Yea, went and did it. After considering the Raptor and 400EX I fell into a great deal today. 02 Cannondale Cannibal. 6600 OTD, with the Ohlins shocks, ITP wheels and holeshots.
Rode it for about an hour. AMAZING acceleration and power all the way to 10,500 redline. Revs faster than a 2 stroke. Very light feeling, like a 400ex but not quite as stable. Corners like a dream, either a fine controlled drift or sharp like a knife. Kind of a finicky startup. Loud, ratteling DOHC engine. Awesome exhaust note with the FMF stock pipe. Landing the jumps was like landing on a pillow. Great seat and grips. The EFI will take some time to get used to. It's hard to go slow on this thing.
Plus, it came from the factory with a US FLAG on the back plastic!
Thanks to Sparky, Crashed and the prophets: Cdaleracer and Awesome. You guys made this decision an easy one.

 

Congratulations on your new machine. It sounds awesome.

 

The US flag was a nice extra.

 

They should all come with the flag on the seat that would be kewl.

 

I think they should have an American flag seat cover kinda like the rebel star seat cover. It would look good on the Cannibal.

 

Ryanstones I'm honored to have you with us. Once you get on to the starting procedure you'll never have to crank it twice. If you'll get your dealer to adjust your toe out to "0" it will be just as stable as a 400EX. The biggest difference in handling comes from adjusting the shocks. Once I got my shocks dialed in to my style of riding, it made all the difference. The Ohlins respond very well to adjustments. I'm sure Cdaleracer and I will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Remeber that your Cannondale is like a Winston Cup race car, and once you get it dialed in you go straight to the front.

 

Congratulations Ryanstones, you will not regret buying the Cannondale. I absolutely love mine!!!

AWSOME88250R or CDaleracer, could you guys give me some hints as how to best dial in the shocks? I am 185lbs, and ride mostly around an MX track and I'm still a little nervous about the doubles but I catch pretty good air on the tabletops. A couple times I have bottomed out the front but it was barely noticeable. I'm thinking I need to tighten the shocks a little before I start getting big air. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Awesome88250R, how does the power of your Cdale compare to your R? I really want to get a new Cannibal or Speed, but am quite used to the punch of a two stroke. I think the only new 4 stroke that can put a smile on my face like the tecate is a Cannondale. I love the fact that it revs quick and is light like the old racers. I think there will be one in my garage sometime over the next year, or sooner if I sell the Tecate but I don't know if I want to do that!

 

Hey Ryanstones, you made a wise choice. Try turning the key on and wait untill you hear the fuel pump prime and then turn the key off and back on again. This is what I do most of the time and it works. As you know dont give it any gas. I see you like the grips too. The little things like the grips put thoughts in my head like (I cant believe this thing)! Along with the bigger things of corse. Keep us informed of anything. If you have any questions like Awsome88250R said just ask. About the shocks SparkyEX,I would put the front on the stiffest preload setting. I weigh around 135-140lbs and I run mine in the middle. There is one jump at the track that I still bottom the front out on sometimes if I dont land perfectly,but it isnt to bad + I've always heard that its o.k. to bottom every once in a while. That way you know you are using up your suspension most every where else just almost to the point of bottoming. I wouldnt let them bottom real hard though. The rear shock is very good, it responds well to adjustments. Start by setting your peload,ride and note the difference. Then adjust your compression to full hard,ride,then go full soft,ride,set it back to factory. Next do the same with the rebound. Take notes of what does what and you should be able to make a close guess as to where both the comp. and reb. should be. Its all just a few clicks here and there after that. The rear of mine was way off on every thing because of my weight,I still cant believe how well I was able to tune it in because I know they didnt have a 135lb rider in mind. My preload is as soft as it will go, but the sag is right on the money! MAKE SHURE all the bolts on the a-arms and shocks are torq. properly before you do anything. All mine were over tightend and the front shocks wouldnt rebound much.

 

CdaleRacer, Did you get your A-arms and pivots changed yet. I had the same problem you did. In order to get the front to work right, I had to loosen the torque to 18 lbs, half of what it should be. Cannondale replaced the
A-arms and pivots and now I can torque to specs and it works perfectly. They made the pivots to narrow and when you would torque to specs they would bind.