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By: swadmin October 20, 2003
Dinli Metal Industrial Company, Ltd., a Taiwanese manufacturer of ATVs, has purchased the intellectual property of the motorsports division of the former Cannondale Corporation, and is now the sole owner of the property for use on a worldwide basis.
The financial details of the deal between Dinli and Moto Assets Acquisition Corp. were not disclosed. Moto Assets Acquisition Corp. was formed by the private equity investment firm Pegasus Partners II, LP to acquire the assets of Cannondale Corporation’s motorsports division earlier this year.
At that time, Pegasus also formed the Cannondale Bicycle Corporation to purchase the assets of Cannondale Corporation’s bicycle division. David Uri, a partner at Pegasus and the president of Moto Asset Acquisition Corp., said that the sale to Dinli was consistent with Pegasus’ stated goal of divesting itself of the motorsports assets.
The sale to Dinli does not include any use or rights to the Cannondale name or trademark, but does allow use of former model names.
Justin Hall is vice president of Dinli LP, the Dallas-based importer and distributor of product from Dinli Metal. Hall told Powersports Business the intellectual property will be used in two ways:
“The idea is to not change the machine a whole lot,” Hall said. “We will change some things, not necessarily to make a cheaper version, but to use a few different parts manufacturers and incorporate computer technology from Taiwan.”
Although he stressed that all pricing is still “up in the air,” Hall said prices may be decreased 25% to 30% from what the Cannondale machines were sold for. It could take six to eight months for production to begin, but Hall said a prototype of the first new machine will “for sure” be shown in Indianapolis in February 2004.
Not Worried About ATK
In September, Frank White of ATK Motorcycle, Centerville, Utah, said he had purchased nearly $13 million worth of hard parts from National Retail Liquidators (NRL), a firm Pegasus licensed to unload the product.
Although White said he had yet make long-term plans, he told Powersports Business he hoped to eventually combine ATK technology with Cannondale technology to create some new products, and said ATK engineers already are working with former Cannondale R&D engineers.
“Reproducing the products is where there is a fine line,” Hall says in response to White’s stated plan. “There are some things ATK can’t make, but there are a lot of products that came from suppliers and wouldn’t pose a problem for them.
“There has been no legal action taken, and I’m really not worried about it,” he added. “I think they’re good people, and I have no problem with them as long as they stay in their guidelines. As far as them selling the product, I’m actually glad somebody has taken the initiative to keep Cannondale customers fulfilled.
”
Dinli LP currently offers three different styles of 50cc ATV, three 90cc units and a recently released 150cc four-stroke. New 90cc and 150cc quads also are expected to be introduced prior to the New Year.
2003-10-20
Articles
27 Dec
The courage of the people who make Stels motorcycles deserves the deepest respect. No matter how noisy the suppliers of Asian technology about the quality of their ATVs, not one dared to compare them with the products of the giants of the industry. And in Stels they did not limit themselves to words, they bought two units of “branded” equipment and offered to ride it along with their top model Dinli 700.
Stels has little in common with a typical Chinese hardware vendor under a Russian name.
The company made a name for itself in the production of inexpensive bicycles, with which most of the more or less specialized outlets in the vast expanses of our Motherland are littered with. Several factories ship thousands of non-motorized units a day. The situation is similar with motorcycles. Contrary to tradition, in Russia, ATVs are not only assembled, but also some of the parts are made for them. And this part is getting bigger every year. And this means that serious funds have been invested in the process, and most likely they will not abandon it halfway. Outlander 650 and Grizzly 700 need no introduction. They have long been familiar to the general public, and "Motoexpert" has repeatedly written about them. But Stels Dinli 700 is a little-studied novelty. For a long time I could not understand what the second word means, clearly indicating the Far Eastern roots of the model. It turns out that this is the name of the Taiwanese manufacturer, together with which the car is being made.
The Outlander 650 is as bulky as a tank. Which is not surprising: the model is designed more for tourism than for work or racing. Comfortable lumbar support, passenger backrest, long wheelbase are perfect for driving with a passenger on off-road of medium difficulty. Although the suspension allows you to take turns at good speed and fly over bumps or logs, the dimensions and weight do not allow you to feel like a master of the situation. However, for this there is a short-base version, which was noted at competitions of various levels. The Grizzly 700, on the other hand, appears petite and dainty. Since Yamaha does not build two-seater ATVs as a matter of principle, citing safety concerns, its products compare favorably in size. Yamaha Grizzly is one of the best ATVs for outdoor activities bordering on sports. The long-term polishing of the model was not in vain: the center of gravity is located so well that the device seems to be much lighter than the declared weight. What is quite surprising, you can not only jump from medium-sized springboards on it, but also enjoy this process.
Unlike opponents, Grizzly's flight is controlled not only when taking off, but also in the air. In case of unforeseen situations, it can be pulled up, tightened or straightened to the desired angle. Whereas on the Outlander and Stels, you just have to think carefully about the takeoff process, and then act as a passive participant in the events and hope for the best.
But the Grizzly has some problems with cornering stability. It's hard to say whether it's ground clearance, damper performance, or light weight, but you have to be very careful about the position of the inside wheels when cornering. It is necessary to exceed the speed a little or cheat with overhanging, as the ATV begins to tip over. Of course, especially talented participants of the test drive managed to overturn even the Stels. But if you have certain skills, you can even turn over a diesel locomotive, so the ATV is not really to blame here. His suspension generally works surprisingly well. As the Stels employees responsible for the development said, they scored a box of shock absorbers and drove for several days on very different off-road roads, choosing the best ones.
Naturally, WP and Ohlins were not in this box, but we managed to choose a not-bad option even by the standards of a higher class from a Chinese-Taiwanese cocktail. They even showed up with a remote reservoir and a full set of adjustments. Which turned out to be very handy: the effect of oil hardened in the cold was softened with just a couple of clicks.
In terms of ergonomics Stels Dinli 700 is not yet up to the competition. The upper part is a bit wide, so it is not very comfortable to hold on with your feet.
Footboards are strangely arranged: toothed iron stops are raised too high, and it is impossible to put your heels on plastic buckets. Decent-looking plastic crackled on the move, and cracked when it rolled over. Of course, one must take into account the 20-degree frost, which is clearly not the optimal weather for driving such equipment and does not contribute to the plasticization of the fairing, and tumbling is not among the regular operations. But combining these features with other little things, such as oak rubber grips on the steering wheel or a randomly switching drive type selector, leaves a not-so-pleasant aftertaste.
If Can-Am's long, heavy undercarriage isn't particularly conducive to sporting feats, then that's exactly what the engine is designed to do. Canadians have long begun to put “twos” on more or less large ATVs, and the “five hundred” was no exception. By pressing the "gas" handle, you feel like driving a sportbike. Unlike the “single-barrel” conventional for this kind of equipment, the engine picks up speed very quickly and works without characteristic pauses between explosions of the mixture in the combustion chamber. Most surprising is the power. 60 horsepower is an excellent indicator even for much more cubic capacity. The Outlander 650 is able to race in such a way that the driver will only have to hold on tighter with his hands and feet. However, in snowdrifts or mud, such characteristics are not at all the most necessary. The speed begins to exceed a safe threshold while the motor has a serious reserve of unused power. In this regard, the efficiency of the "single-barrel" is somewhat higher: they do not differ in increased viciousness, so you can safely squeeze the "gas" handle.
Grizzly gives out exactly what most users of "scraps" need: a fairly high-torque, but moderately powerful motor, about the reliability of which in recent years I have not heard a single negative review. In terms of motor Stels ATV Dinli 700 is located somewhere between the Grizzly and Outlander. The manufacturer claims as much as 55 horsepower, which seems like a slight exaggeration. It was not possible to find any significant advantages over the 46-horsepower Yamaha. Although the matter here may be both in mass and in tires. As experienced people say, the ATV accelerates best with the highest quality “cylinders”.
In this regard, Stels loses a little to its competitors. The rubber began to work normally only after it was lowered much below the recommended pressure. But in general, Stels was a pleasant surprise. Of course, there remains some residue from flaws of various sizes, of which there are quite a lot here. But he instantly dissolves when it comes to price. Previously, ATVs of similar quality were only slightly cheaper than Japanese competitors.
True, they disappeared as suddenly as they appeared. Here, the price tag is more than two times lower, and this fact, combined with the scope of the entire enterprise, allows us to hope that the ATV still has long-term prospects. The manufacturer's approach speaks of the same: our comments were carefully documented in order to analyze and make changes to the design later. And it turned out that most of these shortcomings have already been identified and eliminated in the next generation of ATVs. Of course, it is too early for him to compete directly with Japanese or North American technology. But I have never seen more interesting models in his class. And if the Stels ATV Dinli 700 is further developed, who knows what the ATV market will look like in a couple of years.
Articles
27 Dec
Outwardly, both generations of the Stels ATV Dinli 700 ATV are almost identical and differ only in that the updated version has a "kenguryatnik", which gracefully passes into the trunk.
All other changes are hidden from view: instead of the old primitive shock absorbers, now the Stels ATV Dinli 700 ATV is equipped with Taiwanese DNM Suspension products with adjustments for spring preload and compression and rebound damping; 74.5mm moved up the air intake. In addition, now even in the basic configuration, a winch with a pulling force of 1360 kg is installed on the Stels ATV Dinli 700 ATV.
- The Chinese will win everyone! You'll see...
Already every third person in the world is called Wong... One, two, three - Wong!
When a university friend pointed his finger at me on the count of three, I did not attach any importance to it, even though I had ancestors from the Middle Kingdom.
But recently I began to think, maybe this is not without reason?
Burned by milk, are you blowing into the water? After the first meeting with the “Chinese”, which literally flooded the entire post-Soviet space, I got the impression that this is a very affordable, but at the same time unreasonably expensive equipment to operate.
And the cost of spare parts and consumables has nothing to do with it: it does not go beyond the bounds of decency. It's all about the need to often turn to servicemen for help, since Chinese technology, it's no secret to anyone, is still far from Japanese in quality. The problem is aggravated by the fact that spare parts and consumables for equipment from China are usually not available. But not all "Chinese" are equally hopeless! Some companies that assemble “yellow” equipment do not continue to bring “raw” models to Russia with stupid persistence, but approach the issue of business development with all responsibility, with in-depth analysis, indispensable work on mistakes and strategic planning, which will be envied by the study of the NATO military operations…
Outwardly, both generations of Stels ATV Dinli 700 are almost identical and differ only in that the updated version has a "kenguryatnik", which gracefully passes into the trunk. All other changes are hidden from view: instead of the old primitive shock absorbers, now the Stels ATV Dinli 700 is equipped with Taiwanese DNM Suspension products with adjustments for spring preload and compression and rebound damping; ,5mm moved up the air intake.
In addition, now even in the basic configuration, a winch with a pulling force of 1360 kg is installed on the Stels ATV Dinli 700.
The appearance and design of this "Asian" do not cause horror and disgust, as is usually the case when looking at Chinese technology.
A minute later, right in front of the camera lens, Stels caught on the edge of the snow rut with its left wheels, which he had plowed before ... Another moment, and the ATV, like Przewalski's unbroken horse, throws me out of the saddle, and he picturesquely falls on his left side, scattering around fragments of plastic hardened in the cold and literally exploded from impact ... When examining the damage, the company representative shrugs his shoulders in surprise: - Strange ... It did not break in the summer, and after several turns of the car on a rocky slope, too. Probably should add a plasticizer to the composition.
I suspect it is. Moreover, the “ears” I performed were not the most terrible, but the plastic, which was frozen and clearly not designed for negative temperatures, began to crack even before my “crash” and was much weaker from blows.
The Stels ATV Dinli 700 transmission, in addition to all-wheel drive and a lowering range of the variator, has a forced locking of the front differential, which is activated by a rotary selector at the right handlebar. On the one hand, the “razdatka” control unit is convenient and differs from the remotes copied from the Yamaha Grizzly and installed on other Stels models, but on the other hand… For some reason, I abruptly changed the all-wheel drive "character" to rear-wheel drive - and instead of the demolition of all four wheels, I suddenly got a skid of the rear axle ... What kind of jokes ?! It turns out that during active piloting, the rider's right hand sometimes touches the "flag" of the selector and turns off the four-wheel drive. I would say that it was an unfortunate accident, but during the test it happened more than once or twice. Claims also arose to the selector responsible for the mode of operation of the variator, as well as to the indication of this mode on the dashboard.
The fact that the pilot moved the CVT lever to the desired position, and the corresponding inscription lit up on the display, does not at all guarantee that the transmission will work exactly as the rider wanted. It is especially "pleasant" to find out about a false inclusion, sitting on an ATV deeply seated in a ditch or trying to crawl out of there without the help of a winch.
Very dense, energy-intensive and short-travel suspension on forged aluminum A-arms, coupled with new adjustable shock absorbers, works very well on packed ground or snow. It is felt that it was "sharpened" precisely for this "landscape". But after adjusting the shock absorbers, the ATV becomes very stable even in the “open field”, where, as you know, there are gullies, pits in which even tractors are lost, and ditches that look like military trenches. Moderately stiff Stels suspension does not allow deep rolls in corners, but it does not knock the soul out of the pilot on bumps. To reduce even more effort on the steering wheel - it would be very nice! In the meantime, in order to “fit” the ATV into a sharp turn, you have to lean on the steering wheel with your whole body (so whoever has a larger body is the first .
