The quad does look pretty trick, but it better for the price that they are asking. It has good deminsions though. Bout the same size as a Raptor but a few inches wider. I still think that a Raptor or Banshee will give it a hard time in a drag race though. 33hp isnt all that much. Besides, Raptor is still 200cc bigger and that added torque will make up for a lot. I still hope it is a good quad though. That will force the other guys to stay on their toes and not rest on what they have for the next 5 years.

Afterthought: I think I would be satisfied if Honda would make a 500cc 2-stroke in a sub 400lb package.

 

ive drag an fx400 her in PA, there are a very fast bike to gate. i have a modded banshee,the fx400 beat me one time in a drag, and i beat him twice. it also beat two stock raptors and a piped one. i think this bike is going to give all the recent monster 4 strokes a pretty good run for there money, including banshee's. its the most ugly quad i have ever seen though.. i really had to be on my game to take him. i still think that the banshee is the all time best drag bike out there(with a few mods of course). i dont know how it will compare to the raptors, and ds650's in a baja race, or how it will be on the mx track with the 250r's but it looks as though they did a decent job on this bike(exept for looks) YUK.

 

I definitely agree with your afterthought!

I was at the "Badlands" on Saturday (3/31), instead of freezing my a** off @ "Silver Lake".

While riding, I saw a guy riding the new FX 400. I went up to him on my Raptor and asked to check it out, he wouldn't let me take a close look. I then asked him if he wanted to see how it compared to a Raptor, he just drove off. I would imagine he was still breaking it in, but you would think the guy would wonder how it compared.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing how it compares to the other sport quads. By the guts of this motor, you would think this thing would rip. I still can't believe, stock it comes with a 12.5-1 comp ratio.

Can you imagine how the Raptor would run with a 12.5-1 piston?

 

I agree with the ugly part. The front plastic looks like it was put on as an after thought. The Cannondale bike has had really trouble. Over heating, etc!!!!

 

After reading...."fuel injection and a 3.2 gallon fuel tank gives the 400EX the largest touring radius of sport quads" I new I was reading the thoughts of pure genius.
The FX is gonna be an awesome quad. 33 horsepower...seems like 40 would be more realistic.

 

33 Hp is OK for a 400 4-stroke but think about this. How much potential is left in that engine. Not much more I'm willing to bet. The old saying that there's "no replacement for displacement" hold true. A Raptor, DS650 or Banshee has much more horsepower potential.

 

Thats what im screaming. Imagine if a Raptor came with that much compression. Put about $1500 into a Banshee, DS or Raptor engine and i bet that It will be a lot higher than 33hp.

 

Check the drag numbers. Obviously, Cannondale is gonna use the best looking numbers and length of drag race. The number "they" show, are only beating the 400EX by half a second. What was their drag length, 50yds?? Seems like it. If thats the "Best" number they got to show, God knows what the more realistic drag times are gonna be. Think about it for a second or two. .

Also, Where ya gonna get it worked on, fixed, parts??

Fuel Injected Quad? lol. not your average shop is gonna mess with that thing.

Hope it brings some innovation to the market, but obviously 12:5:1 compression on Pump gas is pushin limits. No way these are gonna last.. just no way.

 

Corvette engines run high compression ratios on premium pump gas...they seem to be pretty reliable.

High compression ratios lead to detonation when too low an octane fuel is used. I'm sure that Cannondale did some R&D and determined that their engine would not detonate using (xx)octane pump gas at 12.5:1 compression.

 

With 12.5:1 compression, I'd almost think the only "pump gas" you could run would be VP Red or Turbo Blue. I don't think the 93 that you get at the local gas station would cut the mustard. A high-compression 60's musclecar usually needs 104+ Octane Boost if they are running somewhere near their original compression ratio, which is normally in the 11 - 13.5:1 range.