Great thread, and I am not suprised that it didnt end up geting crazy since this is about the most levelheaded site I post on.
Now I dont want to start any arguments etc but I think a lot of the guys (myself included) forget what our machines were like before we got them "set up" or modded etc. (sorry for the disclaimer but been seeing to much bs on other sites lately lol)
I mean this for both the overall performance of the stk 400ex as well as the cannondale.
Both are good machines stock, but I know I woudnt be happy with either in stock form. But the cannondale would be a much faster and stronger performer all around if comparing stk to stk.
The main advantages to the cannondale are the engine and its ability to make excelent power allmost effortlessly, and the overall higher tech of the whole quad once you start modding it, plus you dont need to dive into the engine (if you got a good one with the updates etc) at all since it has more than enough power.
As much as I like my ex it wasnt a killer when I first got it, and it has taken a lot of time, work and $$$ to get it where I like it. I know for a fact that from what you are telling us you would be happy with a "properly" built or set up 440, and the set up is the trick. I wont get into the details now but there are both good and bad 440's out there and the difference is extreme.
Now I am not saying you wouldnt be happy with the c-dale as I think you would be with one also, but I want to try and better explain the difference(s) between them etc.
For a comparison I will share an experience I had at a c-dale demo day about 1-1/2 years ago.
To get a fair feel for this comparison of my 440ex to the moto I rode you have to know that I had just recently got my engine straightend out and was still running a slightly small cam, but it was running very well etc, and I was still getting the elka suspension dialed in. My quad is also set up for XC (+1 a-arms etc) so its not as wide as the moto either.
The demo was at a smaller ride park in NJ that has a track with 2 smaller (about 25-30ft) and one larger (say 60ft I am not good with judging etc) table top jumps plus some unintentional rather large braking bumps and a couple of smaller things I will call pain in the butt bumps LOL.
Well the EX does well on this terrain as its very plush in the suspension and you dont get beat up at what ever speed etc, the power of the 440 is decent for this too but it was set up for low end grunt and doesnt run the corners like a two stroke etc. but you can approach the jumps a gear low and it will just rip up the face etc. and the handling of the honda is very good also so there are not any unusuall or scary things happening either. At this point the power and handling of my quad were well beyond my own skills. LOL
A stock 400ex will not be the same as what I described as this is a fairly well modded machine, and you would expect a more fatiguing or rougher ride and a need to keep the rev's up more etc. and it will not have the power or pull of either the 440ex or the cannondale, but can be very ridable with just basic intake, exhaust and some suspension mods.
Now the moto that I rode that day was very different from both the stk and my modded ex. The engines power comes on a little later and hits harder in the higher rpm's plus it is capable of higher revs too, and it seemed a little stronger overall than the 440 and in a different world than the stk 400. The 440 still had an edge on the low end but once the c-dale started to rev up it was a screamer. Now you have to understand that it had the moto map as well so that could make a big difference to what you may purchase but also can allways be changed towhat you like etc.
The moto also liked to be ridden harder or at a higher rpm than both the hondas, and this was more evident in the corners that approached the small table tops. Where you could lug thru the gear on the 440 the moto wanted to be down shifted and have the rpms rocking, and it landed better when pushed harder also.
The one corner that had the erosion problem that caused natural braking bumps was handled best by the aftermarket suspension on the 440ex, the moto was good here too but the feedback was much more intense and it was enough to cause you to take it a little slower than you could with the 440ex (this could be from the basic set up of the two and that there smaller bumps are more of what you could compare to typical XC stuff, plus the no link rear on the c-dale does work differently on the smaller stuff) and the 440 did come out of the corners with a little more pull but as soon as the moto got reving it was flying.
It was really a interesting quad and the first c-dale I had ridden etc and I was impressed, but as you see I still have the Honda and there are some reasons for this.
First is that its easy, I mean easy to maintain, ride, mod and just about everything etc. Honda does engineer a lot of reliability and ease of maint into their products, and we have to atleast give them that. Part of it was economics and I had paid for the honda and all the mods at this point and it was finally performing to a level I was liking.
I think the main thing that kept me from purchasing the c-dale was that I had a better handling machine and though the c-dale had more power it wasnt power that would be as obvious or useable in a XC type terrain and actually I think it wouldnt be power that was useable in many areas that I wanted it but it was deff pumping out some ponies for sure. So I would be needing to update to aftermarket suspension on this one if I was to make the switch (another **** 2500.00 )
Now that is what I thought then, and things have changed a lot since that time. There are lots of other machines avail and with the problems at cannondale there has not been much advancement beyond the updates to correct previous problems. The main thing that has changed in my mind is that the price on the used and remaining new c-dales has become extrememly competitive. Plus there are a fair amount of modded ones in the used market that are also priced very right.
On the other hand used 400ex's have been going for peanuts also, and you can find one for less than the mods that are on it, but if you dont open up the engine and spend some $$$ on the suspension you wont be anyware near the performance of the cannondale.
So you have a tough decision to make but either way I think you will be happy and unless you get a stk bore 400ex with minimal mods I dont think you will have to many problems with the lt230 especially once you get the suspension set up and are not as concerned with the flat straight races etc. Remember that untill all the major pro riders moved on to other machines they were able to keep ahead of most everything else.
Sorry that was so **** long
But hope it helped answer some questions you may have
Anyway, thanks for listening to my rants! later