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Posted by: cctman
I wouldn't suggest buying a cannondale unless you can personally justify finacially. In my opinion I wouldn't buy a cannondale new unless it was around or under $3,000.00 The problem is not only is the engine more complex than a 2 stroke, but I believe in the future your going to see far less support for Cannondales to fix them than any other manufactuer based on the fact that there haven't been around that long and there are vary few repair shops that will touch them. Furthermore it would be like trying to find parts for an LT500 which was only made for a few years but even worse because far fewer cannondales were produced and sold IMO than LT 500's plus Yamaha never went under Cannondale did. The mere uniqueness and complexity of the engine, alloy frame, componets, fuel injection will make it vary vary difficult to deal with as time goes on. the more I think about it the more I think even 3k would be to much for one.
I would much rather buy something and spend twice as much if I knew the manufacture was not going under and the design was simple enough to work on as is the YZF450.
Posted by: JayBR
There are no electronic control boards on the Cannondale, there is a sealed ECU. The ECU is made by Sagem (now Johnson Control) and is not proprietary, it is also used by Triumph and a few others I'm sure. The only thing about the ECU that was proprietary is the programing, and that was done by Optimum Power which is still in business and supporting the Cannondales.
Posted by: JayBR
MDE, Your right about the board being semantics, I guess the usefull information in my post was that they are not proprietary and the company that did the programing is still supporting them.
Posted by: JayBR
Well, I'm very particular about my quads so here's the story. I bought the 03 about a month ago, had my son do the break-in, then dropped the motor and installed a Stage 8 kit, steele scavenger pump gears, oil line update, and motor mount update. Took it out riding and noticed it has alot more vibration than my Speed. I talked to a couple people and decided it probably has an unballanced crank, so rather than wait for problems I'm getting ready to rebuild it. I know how reliable the 02 motors are, and I know some of the problems with the 03's, so I'm putting an old style crank with Corrilo rod in it, along with an 02 piston and sleeve and should have another very reliable motor. I was lucky enough to find a new old style crank and piston kit.
Posted by: 14mins
airtime- has good points. I would not buy a dale with the yammy 450 out or the rumoured honda coming. If those 2 were not availible then the dale would be a good choice. The dale had its time but i would move on. It is a shame that cannondale went under. They would have been good by now. They should have forgot the motorcycle and bought a built motor from another company. They would still be around. Oh well coulda, shoulda ...
Posted by: evhwg
i agree with above. for about the same price you can get a new YZF450 if your buying new and yamaha isnt going anywhere down the bankrupt route.
Posted by: airtimehocutt
i would suggest wait and ride the yamaha 450 and the honda 450 and compare it to the cdale. remember, a full hmf pipe and a free motto map will add alot more power to the cdale. as far as cdale going under, you only get a 6 month warranty with most quads anyway so no big deal there. parts are still avalable so no ploblems there. ride the quads and decide for your self, don't let a bounch of ignorant magazine readers who have never ridden a quad, or more than their daddy's hunting quad mislead you. if someone is bad talking the cdale, then they have never ridden one or are stupid, because whether or not you like cdale or not, they are very race ready quad.
Posted by: airtimehocutt
i guess will find out tonight what honda will do. anyway, talk to my local cdale dealer today and he is placing a large order from atk for cdale parts. so factory parts are still here, just not from cdale. one more point, fuel injection has been around for 20 years, why is every body so scared of it. if fuel injection was not the absolute best and reliable form of induction then the large automobile manufactures would not use it. in a few more years fuel injected atvs and motorcycle will be the norm. cdale was just ahead of it's time. the fastest production corvette ever is a 350 cubic inch fuel injected z0-6. it makes 385 hp and doesn't kill our environment doing it. besides i don't see carburated engines being able to pass the strict emission requirements coming in the near future. for goodness sakes, they have fuel injected freakin lawn mowers!
Posted by: airtimehocutt
jaybr, have you had any problems with your 03 cannible? i have put around 25 hrs on my 03'cdannible with no problems. except for the chain slider that wore out already. how do you set your chain slack? i still have not found a good spot where i like it yet. my bike sets low with the pep zps shocks and i seem to be forever guessing the right chain slack.
Posted by: mxrookie
Hop on one and decide it's a decision well worth it IMO !
Posted by: mxrookie
Grab the latest dirt wheels they have all the info you ned for the dales if you have one are considering one , there are a few forums that you can get unlimited help from several of us and are more than willing to help out to the point that some guys will even travel some distances to give you a hand . I personally have one and recommend a ride to change anyones mind about the quad . Though some people are die hard fans of other manufactures and have nothing but ugly things to say to you that think like that when you need help and a daler was flamed by you look else where for help , we are all in the sport togther , and you win some you l.ose some but at the end of the day you can all sit around and have a good time talking about the trails or track and be equal .
Posted by: mxmike
Sorry but Cannondale DON'T have to make parts for 5 years.Cannondale motor sports is out.No legal bond or nothing.
There are people getting parts from the orignal venders and have bought alot of parts from the liquidation sale.They are the only thing keeping Cdale alive.
There is alot of talk latley about some new owners and the start up of production again but only time will tell.
I for one love my dale and I am going to stick it out awhile and see what happens.
I saw a yfz in action and was impressed with the power but it will need the same suspention and chase mods as every other quad out there.
To answer the ?Cannondale..bad idea?
If you are buying a quad to keep for a long time I would hold off right now on any purchase untill honda makes there move.
If you just want a quad to race for one season and then move on to what ever else is hot at the time get a dale or a yfz.You could get a dale for half the price of a yfz now.
Its a gamble for both the above right now as the yfz is not proven yet.
Posted by: dsracer666
because he's mad that there faster then his cracked frame kfx400
Posted by: dsracer666
ha ha not me I have a ds! but I would buy a can way before I would let every one pass me on one of them kawzukicats!
Posted by: qwerty
LOL KFX! Ain't that the truth.
Posted by: Dingo2
Is buying a good used or even "cheap" new Cannibal a bad idea? I know parts are available, but being that they are out of business,,what do you think..
Posted by: Dingo2
SierraKFX...why do you say that?
Posted by: Dingo2
I know parts are available right now, but what about in a year or longer and will they get too expensive, since there won't be backed at all by a factory?
Posted by: SierraKFX
If you think flushing $$$$$ down the toilet is a good idea....go ahead and get one.
PS Make sure you flush twice.
Posted by: Wraith
Quote
Originally posted by: dsracer666
because he's mad that there faster then his cracked frame kfx400hr>
Yes dsracer you are correct, I am mad because my "cracked frame" KFX400 is not as fast as the defunct business corporation Cannondale you bought. I am not mad like you however, because I was smart enough not to buy a quad from a defunct bicycle corporation and get ripped off in the process.
Posted by: Ice
Quote
Originally posted by: dsracer666
because he's mad that there faster then his cracked frame kfx400hr>
That is so tru.
Posted by: MOTOJUNKIE
The only thing is that cannondale legally has to make parts for 5 years no matter what, so no worries should be of them not making anymore parts. and for the whole cannondale being fast thing, Lets line em up ANYONE, Cannondlae will blow any other stock machine AWAY!
Posted by: MDE3
I think the biggest support problem will be with the electronic control boards. Maybe a good busines for someone to be in. The engineering and support for these boards will not be available like aftermarket A-arms, shocks, etc. etc. And given this was a "proprietary" board - meaning exclusive to Cannondale, not too many will have the info to diagnose - other than dealers who may no longer want to waste their time keeping your older C'Dale running when they really would rather sell you a new machine from somebody else.
Posted by: MDE3
Given all the money we spend on almost any quads sitting in our garages to make them into our personal version of "the ultimate" machine, and the lengths we go to modify and create .......starting out with a quad as good as the C'Dale.......... production status should not be much of a deterrant.
Given the amount of R&D already spent to upgrade and improve these machines - there is probably more than enough techno support available to satisfy the most demanding enthusiast. Probably more than many of the so called "production" bikes - at least from a performance viewpoint. The only drawback might be for the rider who just want's to buy one for casual and occasional use - then it could be the wrong choice.
Posted by: MDE3
Referenceing JayBR's comments on "electronic boards" isn't this just a just a question of semantics - ECU stands for what? Electronic Control Unit - essentially just a sealed "board".
As far as it being supported - I am happy to see this information as I think buyers deserve to get all they can out of these elite machines.
Personally I always thought it was a mistake for the company to make anything more tweaked than the "Cannibal" - simply because the nature of the buyers who want performance is that they love to do the work themselves. It's part of the signature of this essentially renegade sport. I think if Cannodale had just offered the one unit as a performance base machine at the more competitive price - and an aftermarket options Catologue offering their own engine/exhaust performance mods, as well as aftermarket brand components tailored to their bikes which the buyer could custom order, they could have saved huge amounts of R&D and kept inventory and production costs under control.
Easy to say on Monday morning.......
