Cannondales in general

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LRD 400ex · #1 Post by **LRD 400ex** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 11:50 pm

Hey, im not quite familiar cannondales, and the closest i got to one was on a showroom floor,but never saw one in action or got to ride one. i have heard amazing things about them, and may be in the market for one. i have a couple questions though. should i expect a lot of matainance and problems with a cannondale? reliability wise how does it compate to a 400ex? are they still offically out of business? if so can i still get parts for them? what is all the talk about "updates"? what do u mean? and what is the exact difference from the cannibal through the moto other than different suspension, nerf bars on some,tags on some,wheels,and a price tag? are the engines the same? sorry i bombarded you with all these questions,but itd really help me out. thanks

Sandstorm · #2 Post by **Sandstorm** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 4:53 am

Most Dales aren't reliable. I had a good one w/ over 200 trouble free hrs. Could something have went wrong, probably. Can it be prevented, yes... A Dale is nowhere near a 400ex reliability.. The 400ex is a basic old design that has no thrills.. If your willing to drop the motor and spend some money 300-700 on various updates depending on what your looking for the Dales can be made pretty reliable.. Updates are the fix's for Cannondales lack of quality..The quads are basically the same exept the things you metioned and the different EFI maps loaded into them. Any mapped can be changed to a different map for your type of riding. Parts are easily obtainable from ATK or any authorized C-Dale dealer who will buy them from ATK here in my state of Utah.. www.atkusa.com

bknight · #3 Post by **bknight** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 11:06 am

Sandstorm is right lrd where do you live if you dont mine me asking as for updates you might luck out and fine one that has them like i did

LRD 400ex · #4 Post by **LRD 400ex** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 1:56 pm

im located in jersey. so if i bought a cannibal and put the moto map in it and the nerfs,shocks,a arms,axle,handlebars and tires i will have a moto with cannibal plastic?
from what sandstorm told me im kind of turned off. im only going to use my quad for recreational use. and my ride pattern can be everyday of everyweekend for like 2months straight, or i might ot ride it for a month. i've always liked the banshees and i have ridden them and i realize that reliability is not what they specialize in, but i think im gonna go wit them. all the maps stuff on the dales is just to complicated. thanks though

thomez · #5 Post by **thomez** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:19 pm

Mapping has to be easier than jetting a carb differently every time you do some modification or change altitudes

JBBSPEED · #6 Post by **JBBSPEED** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 2:10 pm

Most Cannondales are not reliable. ????

Gee I must be one of the lucky people ..... Not one motor problem yet on my 02 and have ridden it very hard. Dang I forgot there or two other really luck people with-in 20 min of me because they have not had one problem either. Maybe Cannondale made special additions for North Carolina that were reliable. Lets see I did have a fuel pump go out ... that was covered under warranty. I had to change the map to help it cold start.... um thats it, and when I go riding with a bunch of people I see other brands breaking down.... Even Honda... OMG he said Honda....:wow

LRD 400ex:
Heres the truth reliability is what you make of it. If you take care of your quad with regular maintenance you most certainty will get better reliability. The high performance a machine is, the less reliable it will be. Hints that a Cdale will take more maintenance then a 400ex. But to say it is not reliable is not true. If you are just a recreational rider and do not have a dealer or repair shop that does mapping in your area I would recommend you look at another quad because the fact that they are so different then any other quad made. But if you are looking for High performance and do not mind getting your knuckles greased with a little maintenance, get a Cannondale.

This was not meant as a flame to the other posters... Just a BIG BIG difference in opinion.

thomez · #7 Post by **thomez** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 2:50 pm

I think the Cannondales are luck of the draw kinda bikes. Some people do all the updates and can still lose a bottom end in 20 hours while others don't do a darn thing and ride for hundreds of hours, no problem. The difference in opinion is just based on differences in the luck of the owners, probably mixed slightly with maintenence schedules. More luck than anything though.

Here's my advice. Buy a 'Dale, get/do all the updates (couple $100 bucks, I think), get a $300 D&M kit so you can map it and diagnose problems yourself, get a $600 balanced crank from ATK or send yours off to Big Winky for the same $600, and ride that %*#@! like you stole it!

Even IF you still have terrible luck and lose a motor, you have a 2k bill at the most. Add it all up man ... you buy a Cannibal for 4k ... you spend another say ... $1200 getting it perfect and a D&M ... you have the best **** bike on earth for just over 5 grand. Even if it all goes to **** on you ... you fix it and you still have in it what it would have cost to get a YFZ ... and that is by far the worst case scenario.

I don't think you'll regret buying one if you invest that $5200 or so in the way I mentioned. And for that much money ... I don't think you could beat a 'Dale with a baseball bat! :hammer:

wanablaze · #8 Post by **wanablaze** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 3:10 pm

I went riding this weekend there were quite a few people out. The only thing I saw break down was a YFZ. MY dale hasn't had any problems yet except a dead battery and low idle. Knock on wood. Both have been corrected.

Jaybr · #9 Post by **Jaybr** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 5:10 pm

QUOTE

Originally posted by JBBSPEED
Maybe Cannondale made special additions for North Carolina that were reliable.

That explains it, I bought my 02 Speed in Durham and have had no real problems with it in almost 2 years.

MX Quad Dad · #10 Post by **MX Quad Dad** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 12:08 am

You allways hear (read) about the bad ones. I guess all the people that have a good one are to bussy riding to post. I have a 02 Moto, We raced a Banshee in 2001 with lots of maintanance. Moto in 2002 very little maintanace ( it was great). I wouldn't hesitate to say "best **** Quad ever" including Rs Zillas and YFZ.

You must read and obay the service manual, as stated earlier it is a performance machine