I used to work in the Cannondale powersports factory in Bedford Pa and my buddy used to beat the living hell out of those quads on there test track. The early versions had crank bearing and transmission issues. It took them around 3 years to fix those issues. Crankshaft problem was due to the supplier that they were using. Transmission issue was due to the gears being to thin and weak for the torque they put out. I have a set of original case haves from a test engine (that the transmission blew it's guts out) hanging in my shop. They "recycled" hundreds of engines until they figured out the problems.
The crank issue was easily solved by using a z400 crank bearing. Then the head issue was due to them made of magnesium and got corroded from the coolant so updated ones should be aluminum and blue if they weren't painted
i had bought one brand new in 2002 was the Moto 440 race ready ,,, cost 11,500, back then that was a lot of cheddar,,, this thing was a beast my buddy had a banshee as i owned as well and beat him almost every race and thats only because it was almost impossible to keep the front end down !!! wish i still had it !!! nice purchase :-}
I was a salesman at a Yamaha/ Cannondale dealership when Cannondale came out with there dirtbikes then these Quads. Also did a work related tour and ride at the Cannondale factory and test track. Rode every model they had at the time. These quads were fast but were about as reliable as a stick of Dynamite. Every one we sold came back broke. Also was having a hard time with Cannondale supplying engines and support for the customers who bought them. It was a nightmare for a well known Yamaha dealership. In the end Cannondale folded and the owner of the dealership i worked at had me list all the new Cannondales we had left on e-bay and sold them all at a big lost. Some were still in crates.
I almost bought one of these in 2002, ended up getting a raptor instead. They were both right there in front of me, I really wanted the cannondale brand to succeed
I only knew about them because I used to read Dirt Wheels back in high school. Cannondale had this quad and they also had a dirt bike, though I have never physically seen one in person nor have I ever seen one in my area. I always just ever seen them in photos or in video format.
@@Slane583 same, I remember reading about the raptor 660 when they spotted a prototype in the desert had to be 99 or early 2k. I was thinking I'm going to get one of those one day... fast forward to 2010, i'm riding one doing about 60mph and hit a 8x8 block of wood on the side of the road. Barrel rolled on me 5 or 6 times, tore me and it all to hell. I fixed it back up and rode it a few years.. Loved it but didnt really have anywhere to ride anymore so i sold it. :(
@@kdcustoms1272 Ya, that's kind of the big issue in my area too. There's not really any public trails left so you can only really ride unless you own a lot of property or know someone. There are land owners who still allow others to ride their trails but even they are slowly gating them off to strangers because of those who go in and cause problems. Which ruins it for those of us who just want to do a casual ride.
I love it Joe when you are unloading a ride and you hit that point of no return and things get a little crazy.. get's me laughing every time. Thanks for all you do. Have fun with your new toy.
Looks like that thing inspires confidence. One thing for sure is Cannondale has always been cutting and out of the box thinking. I was on a MTB ride when my buddy asked if I wanted to ride his Cannondale. As soon as I got on it I felt immediately in control. It was confidence inspiring and I felt emboldened
These cannondales were ahead of there time ! Def capable mx machines ! Coolest ones I ever saw were built by mike Walsh of walsh race craft which had 250r plastics on them .
I had one of these on my ranch in Montana, and for a while I was satisfied with it. A few months after owning it I noticed many of the components such as the cowel, side covers and rear light started cracking. After some reasearch I found out the " mixture" they used to mold the plastics was made in China, and the company lost millions in recalls, law suits.., etc. As far as performance, it did OK, but couldn't live up to the hills and mountains around my ranch. I sold it for a big loss😢 You live and you learn. Thanks for the video Joe. Allan in frosty Cut Bank, Montana.
I had a friend that raced quads and rode FMX on em, he was a great rider. Remember he bought the Cannondale Speed 440 Moto, basically better suspension, wider a-arms n axle, set up for racing. The thing cost $12,500 back in 2002......which was a LOT for a quad. Not sure what he did with it but it was a beast.
i owned a 05 440 for a few years, in 2009. was different ,and ahead for its time, but def had its share of issues. Never left me stranded but like many say about boats, "the happiest days was when i first bought it and the day when i sold it"
If they had a poster when i was a kid i would of had one this was like the pinnacle of a quad back then. Was faster than anything i ever saw stock only ever seen 1 or 2 in person. Expensive and rare but race ready years before the other fuel injected 450s hit the scene. Sick find!
I raced a Cannondale MX 400 bike back in 01 - a friend was a small dealer and had 3 bike and 5 quads ( he was more into quads ) and mine had all the upgrades done to it and must say it was a very good bike - better than the YZ426 I was racing - grew to like the cannon quite a bit , it sounded like a jet engine under the seat though - the intake was very loud !!! When Dale closed the doors ( bankruptcy ) I bought 2 sets of ohlins forks and 2 rear shocks from them for 200.00 a piece - what a deal that was I should have bought all of them lol - the ended going on my 02 RM250 and my 03 KTM SX 450 , what a diff on the KTM - that bike became magic !!! I love your video's and the odd machines you find Joe - brings back a ton of my history Joe !!! I did ride on of the Dale quads back then to and liked it but I am more of a bike guy !!! I just got confirmation my 2024 Beta RX 300 was picked up in Cali monday from the amercan distributor and will be here fri /sat - cant wait = keep up the great work 👍
Those betas are beautiful bikes... I met a guy in PA that was a lifelong dirt bike enthusiast he was big into ktm and had a 2000s honda 2 stroke 250 he put a bunch of money into... he said nothing comes close to a beta. He kept saying it makes the experience that much better. Makes you a better rider. Machine Adjusts to how you ride.
Even their dirtbike everyone hates was super high quality trick barrel and head /kaplan Americas 🇺🇸 mechanic jeff casteen fixed a non runner, pieces of air filter were inside the cylinder jamming the piston if i recall correctly/something nutty, but i remember the head and barrel is different/acess wise/,very trick high quality, the bike ran like a swiss watch after he got it moving again because it was locked 🔒 up solid.
That’s a nice buy definitely need to add it to the collections, I think you should add a nice built lt250r to the collection haven’t seen one oh those on the channel in a couple of years , just thought they deserved a place in the collection because they started the ATV racing community
He also needs a true race ready Honda TRX250R.. Lager Frame, all the bells and whistles! Maybe a 390 Kit! There's a reason why those quads are still racing today!! Love live the 2 Strokes!! 😮
It would be a true blessing if he would do a two stroke line up like the old days I wanna see a remake of the video of all the classic 250s , lt250r , 250r , tecate 4 and we all ways love to see Charlie 😂
We ALWAYS wait for your great videos! During dinner if you pop up... we all sit down to watch your new vids. They like this one, are a look into my past. Owned a yamahammer 3oo two stroker bike.. we also own three quads..wife even enjoyes riding her quad a 125cc that goes 60mph! The kid and i own the same type of quads..they are like 16occ..and the Breeze out does the suzukies. I know, I know i can't spell, it's one in the morning i cant sleep lol.. This vid was awesome.. i've never seen a quad like that go like a bat out of hell like yours does ..whewwww! Thanks again for a great video..and many great weird vehicles you buy i never knew they existed lol al n kat
As Colin Chapman, of Lotus, famously said, "Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere." Or to paraphrase "Add lightness". lol
I remember that company years ago when they came out with one great dirt bike then heard nothing else about them again. Had no idea they made quads. Great find.
I live in bedford pa…my corvette shop was less then a mile from there plant. I used to ride my quad from my house to my shop everyday after school and always loved watching them test ride these on the track… Scott McGill and a few other guys always sent these things hard… they had another test track back on a farm here in bedford. It was a fun track also… I have a few Cannondale quads now… 1 that has never been rode… this guy has if wrong though. Cannondale made it a 440 after 2000… and it was all them with having the head flipped around. These quads and dirt bikes were WAY ahead of their time! I owned a lot of them. Blown a lot of them up… the cranks need to be balanced out on the early ones. Just use a Z400 crank in them is what i found worked.
What a gem. Nice to get one that runs. Shout out to Vinny with his new hair cut. He's all frisky now jumping around like a deer. He says man I feel good .lol. Great video. We could tell you loved it.
My Sons Boss was a factory Cannondale Pro quad racer and those were very trick machines for their time.the cassette style transmission was supee cool and i actually got to work on a few of the bikes.I have a family freindcthat was a ATK Dealer for many years,they still own an operate a KTM,Triump Dealership in St.Louis Missouri called Moto Europa,very cool shop.
WOW man the GasGas Wild 300 now this! You are so lucky and awesome to always share all these! Still never figure out how you can put out so many videos like you do! I think your the only channel like that!
Funny story I went to detail at my buddies subie and at his buddies shop he had these quads everywhere. There was maybe 20 of them or more i had a video of them but never posted it. So cool to learn they made quads.
It'd be quality to see a Cannondale dirtbike ! Not sure how much RU-vid pays but probably not enough. Proper museum piece , at least here in the UK. Maybe theres more for grabs out your way . I wait patiently!!!!
Former Cannondale dealer here. These quads were before their time but did indeed force the big 3 to come up with something competitive. We took these things to all kinds of races from flat track, gncc, to mx armed with only a laptop you adjust to the track and temp. AMAZING! Your timeline is a little off though. When the company went bankrupt in 2003 all Cannondale's including the bikes were 440's from the factory. The prototype was the only 400 made. ATK bought the powersports rights to the name and leftover parts and pieces. Had a few in crates for a couple years before letting them go. Wish I would've saved one.
A friend bought one. Still owns it. The company actually flew him on a private plane to the factory for buying one. I know they were a lot of money back then but very fast.
Good Job, another interesting find, had never heard of Cannondale. 2Vinny got to close the lawnmower, he can see now When you finally build that pole barn/warehouse for all your toys, don't forget to set up a wash/detail bay
You’ve also inspired me to build these machines wish I could show you my collections some of them I used your hints but Keep bring the projects I watch you every morning 👍🏾
I would suggest with all your off road vehicle purchases, unless you know for sure the brake fluid is new, to replace/flush with new fluid. Standard DOT 4 from the auto parts store will be fine.
Your building a nice collection Joe. I hope soon you get your garage built so we can see the stuff we have forgot about. Keep saving these gems from becoming parts machines.
That's a bad ass quad Joe. I had a Cannondale mountain bike back in 1998, it was awesome and super light. It had the fatty front steer tube suspension, which was a little odd, but cool. I wish I still had it, sold it to a friend that needed a good bike. It had all Shimano xt components, even the wheels
I was wondering why that name sounded familiar.....of course mountain bikes,I haven't a clue about quads but I knew that name from somewhere just couldn't remember.🤙
Honda had 450 engines in quads in 98 and the 1987 Suzuki Quadzilla had a 500 which probably set the ball rolling for larger displacement engines in sport quads.
What beast joe my l c 350 has 65 bhp and a stage 3 race tune proper flying machine spend most of time looking at the clouds pure bullet class content as usual mate 👍
You got most of the info in the start wrong about cannondales motors and what ATK did to update them but great work, great video. They are a riot and you’re in for a treat. The 2001 Cannondale was still a 440 (432 cc) that cannondale just labeled a 400. It was the same motor in 02 just labeled a 440. Atk updated to a 450 but didn’t make the necessary changes to bulletproof them. Those are well known now and they run amazing. Still plenty of parts available
Seems like the only real upgrade I'd do is widen it.i always thought they were cool bikes but it sounds like it's a blast. Maybe need to keep my eye out for one. They look AMAZING from the side...but that front end is one only a mother could love. Haha
Nice catch! Layout looks a lot like modern YZs with the intake facing forward, the tank under the seat etc... Now keep your eyes open for a Cannondale dirt-bike as well! The worst dirt-bike ever build and the reason for the bankruptcy. Don't think any ever made it over here, to Europe but I remember the fuss back in the days... Would be fun to see!
@joshuacoleman2530 my guess would be not enough time in the production room to many problems and not enough time are money are brains at that matter it just went downhill till they went bankrupt I heard.
@@joshuacoleman2530 The 400 was shit it had a lot of problems. I have the 440 or X440S which still had problems but not as much I updated the motor with parts from the aftermarket groups on fb so it no longer has problems and it’s fast af. But yes early models were rushed out of the factory.
They’re technically 432cc’s They were 440’s before atk bought them, I had a 2002 Cannondale Cannibal which ended up grenading and I bought a 04 yfz450 back in 03 when they first came out. The Dales are awesome machines even 20 years later still able to keep up with modern quads.
I will say this, always had and loved the Honda's and never really looked at these machines, but holy cow, what a neat and rugged machine. I do really like the design, and as lightweight as it is that thing in its day must have really been something. Thanks for sharing this awesome machine. Jay from Pa.
I just watched a video on Dry Sump systems, and the "oil checking method" for this machine now makes more sense. Thank you. I couldn't understand why the dipstick would be screwed all the way IN...? Everyone else checks with the threads all the way OUT, resting on the top of the hole.
The engine design also from the beginning was just like you see it with the throttlebody up front and exhaust out the back was all Cannondale from the beginning.
You should try and see if you can get a kfx 700 those are so fun to ride and the v-twin engine is very fun to work on. I have worked on two of the and they are bulletproof.
Always makes me nervous watching you get bikes/quads off the back of your truck on your own. i thought this one might have gotten away on you! glad i was wrong, what an awesome looking machine!!
She needs some beautiful old school alloy looking super trick anodized whees 🤠🙏🇺🇸🇬🇧🤘💪,i just seen the wheels near end and I've changed my mind lol,those wheels 🛞 are just perfect and awesome looking, I'm blind as a blindman 😅👴
Nice bike I never seen one in person and you got a good deal on it. You don't feel comfortable turning right you can turn left all day and do donuts you will be doing figure eights with a little practice on it. I can't remember the last time you did a video and didn't have to do something to the bike.
