The History Of The 2001 Cannondale MX400
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2024
- This is a look back at the history of the Cannondale motocross project and 2001 MX400 it produced. When it was proposed in 1998, the Cannondale motocross project garnered huge press and great anticipation that it was, unfortunately, unable to live up to. The machine ended up coming in way late and over budget and was plagued with numerous reliability issues from the start. While the brand eventually addressed many of its early problems, skyrocketing costs led to bankruptcy and the collapse of the brand that had given it birth in 2003.
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0:00 Start
0:30 Intro
5:16 Cannondale History
9:15 Main Review
25:53 Outro - กีฬา
I clearly remember all the hype and then the disappointment. I never got to see one in person. Would love to see the ATK history.
I visited the factory for an interview, and I turned down a job they offered me. Damn, it was a nice try. I totally understand that it was the free market factories that got mankind in the USA out of poverty, and they were trying to be hero's. They should have worn capes.
Same here I remember drooling over them in the dirt rider magazine as a young teen in the late 90s New Zealand, my dad’s friend even pre ordered one that never materialized I’m 38 now and still have never seen one in the flesh
While the bike was fairly abysmal, the quads were great.......... when they ran. ATK did sort most of the bugs out and bumped up the power quite a bit.
I remember rooting for cannondale/ATK and gas gas quads to catch on back then (in my early teens). Heck, roll design out here in So Cal built a Vor 503 based race quad and several other companies were building husaberg based quads at the time. Lot more exciting back then.
Ahhh, let me tell you about Cannondale from what I have experienced. I was in the factory in 2000 or 2001. I drove from Michigan to Bedford PA. for an interview with the company, and I got offered a job. I am a machinist with manufacturing degree's, and I have had a lot of interviews and jobs in that arena. First, I have to give props to Joe Montgomery, CEO of Cannondale at the time, for trying to make a dirt bike in the USA. I think we all should tip our hat to that man, and I am very sad he did not make it happen. But I could see from my interview that they were messing up. I got there, and first interviewed with their Bicycle division, (The dirt bike plant was 4 miles away), and that was cool. But at one CNC lathe, I saw some head studs being made for testing. They planned on making them out of stainless steel, but these test studs were made of cold rolled steel, and the threading tool left what is called a "stress riser" on the stud, while the manager was telling me the studs were breaking, thus the need for new studs. I have no idea why they would test 8 studs made from a different material than what they intended to produce for production, but I kept my mouth shut. I then drove 4-miles for the second half of the interview at the MX/Quad plant, and i was handed off to the plant manager there, (a flunky automotive guy, I can tell). While I was being "handed off", the Bicycle plant manager told the MX manager, "We will have those 8 studs ready fro you in about an hour". The MX manger said, "8, I need 800." They were not going to test those studs made improperly form the wrong material, they were going to sell them. That is stupid union automotive stuff. Then I get shown around the plant, and out the back door is a MX test track. Back then, PA had a lot of 3 digit pro racers, and probably hired a couple of them. Here was this kid, taking a break on the back steps, I see the hard pack track, with a sand tire on the bike that has knobs chucked off like I have never seen before. All the knobs were 65% gone. I have no idea what they could be testing with a tire like that. The manager then took me into his office, and told me the Cannondale was the best handling bike bar none, (from an automotive guy?),--and I drove back home. I got a call a week later offering me a job at 40 grand, but i turned it down. About 2 months later, MXA published a test on the bike, and crucified it more than any bike I have ever read from a MXA test before. A few months later, the MX division was out of business.
As a manufacturing guy, there was no other place to work in Bedford. Very glad I did not take the job, but very sad we don't have a bike made in the USA. I would have loved to be a part of that.
Great story bro...
Thanks for sharing !
This is the kind of "I was there" story I like. The guy qualifies himself without bragging. He tells the bad without being overly critical. He adds praise where praise is due.............the media could learn something from him. Thanks for sharing.
@@waynewhite4886 Well thank you very much. But after reading it again,---I probably would change it a bit. :)
I am not the marxist that will bash on a business, (like the media and our school system today). To me, Cannondale took on a hero's work, and just could not make it happen. It should bug us that nobody could make it happen in the USA. I know it bugs me.
Dude, you say to tip your hat to Tom Montgomery for trying to make a dirt bike and so sad he did not make it happen. You are so wrong. He did make it happen ! They were 10 years ahead of their time. I own one. They are insane and fast. The fact is MXA did shut down the technology that was brazen ahead of it's time and proof is in the bikes that are sold today. Mapping, Fule Inject, lay down shock, .....sounds like you are bitter but they did better than anyone else. Just shot down because the same people "UNBELIEVERS" are the ones that said "horses are the best transportation" ....come on man.
@@worldsnextsupercar4362 @EarthSurferUSA -- Let's just say that got it done but didn't get it DONE. I like the fact that they got it done but I would have LOVED if they had gotten it DONE!
Excellent review. FYI, I raced an S440 successfully up Pikes Peak a couple seasons for the 99th and 100th anniversary. Probably the only one in history.
That is seriously a cool story bro.
I realize this is an older video. Nice work! After the MX400, Cannondale brought to market the X440, E440 and C440 versions of the dirt bikes. Those versions fixed a lot of the problems the MX400 had, but not quite enough. Three main issues still plagued the bikes, also the quads. 1) Engine flame out. This was mainly caused by the the ECU losing a solid ground connection so it shut down the bike seemingly randomly and sometimes not start. However, simply adding star washers under the ground connections would have fixed this issue. 2) The cassette plates in the engine would come loose. Again simple star washers, Loctite or locking bolts would have fixed this. 3) More seriously, the crank bearings in the engine were too soft or something. They had a very short life and would go way too quickly. Using a better set of crank bearings fixes these problems giving years of life. I sent my 01 E440 to ATK and they made all these mods and the bike still runs today. Just too little too late for Cannondale. I don't ride motocross, but the bike rides well in the desert and trails. Even smashed the radiator and ran it out of water in Baja, it would not die! Anyway, if some how Cannondale hung on, it would have been interesting to see what next generation improvements they would have made to the dirt bike and quad lines, but unfortunately, we will never know.
I had a 2007 ATK Version. Most of the bugs were worked out. Compared to my '99 ATK 490 is was lightweight and more powerful, but compared to my race bike at the time, 06 KX 450 it was definitely underpowered and heavy. I felt the ATK handled better, the KX had a terrible push in corners, but it never felt good in the air. I gave up on the idea of racing the ATK and stayed on the KX.
I lived not far from the Cannondale factory and I guy I knew got a job being a test rider because the other test rider broke both his arms when the bike shut of in the air and wrecked pretty bad. But he said the bike ran good when it was working correctly.
I interviewed there, drove from Michigan, but turned down the job. What a beautiful area you guys are in. But if they would have had more manufacturing, (that I could fall back on if I lost the job for some reason,---which has happened to me a lot), I probably would have taken the job. I ever check out that "mystery hill" where your car will roll uphill on the road. Some damn funny gravity there. Must be related to all the hills/mountains.
@@EarthSurferUSA that hill is called Gravity hill in Bedford PA. It is fairly close to the Cannondale factory.
I've raced a Cannondale quad, once the engine updates and electrical gremlins are sorted they are a fantastic quad.
You make the best bike reviews hands down! Thank you!
Glad you like them!
@@TheMotocrossVault When did you start writing bike reviews? I have read a bunch of Ayn Rand, but I can't take credit for what she said/wrote. I just find she agreed with me. :) It is cool hearing the reviews again though. Am I wrong? Do you write the reviews?
Happy New Year! As always great content.
Same to you!
We will see.
Great video and great info Tony! Would be cool to see one ridden today
Love your channel my dude!
Glad you enjoy it!
Had a buddy. Cannondale sponsored him with a mx400. Flamed out, or locked up (can't remember), on the face of a big gap. Broke his back...never raced again.
Damn that sucks
In 98 I make the four stroke switch to the yz400 but in 2000 KTM came out with the 520 but they were impossible to find so two months before the nationals my dad talked a guy into selling us his and I won a Loretta Lynn’s title in 2001 on a year old used 2000 KTM 520sx(even though the Mxsports vault says Yamaha),the bike was incredible. Would love to see you do a video on it. Great job!
Congrats on one of the 1st 520 Wins! Such a Cool Looking Bike! I love the silver rear fender & side covers! & chrome plated dual exhaust header! Aussie Enduro rider Shane Watts also was lent one of the 1st 520's & loved it!! There's some nice pics of Watts riding the 520 on the Net! I have a 2003 525exc Great machine! & the E-start is a blessing! The KTM 520sx must have been a Revelation back in 2000! -Cheers👍
I love these videos.so much info and learning in your videos
Awesome, thank you!
i always wondered about the history of cannondale. awesome job. i like to see one done on gasgas
Cool look back!
Really enjoyed that review
Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks. Very entertaining. I have a 2003 e440. Unique part of history no doubt
I totally forgot about that bike! There was so much hype around it!
The Fat Cat..lol... Havent seen one of those in decades.
Great video Tony.. never heard of the Cannondales MX attempt
I've always wondered what the story was with these.
1989-1993 ATK 604's and 605's were more like 247 lb dry without e-start (you mention 605's being 300 lb machines so maybe you're talking 1994 and newer 605's that did get porkier with new frame etc.). So pre-1994 ATK's were much lighter than an XR 600 while also having 50-60 hp, I own a 1991 604 MX and it dyned at 60 hp at the rear wheel while being 247 lb dry. That's impressive especially by 1991 standards and actually isn't bad even by 2021 standards considering the motor alone weighed 100 lbs.
The only way the pre-1994 ATK 604's/605's would weigh 300 lb is if they were e-start/EFI and had a full tank of gas. I weighed mine full of gas with e-start (no EFI) with 2.2 USG MX tank and it was 300 lbs. Subtract e-start and all the fluids and it'd be perhaps more the 247 lb dry but not too far off as the battery in these was very heavy.
They made a quad too
True!
I was always told the quad was a direct copy of the honda 250r geometry they where really a rocket for there time
I remember seeing them in dirtwheels and being blown away. They were definitely ahead of their time. Too bad it didn't work out. I saw a few of them in Pennsylvania in 2009 and there are still some out there running today.
@@fasst45072 I love dirt wheels is it still being made?
I think so but it's pretty much all side by sides last time I browsed an issue at the grocery store a few years ago
I have a cannondale quad, bought it in pieces, it's an alright machine
I remember reading the reviews of the dirt bike magazines, they were saying how good the Cannondale MX motorcycle was, when it first came out.
obviously a snow job.
They all lied, Motocross Action were honest though.
motocrossactionmag.com/biggest-disaster-in-motocross-history-the-story-behind-the-cannondale/
It was not made in china,--that the magazines praise today. I am a manufacturing expert, and I challenge you to make anything just slightly technical, and sell it.
What you saw---was a hero die.
Really a shame, I had a friend and his father that had money back then, while the friend was really into BMX and mountain biking, his dad was big into motocross and quads, his dad bought both the X440 and a Cannibal quad in matching grey.
They were sharp bikes, but he was always having issues with them....all while I was still riding my old 84 CR250R and less old, 95 420cc Banshee without issue. I remember when I moved years later, they had offloaded that cool Cannibal sadly, but it was still running, but their X440 was sitting on a stand in their corner garage and hadn't run for years. 😅
Carmichael & laracco…2 of the best mad way up there on my list too tony…started in 91
The prototyope actually looks nice!
Look what it spawned,the current Yamaha engine,Husaberg/Husqvarva 449/511 underseat tank position,really forward thinking,shame it didn't have the Japanese engineering eye put over it,longterm it would have succeeded had all the small things been addressed...fork springs, those need set up for every rider, if you are professional at it...I.o.M TT Racers used to even re-jig their frames before even hitting the course,as the Hondas were never straight leaving the factory,same goes for every bike,they need a front to rear strip and rebuild straight out the shop,just to be sure....i'm sitting here with a list for my mates new SWM RS500R of things needing done before we do the TET Albania this year,fuelling is terrible from the factory! Shame the Cannondale died,i'm a sucker for the weird stuff,a Husaberg FE390 owner currently!
The Yamaha engine came from their road race engines, and put into production about 4 years before Cannondale was making MX bikes.
Which is why our MX tracks today look like dirty road race courses with jumps in the middle of the straights.
Great presentation! Glad I watched this before picking up a used one!
Hi Tony....still thinking you should do a review of the 2003-2004 KTM 200 SX model. No racing history to show but it was a cool and fun bike.
Would have been nice to had a few minutes devoted to the last variants ... , the C, S, & E440's, and the differences between them and the earlier MX400's. Did they actually iron out the bugs, or was it just a cosmetic job?
I have an unridden E440 in the UK, but would dearly like to know where the rest of the production run of circa 450 E models, ended up.
I _think_ ATK sold them as ATKs? Might be an invented memory though.
Awesome vid , really a forgotten bike. Would you ever consider a vid on the quad version?
If Y could get enough info sure but I don't think I have a ton on the Quad
If you want I would collaborate with you on a quad vid. I actually have a long history with this brand. Even got to do some factory test riding back in the early 2000's. Plus I have owned several C-Dale bikes and quads and still currently have two quads.
I love this review. So much info!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I own one. I paid $150 for it. Complete bike but the previous owner couldn't get it to start. I got it just for the parts. The bike looked like it was never ridden. I put the front forks on my 04 kx250. The bike had premium parts. I got my money's worth
Few things I think it's important to note since this might be the last place the cannondales are thoroughly documented on the internet.
Another part of the premium package was that when a bike was brought back to a dealer with an engine problem, whether it was a simple top end or complete disaster, the dealer was expected to send the whole motor back to cannondale and cannondale would send you a new motor. This level of service isn't seen in other bikes probably because of the cost.
Another issue that I've heard mentioned by people who rode them but never seen written down is that the frame would touch the ground on steep enough takeoffs, maybe ruts had to be involved?
I think a video on the quads would be awesome too, I'm going to try to get someone to message you who was on the cannondale quad team at the time since you're short on info. The quads accomplished everything the bikes failed to in terms of changing the game. They just ran out of time and money to see the returns.
"Another part of the premium package was that when a bike was brought back to a dealer with an engine problem, whether it was a simple top end or complete disaster, the dealer was expected to send the whole motor back to cannondale and cannondale would send you a new motor. This level of service isn't seen in other bikes probably because of the cost."
If that is true, no wonder why they failed with decisions like that. That is insane.
Pic at min 8:13, Cannondale Mt. bike team. Tinker wharez, (sp) there second from the left, with the long black kinky hair,---gave John Tomac, (yes, the Dad of Eli), fits in the mid 90's
I saw a cannondale motorcycle at a bike shop up near Vernon, New Jersey. My dad and I were at that shop to pick up a KTM motorcycle that he purchased and before we left, the Cannondale Motorcycle caught his attention.
It turns out that it was right out of the crate as I recalled. A rare bike would fetch a good price.
I am sorry Tony man, but from dyno testing from people who test 2-stroke oil to help their cranks hold up, (Quick Draw marine RC engines), Klotz supertechnicplate and Motul Kart GP 2-t are the best oils they have tested to date. Be sponsored from the best, (which is not pulpmx either IMO). Love your content though. :)
Great vid, I actually would search out Cannondale history about once a year to see if anyone had made a vid like this. I had been wanting to make a history vid on my channel for a while now. So I just came across yours.
I remember when these came out I really wanted to throw a leg over one and try it. I can't believe how many problems this bike had. Thanks for telling the actual story on these bikes. It lent credence to the idea that parts left off a bike can never break, cost money, or add weight. In other words, simple is better.
In this case I think you are 100% right. Get the fundamentals right before you try yo reinvent the wheel.
@@TheMotocrossVault That's because I'm an old guy and rode Husqvarna forever. They were basically pure function.......there was not a piece on them that was not needed and it really paid when you trusted the bike in 100+ miles of desert. They always brought me home....not always in style but I always made it.
I like your ending philosophy. But, I am 100% positive that there are segments of the actual story that we have never heard,---just like the news. A interview with Joe Montgomery, (the CEO at the time), I would welcome.
I recall a noisy engine. At the tracks I was at, they had a sound I noticed
Maybe the empty wallets of the owners rattling.
My uncle had worked for cycra when they were in ohio in the early 2000s and had told me stories about developing the plastics for the cannondale motocross bikes as cycra was the only american manufacturer of dirt bike plastics, now today cycra has moved from ohio and my uncle now does architecture but he still rides a cannondale moutain bike
One problem with the reverse cylinder. Originally, the air filter was behind the front number plate. But I knew there would not be enough air to the 400cc motor by going threw the head tube and around the steer tube, and low an behold, they added a second air filter under the seat. Now among us, who likes to clean air filters?
I've been sitting on this for years I bought 2003/4 440 MX. If I remember it was 10500 All In I hadn't even ridden the bike yet one week later and Company announced bankruptcy I called up Cannondale pissed off the man who answered the phone said he was CEO of the company and was cleaning out his desk. He proceeded to tell me I had to take the motor out send it to ATK give them $2,500 for them to rebalance the crank and some other stuff. That really pissed me off and I told him so.l don't want to brag but I kid u not l have owed over 150 motorcycles in my life. I am 74 years old and not stupid. I pushed Joe the ceo with questions and backed him into a corner. He told me what really happened.They had contracted with maximum for all there products oil, water coolent etc and something in the coolest reacted with the magnesium in the cases and the aluminum impeller in the water pump causes of water pump to fail and consequently the Motors blow up after about an hour due to the failure of the impeller. He told me to check my bike and see if I had a plastic impeller as a small amount of bikes I believe he said 15 or 20 and if not change it before I ride the bike. I was one of the luckie ones with a plastic impeller. The 2003/4 is a way different fight than the one Motocross Action tested and I hate them for the review of a bike that wasn't finished period that article in magazine had a great deal to do with sinking the ship.l Had RG3 revalve front shocks. The bike came with a great owner's manual a shop manual a parts list manual and a huge manual on how to set up the shocks from olines . The bike is a bit heavy. However put it on a diet replacing Nuts and Bolts you can easily knock off 50 pounds.You can program the computer to make the bike do anything you want. Parts are still available. I'll bet you dollars to Donuts stock to stock Cannondale will smoke anything out there. KTMs Honda you name it. I live in San Fernando Valley.Bring it with your pink slip.
Hey man id love a rt 180 video, i cant find much info about them. Cheers.
I actually owned one. I bought it for my girlfriend to ride. It was pretty peppy but the ergonomics, handling and suspension were just awful. I would not mind doing a vid but there is virtually no info out there on it. It was a parts-bin play bike so I don't think I have ever seen a test of it in any of the mags.
My first dirt bike was an rt 180!
IMO, you should not accept YT ads. I know they pay you, but it is not worth it. There are plenty of great companies in the industry that would love a piece of the action.
Horst Letiner, founder of ATK. Now he would be a great interview.
Finally, somebody who knows what he is talking about. :)
My dad said he saw a brand new one in the showroom at a dealership and they couldn’t get it to start
@The Motocross Vault Can you do a review 2002 Honda CR 250R please.
I will for sure
Love mine 02 c440 not perfect better than my 503 vor.
Anyone have any original E440 silver plastic and decals? I would love to restore my E440 back to it's original color.
Great PDS like a KTM
Hey motocross fault big fan here love your videos I was wondering can you make a video on dirt wheels magazine 88 to 90 issues?
Yes I can I'll see what I have
It's a shame that this bike failed. How cool it would have been to have a competitive bike built in the USA.
Pentons .... Is from where ?
Penton was what early KTMs were sold as in the USA
I would like to see yamaha it bikes
Drr ATV bikes is top one frm states
It was a weird machine. Maybe they were moved to try so many innovations at once by the same crowd who still call Husqvarnas "white KTMs"
I heard that they blamed their failure on MXA's bad review of the bike for their downfall. At that same time Dirt Rider named it "Bike of the Year"
Maybe it was the Bike of the Year in the same sense that TIME magazine named Hitler as its man of the year one time too.
When I heard Cannondale was bringing out a motocross’s bike I thought it was a joke for publicity or something and few years later it turned out I was right . It was a joke. Great looking bike for the time but just was crap all round. To bad cuz was a good look and could of been a front runner if the right people were involved
It was not a joke. No MX bike manufacture in the USA is a tragedy. How dare you laugh at the guys who tried their best to be hero's. And I don't just mean hero's because they tried to make a dirt bike, but hero's because they tried to also give people jobs and opportunity, (how every city was built in the USA). If you notice,--we have been taught, (by the likes of marx's teachers in our schools) to hate business, as if they are bad greedy people----who got mankind out of poverty and gave everybody who worked for them opportunity. Get ready to dig for potatoes every day for dinner, because that is what we will be doing, (if we are lucky), when our free enterprise system is totally taken over by communism.
It was not a joke. It was a hell of a good try,---and probably too late. They would have had a much better chance in the 70's before the evil gods of our own government shipped our factories to communism starting in the 80's.
@@EarthSurferUSA I would agree with you 100% if this was a few guys building a bike in their shed trying to do something great. But this is a bicycle manufacturer trying to make more money with hard work low paid employees that bust their asses for chump change. So not really the American dream you speak of yeah..
When the time comes I’m definitely going to buy a cannondale quad!!! I’m kind of curious about the dirt bike but will definitely get the quad first when the time comes
"Developing a motocross bike from scratch is not easy" ya, that's why Honda and Suzuki started copying Maico. Their first bikes actually copied CZ. Roger De Coster: "We had a new race manager in Japan (1974). We went from a short stroke engine to a long stroke engine, which was done more to emulate what Maico was doing. Maico seemed to work well and getting more traction as a result." by "emulate" meaning, copying the exact borexstroke.
I gota Atk 605ds. Those were best. Cannon r good til they blow
i think for bicycle for cannondale is fading now
They designed the pistons wrong so they faced the wrong way around from memory?
Sounded good on paper . LoL but it was exciting at the time . At least it wasn’t a company or sponsor pulling money out or away from our sport .
What company or sponsor pulls money from the sport? It was their efforts that created the sport and the industry, and my opportunity. I port 2-stroke engines for a living today, because my 2 engineering degrees in manufacturing kept me just above poverty,---as communism was allowed and encouraged to pull money and our factories from us. Show me a company or sponsor who pulls money from the sport. I say no such thing can exist. Who created the sport? I promise you, it was not government. They destroy everything we built,---and this sport is on their chopping block today. It will be deemed as "non-essential" after they collapse our economy, which is underway as I write this.
@@EarthSurferUSA where has JgR racing , Geico Honda , Team Suzuki gone etc ....??? They are no longer involved in sport why ?? Sponsor and companies pulled their support, for what ever their reasoning . Gone . What would happen to racing if Monster and Red Bull decide to pull their support?? Remember coors, or Camel or Miller . Companies pull support and come and go all the time in racing.
That bike was full of new tech, and bugs, shame it didn’t succeed
Yes, a shame. I think we all would have loved a competitive bike made in the USA.
Can you do the HONDA FOURTRAX 250r next?
I will be in the future
4-stoke, $8,000 20 years ago. Ever wonder why this sport is failing? 900,000 kids can't compete anymore.
Usa does not have what it takes to make a world class bike
YES IT DOES, JUST BECAUSE YOU SAID THAT, I WILL PROVE YOU WRONG. ! USA USA
Cannondog
It is easy for you to criticize. You have no idea what it takes to make something.
@@EarthSurferUSA I do know I’d never attempt to break into a
very Established highly competitive market where huge manufacturers have been developing Mx machines since 1960s.. and your company has been making what..bicycles
Don’t need to be very clever to have an opinion on this failure imo