My MX400: Appreciating Classic Alert!

Talk to a car or motorcycle collector and ask them what his/her criteria is for buying a classic or Supercar/bike and they’ll all likely say something similar to this:

Got to love it – It triggers a big, positive emotional sense inside you.
Low production numbers
It’s provenance
Low mileage/use
As original as possible
It’s history (no big gaps in its ownership history)
Not crash-repaired
Price and investment potential to give a good return.

Notice in all of the above, the absence of “It has to drive/ride brilliantly”. This one is an important factor in the collector psychology. Take a Lamborghini Countach for example. Arguably THE most stunning poster car and iconic shape. Talk to an owner of one and they’ll say it’s crap to drive, it smokes, overheats, is too loud, smells of petrol, the brakes are rubbish, and it’s not easy to get in and out etc, but collectors still aspire to have one, and pay big money for them as it’s still an appreciating supercar. It’s the same with something like a Laverda Montjuic or Ducati 900ss. The ride is harsh (at best), you need a body with long arms and short legs, the brakes are crap etc etc, just like the Lamborghini. However, these are still two of the most coveted collectors bikes, and crucially, they fit that criteria at the top of this article.

Moving onto dirt bikes. All of the two stroke 500s from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s currently have that ‘collectors thing’ in the eyes of the current, older generation, which drives up both demand and price. Not many people can ride one to its potential, they’re hard to kick start, the brakes are rubbish etc, but they’re still up there on the wanted list, even though thousands of them were made. The 1980s CCM 620 has to be one of those very rare and special bikes that could also fit the criteria, and if you think a 500 two stroke is difficult to start, good luck kick starting one of these.

So, how’s about my Cannondale MX400 (feature photo) or its sister bike from a year later, the X440s (photo below)? Well, let’s test them against the collectors criteria:

👍 Got to love it – I do and I know some others do.
👍 Low production numbers – There were only 344 made of the 2000-2001 MX400 and only 386 made of the 2002 X440s. FYI – apart from a different ECU and different side plastics, they’re identical.
🤷‍♂️ It’s provenance – Of all of the remaining Cannondales out there, hardly any will have any provenance that would attribute it to a racer or race win.
🤷‍♂️ Low mileage/use. As most of these bikes either wouldn’t start or broke down originally anyway, having one with big hours on it is unlikely, but this doesn’t mean that the condition will be good.
👍 As original as possible – I have seen one that was in the condition as it had just emerged from its crate, but any remaining bikes will have been either restored like mine, or in need of restoration. As a lot even had new motors as part of a warranty claims, matching frame/engine numbers sometimes don’t match up. Finding one that has had all of the many updates or recall fixes done is important, but also rare, let alone paperwork to prove it.
🤷‍♂️ It’s history (no big gaps in its ownership history) – Just like the provenance element, these are dirt bikes, so having a history of one will be unlikely, but not impossible.
🤷‍♂️ Not crash-repaired – I’m mainly talking about the aluminium frame here as that’s the main part of the bike that could be impacted in a crash.
👍 Price and potential to give a good return in the future – At the moment, these bikes are reasonably priced and anything from $1500 to $7000 depending on the model and criteria.

So we potentially score 4 👍 out of the 8 criteria. The rest depends on each bike, and they don’t come up for sale very often, and literally nobody knows how many are left out of the full production. If you buy one for $1500, then it will probably need a complete restoration including engine rebuild, and the engine expert in this is Black Widow ATV (see link in sidebar), which is based in the USA, so if you’re outside of the USA, budget for shipping, the rebuild, shipping back and the import duty. The other critical factor to take into consideration is the spare parts situation. There is some NOS stock if you know where to look, and some newly re-manufactured stock of parts, but some things are super-hard to get hold of, like wheel hubs for example, as there just aren’t any NOS ones anywhere. If you buy one that needs restoring, expect a bumpy journey, and at the moment with their current values, it won’t be an investment, but you will learn intimately about these bikes and the technology of the time. Buying a restored one is always a bonus as someone else has done the work and taken the cost, if you can find one for sale.

So here’s the big question; Why aren’t collectors snapping these bikes up? My theory is that the interest in them will start to increase soon, and here’s why. These bikes are now 25 years old and as they were part of the huge MX racing paradigm shift from 2 stroke to 4 stroke engines, those people who started their riding on 4 strokes will be getting to an age where they can afford to build a dirt bike collection, and these bikes are part of the story, and will therefore become more valuable. A Honda CR500 didn’t kill the company like the Cannondale dirt bikes did, and nor was it the leapfrog in technology like the Cannondale. I know that some people think that the Cannondale is the worst dirt bike ever built, but have they compared it to owning a Lamborghini Countach? Probably not. Anyway, time will tell whether these bikes do become the most wanted of classic dirt bikes in the future, so for now, do you buy one in anticipation and investment or just wait and see, and potentially pay the premium?