Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128629
Cannondale MX400 Style and Design specia l iss ue), b ut so meti mes thi s o n ly see med to se t people m ore fi rm ly against Cann ond a l e ; judging by some of th e com m ents we've heard fro m others who a re c u r r e n t l y t est ing t h e b ik e, it see ms th at th er e's a fa ir amount of bittern ess out there towards this b icy cle company w ith the gall to go head to -head with one of the motorcycle industry 's most -loved models in yea rs. (And in t erms of t echnology, the ' d al e even on e-ups the Yamaha YZ426F in a few ar eas.) Grant ed, Cann onda le 's pos it ion as u nderd og shou l dn 't excuse its n ew m ot orc ycl e from a ha rd -nosed, obje ct i v e performance e va luation , but be fore we g et d own to brass tacks , p lease co nside r the sc al e and sco pe of what thi s co mpany is do ing. Canno ndale is bu ilding a motocrosser in cluding the eng ine - in th e Unit ed St at es, so mething th at no o ne els e has ever been able to do . Even if the thi ng is so slow it gets left by Can nondale bicyc le ho nc h T ink er J uarez, you've got to g ive the co mpany cre d it for that. S TO RY AND PHOT OS BY C HRIS J O N NUM ay what you will abo ut Cannon da le - and these days, people are saying plenty - but th e compan y is no t afra id to try new ideas. Yes , w e kno w that it seems "l ik e an et ernity that the MX4 00 has bee n in deve lo p ment and to , be ho nest , even we had begu n t o have o ur d o ub ts as to whether o r not t he b ik e wo ul d ever ac tually see product ion . What ma de things wo r se w as t he fact th at as a pub li c ly t rad ed com pany , Ca n nond a l e w a s p ra ct i ca ll y de ve lopin g a new -from -ground -up m oto r c y c l e along w ith al l t he stumb l e s a n d embarrassing m omen t s suc h a Her cul ean u n de r ta k i ng n e ce s sar il y incl udes - in a fis h bowl , with pundits and ske pt ics cr i t i q ui ng its every S move. True , thi s high -v isib ility st at us has also brought alo ng a fair amount of p o si t i v e h yp e (i t was name d Dirt Rider's B ike o f the Year we ll bef ore anyone had even rid den the ma ch in e, and it recently m ade Men 's Journets 32 S EPTE M B ER 6 , 2 000 ' cue I e n e'UVs The world's fastest bicycle: When Cannondale de cided to build a motorcycle, it went whole-hog. The MX400 - finally be ing shipped to dealers - drips with innovat ion and high t echnology. ra t ed removab le engi n e c ra dles, whic h both makes for easier m o tor r em o v a l (handy , since doing so is nec ess ary to adjust t he valves) and all o w s rep la c e m e n t i n the c ase of damaged frame rails. To cu shion th e rig idit y of its a luminum fram e, Cannondal e sus pe nds the bike with top-shelf Ohlins co m ponents , with a KTM-like link less rea r system that reduces weight, maintenanc e , and t he numb e r of parts. Ca nt ed at a severe angle , the posit i o n - sen sit ive shock sits wh ere th e ca rburetor and airbox would normally be fou nd. Th is is m ad e po ssib le since th ere is no ca rb uretor ( t h e bike i s electronica ll y fu el inj ec t ed ) , and th e ai r intake is at the front of the bike, th r ou gh the fram e ' s head - a nd t op tubes (where, th eore tica ll y , the air is cooler and fresher). Th i s is handy , since t he c ylinder head is al so reversed, wit h ai r and fuel int ake on th e fro nt and outle t in th e bac k - a move that i s sai d t o lo we r the b ike's center of gra vity. It also makes for t he world 's shortest header pipe - nearl y a foot shorter than normal, and we ll awa y from ten der fle sh du ring soil samples or postride bike loading. Another novelty is the Cann on dale 's one -pi ec e c rankcas e , which should ease eng ine teardown a n d crank remova l. It's also got a cas sette tr ansmission (thoug h the motor must be dropped o ut for gearbox removal ) , and like a car, it separates the o iling systems for the m otor an d tranny. This means th at you ca n run use-spe cific lubricant for eac h area , and that your engine oil wo n 't be co nt am inated by the clu t ch . Also of note . is the healthy l .5- q ua rt oil c apa ci ty , part of which i s accou nte d f or b y the left frame spa r. And fin all y , the Cannonda le is an electric -sta rt m od el; pu sh th e g reen button on th e right to m ak e it go - the red o ne on th e left to m ak e it sto p. C A N NO N R AILI N G M O T O RI Z E O RAVEN? Famous for its large -tu bed alloy bic ycles, Can no ndale is no stra nger to alum inum -frame m an ufa ctu ring , so the MX400's bea uti fu l Ho nd a -esq ue perimeter-type sk eleton wa s perhaps to be ex pected. B esid es, th is tech nique has been used for yea rs on sport bik es, so techn icall y , it's not reall y so . gro und -breaking . A nd fr om what we un der st and , w hile the sta rt- up c osts are substantia l wi th th e tooling nec essary for aluminum fram es like this, the cos ts actua lly go dow n on c e eve rythi ng's in place. A s with Cannondale's bic ycl e fram es, big -tubed alu m inum motorcycl e fram es have a reputat ion for ri gi d ity (so meti mes t o a f au lt ). A not her benef it, according to Cann on dale, is the fact th at alum inum bett er d issipa tes heat away fro m the motor area and th us allows the engi ne to run coo ler. Cannondale has also incorpo - Of course if you 've been following any of that aforementioned hype, yo u . were already aware of Ca nnondale's technical m umbo -jumbo. Wha t is only re cently leaking out , now tha t th e MX400 is in (admittedly limited) production and test units are ava ila ble , is word of th e b ik e's perf ormance. Ou r anal ys is took p lace on one of the fi rst prod uction 2001 models, on two d ays of testing in So uthern Cali fornia . D ay one was at t he official press in tro d uction at E l s in o r e MX tra c k , wit h the second day taking pl ace at Glen Helen Rac ew ay . Can nondal e hasn 't pro v id ed u s w ith ou r ow n test bik e, so we' ve got near ly no f irst -h and ex perie n ce of livi ng wi th and w o rk ing o n the MX 400 (wh ich, by the w ay , actua lly d i sp l ac es 43 2 cu bi c ce nti mete rs) , and ca n ne ither co nfi rm nor refu te th e negat ive com ments we 've heard on th is fro nt ; we