[quadbogger]

Im looking to buy a bike and turn it into the best trail/mud bike that i can and what ive come up with is either buy an 800xmr and buy some good all around tires so I can swap back and forth between mudbogging and trail riding and upgrade the clutches then upgrade the suspension to elka stage 4's or should i buy an 800 xt install a rad kit, snorkels, clutches, elka stage 4's and then buy some good all around tires as well as some mudders?

All advice is most welcome

 

[Sittingbull2]

Do you live around alot of mud? If so I say go ahead get the xmr. I live around alot of mud being down in the South. I did move my rad up top made my own rad relocate frame. But I went 2 yrs without doing that. I have the bike in my sig. I think the XMR's have a lower ratio rear end than the xt-p. Buddy of mine has the xmr with the air compressor he doesn't like it. It also has 30" Silverbacks it's ok. I ride alot of logging roads and pipelines and highlines. Your choice I would get whatever your riding style is going to be more than 50% of the time. Mine is alot of mud would like to get some 29.5 outlaws 1. But until these Zillas wear out I am stuck with them and they go pretty good in the mud. Don't know if I answered your question or not.

 

[LouisianaJake]

Im looking to buy a bike and turn it into the best trail/mud bike that i can and what ive come up with is either buy an 800xmr and buy some good all around tires so I can swap back and forth between mudbogging and trail riding and upgrade the clutches then upgrade the suspension to elka stage 4's or should i buy an 800 xt install a rad kit, snorkels, clutches, elka stage 4's and then buy some good all around tires as well as some mudders?



All advice is most welcome

My choice would be buy the XMR. You'll come out much cheaper that way for sure. Buy a set of stock commander bighorns that somebody took off for cheap and call it good! I dont know how good the 800xmr suspension is but I believe it's fox shocks. Might not be bad at all.

 

[natedog24]

I second louisianajake,i just went throught the same predicament,i wanted the best mud\trail bike and I don't mud a lot but I wanted to b set up when I do, so just bought a 650 xmr Friday,,i love it,,your cheaper going xmr I think,,all the vent lines are run up to guage cluster and all u might have to do if you are hardcore mudding and waterwheelin is raise the snorkles but for me the factory snorkles are perfect

 

[LouisianaJake]

Don't forget the other little things such as the better gauge cluster and whatnot

 

[quadbogger]

As far as i know its just the xmr 1000's with the fox suspesion thats why im wanting to put some elkas on

 

[Spawn]

The xmr 1000 is the only xmr with the fox podium shocks...the others have standard shocks....and I agree with the others about getting the xmr, but you have to get the 1000 to get all the extras....another thing to consider is the differential. The xmr has a bigger differential with spiral cut gears (stronger) than the other models which have straight cut gears (weaker)... When you up grade tires, usually that means that they will be heavier than stock. The xmr differential will handle the bigger tires much better than the other differentials which would be more prone to breaking.....a lot of people are upgrading their diff to the xmr for that reason. And that is another expense to factor in if you don't get the xmr...

 

[LouisianaJake]

The xmr 1000 is the only xmr with the fox podium shocks...the others have standard shocks....

I knew that. Same as the XTP. I thought, though, that the 800 came with the more basic fox shocks.

 

[quadbogger]

At first I had my heart set on the 1000xmr because of all the bells and whistles as well as the fact that it's a 1000 and who wouldn't want that kind of power lol but after talking to people I've heard to many stories of snapping axles then upgrading to something like turners that are much stronger then then they start blowing diffs . Personally i'd much rather put $ into mods then into replacing broken parts

 

[Spawn]

I haven't had one issue with mine...but, if you do, whatever issue you might have will come down to how good your dealer is...just make sure your dealer has a good service department and they will help get anything fixed that has broken....if you treat your ride right, then it will treat you right...good luck with your choice!

 

[Rockhead]

The XMR 1K is on a Max frame, which does have advantages. If you can afford the XMR and an extra set of trail tires, go for it.
I am more of a trail guy, albeit I had to do the rad relocate, and I will probably snorkel it next year. The stock rad location on the xt is really hard to clean, the fan shroud prevented me from doing a good job.

 

[choPppps]

I believe that the XMRs have a lower rev limit thought. If you drop tires size for the trail then you will loose even more speed. Just something to think about.

 

[LouisianaJake]

I believe that the XMRs have a lower rev limit thought. If you drop tires size for the trail then you will loose even more speed. Just something to think about.

I thought this was changed in 2015 because of the removal of the ACS?

 

[iam_canadian22]

I believe that the XMRs have a lower rev limit thought. If you drop tires size for the trail then you will loose even more speed. Just something to think about.

I thought this was changed in 2015 because of the removal of the ACS?

No they are still speed limited to 65mph

 

[iam_canadian22]

The xmr 1000 is the only xmr with the fox podium shocks...the others have standard shocks....

I knew that. Same as the XTP. I thought, though, that the 800 came with the more basic fox shocks.

The 800 has just the same lame shocks as the xt with i believe different valving

 

[quadbogger]

Its pretty lame that the 800 xmr has crappy suspension thats why i'm planning on upgrading to elkas or if the 2016 line up brings a short base 1000 I might jump all over that and then just be a little more carefull with the throttle so I dont start breaking stuff

 

[BigNort]

I went the 800 xt route , only running zillas for now but will probably get a set of laws for a 2nd tire in fall , I put stage 4 elkas, 1.5 wheel spacers, handle bars are risers . With the zillas I'm good for high speed and pretty much any type of riding , I really like them for a tire.

 

[Mopar4Me]

I just spent the last week at Royal Blue TN rock crawling and general ugly trail riding an XMR 1K. The only thing I had done was put on 30x10 Evo's. My general impression is that going uphill through rock with or without mud the XMR is an animal. The super low torque/rpm works well and the longer frame had advantages when crawling over rock lips which would lift the front and extra bit as I crawled over. However, and this is a big however the suspension does not articulate well when off-camber, especially when compared to my XP1000 my son was riding. Very often I was going up steep at an angle to go over something and I would lift the upper tire and it would only come down when the lower trailing tire would lift. A three legged seesaw. In addition the clutch engagement was a bit of a PITA. For technical movement it was easy to overpower the distance. I ended up rolling it once on the side because of this. I learned my lesson and moved on to much more difficult terrain but with a bit more caution.

I think if I was redoing my 2nd wheel/tire set purchase for trail riding I would have shortened the tire height to 27.5 Growlers. I would also like to see about reclutching it to soften the initial "hit" when the clutch engages. Other than that the XMR really is a beast and I went where everyone else went and I was always first in the group.

 

[DRAPER]

Im looking to buy a bike and turn it into the best trail/mud bike that i can and what ive come up with is either buy an 800xmr and buy some good all around tires so I can swap back and forth between mudbogging and trail riding and upgrade the clutches then upgrade the suspension to elka stage 4's or should i buy an 800 xt install a rad kit, snorkels, clutches, elka stage 4's and then buy some good all around tires as well as some mudders?

All advice is most welcome

I was trying to make the same decision and ended up going with the xt because I could get the 1000 in a short wheel base and build it from there. I've barely got it broken in and am just doing the 10 hr service this weekend so haven't got a lot of seat time yet. Couldn't be happier with it so far but will put it to the test next week in the U.P. Been waiting over 2 months now for my Elka's but oh well, I guess this way I should really notice the difference from the stock shocks after putting some miles on them first.

 

[BigNort]

Elkas are amazing and I do do a cv tech clutch bike is way smother now