My Cannondale MX400: The global search for the elusive ‘YELLOW bike’ starts here!

It’s funny how images stay in your mind, particularly if the subject of the image is yellow. Think of something that you’ve seen in your life that was yellow, and it’ll be quite a detailed image that you can recall, whether it be a lemon, banana or a million dollar McLaren sports car. Anyway, one of the first Cannondale MX images that I saw ‘sometime last century’, was of a red and a yellow bike together. There are tons of images of the red bike, and I’m guilty of taking a lot of them, but that’s because it was a popular colour out of the 344 that were ever made. However, I’ve always wondered who has, where are etc, the yellow bike(s). I obviously haven’t conducted a global investigation into the whereabouts of the missing yellow bike, until now, but I have asked around, and nobody has one or has seen one. Intriguingly exciting huh? Maybe.

I like the colour yellow. I associate it with cheerfulness and optimism, as well as it being the brightest colour that the human eye can see apparently. My first lifetime foray into yellow things, other than bananas and other everyday stuff, was when I bought my first VW Beetle, which was bright yellow. I actually did what you should never do, and bought the car on a dark and wet night from a private seller, but it did look bright and great under a street light in the rain. However, it did need a new clutch 3 days later, but that is part of the no-warranty-private-sale-car-buying-thing.

I did a bit of research about yellow vehicles and the people who choose to drive/ride them. Apparently, and particularly with cars, these yellow car drivers are typically fun, energetic, cheerful and want to be seen as enthusiastic. They are also not afraid to be the centre of attention. These drivers are more likely to be observant and careful on the road as well, and crucially, they are likely to be the first to stop if another road user wants assistance due to their desire to comfort others. So yeah, you are what your car colour is apparently. Also, whilst car colours may not be as important to some drivers, different car colours do have different psychological effects on their owners. 

Most of the supercar companies like McLaren, Lamborghini, Ferrari etc, do sell yellow cars, even though the colour yellow does regularly go in and out of fashion in the car world. They don’t sell many yellow cars but it makes the colour card in the brochure look more interesting. I mean, a Ferrari should be red shouldn’t it? Ducati is the same with their superbikes. Ducati have historically made yellow bikes, and I do know that they are less sought after than the same bike in red. There is a big bonus with yellow cars and bikes and that’s regarding theft. Data shows that no car or bike colour is exempt from theft, but most criminals generally avoid brightly coloured cars or bikes, such as yellow or orange, as they are easy to identify.

I also have two country-specific car examples here as well. Firstly, in the USA, the 2024 Corvette was offered in 14 colours, and yellow was last on the year-end sales chart, so are Corvette owners really becoming more low key? In the UK, less than 1% of all new cars sold in the UK last year were yellow, which beat the least popular colour of brown. Thank F@@@ Cannondale didn’t make a brown bike!

Cannondale were possibly the first to make a black MX bike, and Triumph have more recently done the same with their TF250-X. However, with silver and grey being the most popular vehicle colours at the moment, Cannondale were again, well ahead of the times 25 years ago, because most of their bikes were silver. Interestingly, the recently introduced and also ground breaking dirt bike, the Stark Varg, is the only bike I’m aware of that is available in what they call ‘Forest Grey’. There are also a few grey wraps made for the mainstream dirt bikes as well, and for those who need a ‘grey fix’ in their lives.

Before we get to the juicy yellow Cannondale bit, let me sign off with my yellow VW Beetle story. I was driving home from work one winter evening and it was dark, raining and I was on small, unlit and hilly country road. Even in the gloom, my yellow Beetle was shining its brightest yellow, and probably brighter than its headlights! Unfortunately, the loose cow that was being driven up the middle of the road by a farmer didn’t see the big bright yellow thing come over the brow of the hill. Head and horns came through the windscreen and both the cow and my Beetle were no more. Both were trailered off to their respective scrap yards. In case you’re worrying about what happened to me, I was fine apart from a few cuts. 

I could digress even further into ‘yellow-world’ and talk about the music that has yellow in the subject or title, like the Beatles ‘Yellow Submarine’ (notice the Beetle/Beatle connection here…) or Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’, but I really do want to get back to the hunt for the elusive, yellow Cannondale.

Let’s look at the evidence before we all start racing around the world looking for a yellow bike. Firstly, I found a picture of a very early, prototype bike in yellow, and then there are some marketing images of a yellow XC400, which looks very similar to what turned out to be the silver and black X440s. In addition to these images, there is the image of another, later XC400, and this one looks to have a bigger fuel tank and different yellow bodywork, and was probably, just a wild guess, targeted at the USA desert riding market. Confused yet?

Whilst you’re taking all of this in, I have another piece of evidence to note in your little black investigation book. I assume that you have been taking notes up to now, yes? I have procured a NOS yellow rear fender, so I do have physical, yellow evidence. I’ve actually seen another yellow rear fender for sale over the last few years as well. However, nobody that I have spoken to, know’s of the whereabouts of the rest of the yellow bodywork, or even a complete bike. It’s a very big mystery I can assure you!

I’m making the assumption that not many yellow Cannondales were made or sold, and possibly only produced for the brochure photographs and marketing. This makes a yellow Cannondale rare. Very, very rare indeed, although not necessarily any more valuable, depending on whether it actually runs, has had all the updates done, yellow is back in fashion, and you don’t mind you’re bike being confused with a yellow Suzuki by those that ‘just don’t know’. Oh yeah, before anyone mentions it, I know Cannondale also had a blue EX400 bike in some marketing images, but blue isn’t yellow, so I’m discounting it here. The focus is yellow!

Whilst I suspect that you are now ready to leave your investigation starting blocks on the ‘B’ of the starting gun ‘bang’, some of you may be wondering if there is a reward for the discovery of the yellow bike. Let me be clear here. The only reward will be the satisfaction that it was you who found the elusive yellow Cannondale(s). ‘IF’ you find it or already have it, and then want to sell it, I guess the value will track the fashion status of the colour yellow. Remember also, the powers of the colour yellow, because if you discover/have the yellow bike, it will bring you the feeling of happiness, humour and spontaneity according to Google, so it must be true…….

Whilst the discovery of a full yellow Cannondale is always preferable, there is the small matter of the rest of my NOS yellow bodywork. I have a yellow rear fender and I’ve seen one other, so where the hell are the rest of the body parts? Cannondale can’t have over-produced just on the yellow rear fenders……..could they? Really?……

Now that I’ve shared this information and images, it’s now time for us all to get out into the jungle and find that elusive yellow bike and/or body parts. From a geography perspective, I’m thinking that all of the yellow stuff won’t have ever left the USA, so that would narrow the search area down a little bit. However, I don’t discount any location, anywhere, so the hunt is on!

I’ll sign off this post with my own declaration of further evidence in this investigation. In addition to my yellow rear fender, I did find, in the depths of eBay France recently, a small model of the yellow XC400 bike (below), so there has to be a fully grown-up one out there somewhere.

WARNING! – Oh yes, please, please remember to wear your dark, safety sunglasses and sun block prior to any initial, visual contact with the yellow bike, cos’ just like the sun, which is also a very bright yellow, precautions are required. You know where I am if/when you need to report back😉

Link to the Solo Motorcycles Cannondale advert: https://solo-motorcycles.com/classic-motorcycles/cannondale/x440/173893.htm

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All photos by the Author