All of the dealers here in AZ are getting large allocations and don't anticipate a problem. Clearly Honda is going to be forced to do a major redesign on the 400ex from its current state-as great as it is-to compete with the new bikes. This isn't meant to flame anyone-it is a great quad with typical Honda quality and attention to detail-but it is decidedly low-tech and its facing stiff challenges so I think buying one this year before any changes would be ill-advised. This is a good thing by the way, its exactly the sort of competition driven improvement that lets no manufacturer push the same product at us for a decade with no improvement. I too will be buying a 2001 and am interested in the Cannondale and Kawasaki but I must tell you I don't see the Cannondale as being maintenance intensive-if anything it has features like fuel injection that require much less hassle than carbueration. I bleed green so I have high hopes for Kawasaki-on the plus side for them they are the only team with a factory racing effort and they have a lot of corporate pride about building monster motors and winning races. If neither the Cannondale/Kawasaki live up to expectations/hopes then I too will be a new Raptor owner. Where we stand now I don't see a new machine from Honda or Suzuki until 2002. I'm looking for something to compliment my 2000 DS650 not replace it-which is why I like the motocross oriented Cannondale. Meanwhile, I am positively going to burst waiting for Kawasaki's announcement.

 

Well said.

 

you might be right about the avalibility of the raptor being over blown, but when I went to get a 400ex last year there was absolutely 0. I was told that I could be put on a waiting list that consisted of 30 people. and that when they do get some in its only 2 or 3 per month or so. now they may have been blowin smoke up my you know what, but I looked everywhere and got the same response. maybe things are different out there, but if I was in the market for a new quad right now, I would be puttin my deposit down for a raptor NOW!

 

I sold it for $3000. Not sure now if I should have done that, but at the time I was convinced Kawasaki was going to introduce a new KXF-250R. Oops. It would be nice to have a brand new quad to start off of, though. Even if it isn't a two-stroke, at least there wouldn't be anything to wear out for awhile. My '89 was in good shape, but there was always something that I could replace.