BETA XTRAINER suspension mods: budget to ultimate setups

[OZ DRZ]

A summary of suspension mods for the Beta Xtrainer. Always keen to hear about more....

Fork oil US$12
Fork oil & shims US$25
Beta K9 cartridge kit $US385
FFRC custom fork & shock internals US$540 (AUD$695)
Boano/Andriani cartridge kit US$800
Ohlins cartridge kit $US1200
Ohlins forks & shock US$954,857,389,328 ?

What's wrong with the Beta Xtrainer's suspension? Nothing. I've spoken with a few top riders who agree it's fine - if you use the bike for what it's intended for. It's made by Olle, a Spanish company with a long history in trials suspension. So the Xtrainer's forks and rear shock have a strong trials influence in terms of spring weight, valving and light weight design. And of course it costs less. But once you start to use it as a normal enduro bike you'll progressively run into trouble the faster and more aggressive you get. 

There's a summary below of budget through to ultimate setups, or just watch the vid.  Anyone have more Xtrainer suspension tips? Keen to hear more....
 

BUDGET MODS
Drain the standard 5W fork oil and refill with 500ml of 15W fork oil. Wind the rebound in (this also increases the compression damping) and put some preload on the spring in the right hand leg. On the rear, play around with the damping but our FFRC suspension guru recommended not maxxing out the compression damping, as you could wind up damaging the piston on really big hits. Then see if you need to go for stiffer springs or not. A cheap fix which some riders find acceptable but there is a very quick trade off between the original plush feel as it becomes better for faster riding.

RE-SHIM THE FORKS
Some guys mess around with shims, here's a fairly typical example courtesy of Dirt Punk. More info here. 
Buy these KTM shims: 1x 48600213 1x 43570120 2x 48600214
Insert these to the rebound stack, NOT the compression stack. 

Plenty of riders find this acceptable or at least better than heavier fork oil, but there's still some of that inevitable trade off with losing that plush feel as you beef things up to cope with faster riding. To experiment with this, our local suspension gurus, FFRC, did a basic revalve on my Xtrainer forks. Was it better? For faster riding yes but it lost that supple feel for slower riding. I was puzzled as normally FFC can work magic but they explained revalving won't overcome one critical issue - more on that below.

CARTRIDGE FORK KITS & REAR SHOCK REVALVE
Beta have the BPS-K9 cartridge kit for AUD$640. (US$385 but no spring included), they claim this will give a higher bike set up, more stable at high speed for improved riding confidence, increased control at speed and better absorption at violent bumps. I've read some reviews and quite a few riders like this solution. I rode a bike set up like this and found the Xtrainer did feel a lot more controllable at speed - it worked a lot better on big hits and jumps. But as with previous options, there was still a trade off with losing that plush feel over small bumps, and not being able to weight and deweight the bike over obstacles as much. There are other cartridge kits like the Andreani X-Trainer Fork cartridge Kit but at AUD$1000 or around US$800 I reckon that's getting bloody expensive. It brings the Xtrainer close the same cost as a RR300 before you even look at the rear shock.

So what about revalving the rear shock? To experiment with this, FFRC did a basic revalve on the shock. I noticed some improvement but not much. I'll explain why next. 

CUSTOMIZED FORK & SHOCK INTERNALS
FFRC use their dyno and found the existing suspension mods only partial fix the trials setup of the suspension - compression damping and rebound are almost identical. For an enduro setup the compression and rebound need to be very different... and tailored a specific way. Until the internals are modified a simple revalving won't fix it. On the rear shock, they designed a custom piston to get the right balance. And then modified the stock fork internals along with different shim stacks for the same reason. The result? Awesome. At both ends that original supple feel is back in spades, and yet the bike feels so much better with aggressive riding too. Does it feel as good as a RR300? Almost, which is a huge achievement. At low speed it's just as good and still retains some of that 'bounce' and trials like feel that helps so much in technical riding, on big hits it's almost as good but I suspect the inch less of suspension travel might be the issue there. This cost AUD$695 (US$545) but I'm not sure if it would be economical. You'd need to ship cartridges to Australia for the modifications and maybe get the custom shock piston sent back with them?

ULTIMATE XTRAINER SETUP?
Is there an ultimate suspension setup for the Xtrainer? For me this would have to now be close. Sure you could adapt suspension from another bike or get aftermarket forks and shock, but it will often cost a fortune and make the Xtrainer heavier. Some guys have reported excellent results with the 2017 to 2018 forks and shock from any Beta RR model - for everyday riders the Sachs have really started to hit the mark in those years:
Sachs RR300 forks US$1500
Ohlins forks US$2900

TFX plug and play shock
Ohlins TTX shock
Fox RC2 (no longer available).

GET YOUR OLLE SUSPENSION SERVICED ON TIME
One final tip from the FFRC guys. They usually recommend getting your suspension serviced every 50 hours, although many of us leave it much longer than that. They did say it's more important to observe this with the Xtrainer because it is light weight suspension, you will want to be bit more diligent. Mine looked fine at 40 hours but then I ride like a pussy. If you are riding your Xtrainer hard make sure you get it serviced at 50 hours to play it safe. Ciao ciao.

Edited March 1, 2018 by OZ DRZ

[chesterXT]

I cant speak from experience because I am still waiting on my 18 xtrainer,  but your post matches my research perfectly.  I have the Boano fork kit for the xtrainer at home, just waiting for the bike to arrive.  I'll keep the stock shock on for now,  until their is a more reasonably priced solution to replace it.  Originally when i first ordered the bike I ordered with the k9 kit,  then decided that $386 would probably get wasted when I bought new forks.  So i removed that upgrade and just ordered the Boano kit.  I can't testify to how it performs,  but am impressed with the quality of the components.  I also looked at the dual cartridge kit, but with labor was going to cost almost as much as slapping the boano kit on the bike myself.  One thing worth noting is that I think the idea that the K9 kit made the bike ride higher only applied to the original kit that came with the k9 spring.  if you leave stock spring, I don't think it rides any higher, but I could be wrong.  

[kawagumby]

 

Nice suspension review!

Don't forget that some of these mods might apply more to heavier riders than lighter riders.  I've been using the K9 kit for a while now and miss some of the trials-like character of the stock cartridge, esp when doing low speed technical stuff. The front end does tend to stay higher than before. I've gone from 550ml 15 wt to 500ml 10 wt in the k9 equipped forks but I'm also now running nearly full-out on the compression adjuster...just yesterday riding fast on rough trails I'm getting a bit of head-shake..., so I'm going to try about 7.5 wt (prob type F auto fluid just for fun) next. I like my forks with as little preload as possible. I feel the K9 doesn't need a revalve as I'm closing in to "my" perfection with just fluid mods. The K9 is a good compromise, IMO, but still needs to be dialed in for whatever the particular rider has needs for - which for me is slower technical trails with faster fireroad connectors.  I'm 150 lbs w/o gear.  I have no issues at all with the shock for what I use this bike for.  This bike is still my favorite of all time -

Edited March 1, 2018 by kawagumby

[OZ DRZ]

4 hours ago, kawagumby said:

This bike is still my favorite of all time -

They are pretty awesome if you use them for what they were intended for hey? I found the stock suspension fine as long as I didn't try any heroics at speed and I've heard quite a few guys say this. But then there have been young kids saying the Xtrainer sucks because it doesn't handle well when ridden flat out - well duh. 

I think your summary of the cartridge kit covers it well... FFRC said they can be dialed in to get a decent setup for everyday riding but you won't be able to retain the original characteristics unless you've got that custom piston in the rear shock and similar mods in the forks. 

[bikesandcars]

 
Nice suspension review!
Don't forget that some of these mods might apply more to heavier riders than lighter riders.  I've been using the K9 kit for a while now and miss some of the trials-like character of the stock cartridge, esp when doing low speed technical stuff. The front end does tend to stay higher than before. I've gone from 550ml 15 wt to 500ml 10 wt in the k9 equipped forks but I'm also now running nearly full-out on the compression adjuster...just yesterday riding fast on rough trails I'm getting a bit of head-shake..., so I'm going to try about 7.5 wt (prob type F auto fluid just for fun) next. I like my forks with as little preload as possible. I feel the K9 doesn't need a revalve as I'm closing in to "my" perfection with just fluid mods. The K9 is a good compromise, IMO, but still needs to be dialed in for whatever the particular rider has needs for - which for me is slower technical trails with faster fireroad connectors.  I'm 150 lbs w/o gear.  I have no issues at all with the shock for what I use this bike for.  This bike is still my favorite of all time -

I'm 170 ish and have 10 wt in the K9, I run just a few clickers out (4 to 5) and am playing with it. I think overall the olle' suspension has a lot of bleed, so running thicker fluid tends to stiffen the low speed nicely. I'm really happy with my mods so far, running K9 with a little extra rebound shims and the shock with 3wt and modified shims.

[matgaz]

Seems like opinions for the XT falls in two camps:

1. It's fine, just minor adjustment needed.
2. It's crap, you must replace everything.

[bikesandcars]

Seems like opinions for the XT falls in two camps:

1. It's fine, just minor adjustment needed.
2. It's crap, you must replace everything.

Haha very astute observation.

Rider speed fall into two camps fast and slow

Some Riders sit some Riders stand.

Personalities fall into two camps make it work or I need the best

Terrain falls into gnarly slow or more open

Some Riders are light and some Riders are heavy

...on and on.... ?

The truth and all these things is usually somewhere in the middle. Just because a couple of vocal guys bash it doesn't mean it's all bad and just because a couple of guys like me are really enjoying it doesn't mean it's great for a B level Rider doing hare scrambles

My observation is it's good enough for most everybody riding trails and for the mission it's intended for, actually more than good enough because I find it on par or better in some ways with my older ktm's.

[kawagumby]

So true.

Back when I used to race hare scrambles, I had two bikes, a kdx200 and a kx250.  For the more open race courses I would use the KX, for the tight courses I'd use the KDX.   It was hard for me not to notice that my bike of choice for just having fun was nearly always the KDX. The KX was much faster on open trails, but was more a means to an end than a fun bike.  The Xtrainer is like a KDX only much better - if I want to have fun, maybe jump some logs, rail some really tight technical trails that can challenge both mind and skills, the Xtrainer is the go-to bike, so putting a more high-speed oriented suspension on it would miss the point of why I bought it in the first place.  I have an old riding buddy that just hates the kind of trails I ride, and is still into MX, so the Xtrainer's best traits would be viewed as drawbacks to him. 

[pat22043]

Nice Video Barry.

I have to say, the premise of the mods escapes me.

But if you want a 300RR, why not just buy a 300RR rather than buying an XT and spending time and money turning it into a 300RR. The XT was designed for a specific purpose and seems to do that very well. Its about a 80% enduro, 20% trials bike. If you think the XT's suspension is plush and uncontrolled at high speed, ride a real trials bike a while. (I know Barry has, he has a ton of videos on proper trials bikes).

[chesterXT]

1 minute ago, pat22043 said:

Nice Video Barry.

I have to say, the premise of the mods escapes me.

But if you want a 300RR, why not just buy a 300RR rather than buying an XT and spending time and money turning it into a 300RR. The XT was designed for a specific purpose and seems to do that very well. Its about a 80% enduro, 20% trials bike. If you think the XT's suspension is plush and uncontrolled at high speed, ride a real trials bike a while. (I know Barry has, he has a ton of videos on proper trials bikes).

I weighed this heavily before placing my order for the Xtrainer.  Although I understand the xtrainer was built as a Hybrid bike of sorts.  It is not that simple when applying the decision to real world applications.  I am a small guy.  the xtrainer has a 10% smaller frame and is an inch shorter.  Sure the 300rr comes with sachs already,  but then I have to spend money to have it lowered properly.  So that must be factored in to the price of the 300rr.  I just cant ride a bike that tall without falling over every time I come to a stop (yes i am a pussy).  it is also lighter and I only weight 135lbs, so you can imagine I am not the strongest guy.  Also,  I am hoping I can get a trials bike at some point to add to the collection, but it will probably be electric so i can practice in my back yard with my son who has an Oset 16.  Where I live everything is wide open.  So what i really wanted was a reduced size enduro with a power curve that can help a beginner like me, but still allow we to ride fast in my wide open areas.  while configuring my BYOB it was basically a wash cost wise to modify both bikes to give me that.  Tax is also a consideration.  All of the stuff i bought to make my xtrainer into a 300rr (as you state) were purchased sans sales tax.  Had I just opted for the the 300rr I would have paid tax on the difference.  i also now will have an extra stock Xtrainer fork that I can sell, keep, or just dick around with to learn.

I know nothing compared to most of you, but I do know math, and I built both bikes out to suit my needs/desires.  I did not spend more going the xtrainer and suspension upgrade route.  I am not trying to argue with anyone,  but the whole, if you want to go fast get a 300rr, argument comes across a little disingenuous.  There are other factors to consider.  Not defending my purchase I just want anyone that is in my situation to hear their options.  I am not even trying to say the suspensions needs upgraded.  I just like to tinker, and to me the time spent doing so is part of the reward.  As a matter of fact i am heading out the the garage to put lighter springs in the sachs-boano forks, and drink a beer or 7.  Going to be a good afternoon.

I agree Barry's videos are awesome.  I have watched all of them several times.  They were the inspiration for my purchase in the first place.  I didn't even know of beta until i saw his videos.  I dont have a riding mentor, so his videos are my only chance to learn from someone else.  He calls himself a gumby, whatever that means, but to me he might as well be Graham Jarvis or Tim Coleman.  

[pat22043]

1 hour ago, chesterXT said:

 I am a small guy.  .....Where I live everything is wide open.  So what i really wanted was a reduced size enduro with a power curve that can help a beginner like me, but still allow we to ride fast in my wide open areas. 

Enjoy your XT, is a great bike. I have a small friend who loves it for just the same reason.

Just a small note: Graham Javis is not all that tall. He can not place two feet on the ground. If you watch his videos, you will see he slides way off to one side when he needs to dab. So when one gets above gumby level, the height is not as big an issue.

I'm 6-2 and I can barely get my leg over my KTM300. It takes care and looking around for a rock. I am also heavy, so once I get a leg over, the sag lets me touch the ground.

[dmikel]

Graham is 6-1 and has long legs. He can place two feet on the ground easily. 

[OZ DRZ]

17 hours ago, bikesandcars said:

..... My observation is it's good enough for most everybody riding trails and for the mission it's intended for, actually more than good enough because I find it on par or better in some ways with my older ktm's.

Amen to that! The lunacy of NOT buying the RR300 but then expecting the Xtrainer to be like a fully fledged enduro bike is evident in some of the Youtube comments... particularly two young kids complaining about the 'crappy' suspension. Then if you watch their own videos they can barely ride anyway lol. 

[Survivor]

19 hours ago, OZ DRZ said:

Amen to that! The lunacy of NOT buying the RR300 but then expecting the Xtrainer to be like a fully fledged enduro bike is evident in some of the Youtube comments... particularly two young kids complaining about the 'crappy' suspension. Then if you watch their own videos they can barely ride anyway lol. 

Well said Barry and great video for the suspension!

I love my X Trainer to pieces although I ain't a rider and never will be like Barry.

The X Trainer is an outstanding bike for what it is intended to be used for! 

[ToolmanJohn]

I'm very very new to woods trail riding, and I got sucked into the whole "it's not good enough" vortex of opinion. All of my modifications have centered on dropping the seat height as much as possible just so I could swing a leg over it in the first place. Maybe my time would have been better spent participating in Yoga classes or stretching classes. A real 28 inch inseam and muscle inflexibility is very limiting, and unsafe to be on a bike that I cannot even tip toe in original spec. The Xtrainer was the lowest I could find that was a true trail bike.

 I started making changes ($$$) to the Xtrainer even before my first ride, and truth is I only have 13 hours on it so far!! I have spent triple that amount of time screwing with it (love to tinker). Most of my most functional tinkering has been to lower the seat height with a Seat Concepts 1" seat (that's barely lower though it's wider than stock!!), lowered the suspension with the Beta 2" kit and, which in fact is only 1-5/8" front and rear, also lowered the rear further with a Kouba 2" link (which again is only 1-5/8"), got a stronger rate rear spring, lowered the front using the triples and pushing the forks up about 15mm more. I had to cut down the Beta short kickstand a additional 1" and then had a welding shop weld the foot pad on to it!!

 Granted the bike looks funny dropped that much and of course has lost a lot of capability clearance wise. But I have a modified Enduro Engineering skid guard and an Obie link guard to protect from the inevitable strikes. 

All the discussion about the quality of the suspension on the Xtrainer is actually LOST on me now. I would have NO IDEA what a good suspension feels like since I could never ride a bike with one anyway, they are all impossible giraffes. I am happy with my Xtrainer, except I do wish I could get a 3.5+ gallon fuel tank for it. I would love a 100 mile range, not for all trail work, but for linking trail and road (I plated mine).

 

I should just !!!STOP!!! making changes, and RIDE. I am not racing, likely never will. I just love riding through the woods and the occasional technical climb or descent. Not a speed demon at all.

[OZ DRZ]

3 hours ago, ToolmanJohn said:

.... about the quality of the suspension on the Xtrainer is actually LOST on me now. I would have NO IDEA what a good suspension feels like since I could never ride a bike with one anyway, they are all impossible giraffes. I am happy with my Xtrainer, except I do wish I could get a 3.5+ gallon fuel tank for it. I would love a 100 mile range, not for all trail work, but for linking trail and road (I plated mine).I should just !!!STOP!!! making changes, and RIDE. I am not racing, likely never will. I just love riding through the woods and the occasional technical climb or descent. Not a speed demon at all.

Tinker away! I'm actually the opposite but in a video I did about depression recently I was surprised at how many guys use tinkering in the man cave as their therapy.

Not sure if you've seen this vid, but some of the riding techniques in this are very useful for shorter riders...

 

[wwguy]

Another great video Barry!  As always your topics are well thought out and well-articulated in that way you have that makes your so videos engaging to watch.

I found it interesting that the solution that brought you the most value (i.e. satisfaction for the price point) was a custom job with limited availability to riders around the world.  We have several suspension pros here in the USA, some Xtrainer riders themselves, that claim to have done similarly.  But it seems that everything is a one-off and different shops are approaching the problems and solutions uniquely.  Since the Xtrainer is now on it's 4th model year and continues to gain in popularity it would seem that a few best-practices, standardized approaches, or even new solutions from mainstream manufactures, might emerge.  But disappointingly that doesn't seem to be the case.

You briefly mentioned the extra weight associated with fitting modified full size forks from other bikes.  FWIW my Marzzochi 48mm CC kit built by Boano Racing only added 3 lbs. (1.4 kg) over the stock Olle setup.  So not a huge increase.

Thanks again.

On 3/2/2018 at 11:25 AM, pat22043 said:

I have to say, the premise of the mods escapes me.

But if you want a 300RR, why not just buy a 300RR rather than buying an XT and spending time and money turning it into a 300RR. The XT was designed for a specific purpose and seems to do that very well. Its about a 80% enduro, 20% trials bike. If you think the XT's suspension is plush and uncontrolled at high speed, ride a real trials bike a while. (I know Barry has, he has a ton of videos on proper trials bikes).

The premise appears obvious to me, but then again I've ridden one for the past couple of years.  The objective is to put a quality enduro suspension under a compact 300cc enduro bike.  The only thing "trials" about this bike is the inexpensive stock suspension.  Properly suspended, but otherwise in stock form, it's a woods weapon in tight trees and a mountain goat in the gnarly stuff.

The 300RR is a great bike, but it's heavier, wider, taller, and has a wider turning radius (a big deal when negotiating switchbacks in steep narrow mountain terrain.)  The 300RR engine, although very smooth for a modern 300cc 2-stroke, has a much less-linear power curve than the Xtrainer.  The Xtrainer's engine characteristics are highly appealing to entry-level riders and to experienced riders in tight, steep, technical terrain.  The differences in the engines includes ECU/CDI, cylinder, cylinder head, exhaust power valve, and expansion pipe, so "de-tuning" a 300RR to match Xtrainer characteristics isn't a simple matter.  A 300RR suspension can be lowered, but there's some incremental expense and effort required.

Regarding "the XT was designed for a specific purpose and seems to do that very well."  No argument there.  But that doesn't mean that's the only practical purpose for this bike.  Beta will happily sell them to whomever wants to use them however they see fit.  Just like with any other dirt bike manufactured over the past 30 years or so, the aftermarket parts manufacturers are happy to build and sell parts to replace inferior stock bits and/or extend the capability and enjoyment of the bike.  Same as with the 300RR and just about any other dirt bike out there.

On 3/2/2018 at 2:14 PM, pat22043 said:

Just a small note: Graham Javis is not all that tall. He can not place two feet on the ground. If you watch his videos, you will see he slides way off to one side when he needs to dab. So when one gets above gumby level, the height is not as big an issue.

I'm 6-2 and I can barely get my leg over my KTM300. It takes care and looking around for a rock. I am also heavy, so once I get a leg over, the sag lets me touch the ground.

I'm also 6'2" and am obviously no Jarvis either, which is a major reason I chose the Xtrainer.  I'm just an Idaho USA woods rider in his early 50's that wants a lightweight, compact, nimble, and powerful trail bike with a tight turning radius, a linear power curve for slow technical riding, and a proper enduro suspension with adjustable damping and springs in both forks (so the forks don't dive every time I work the front brake in steep downhill terrain.)  A well-suspended Xtrainer is just that.  A 300RR not so much.

Sliding off to one side to dab, or only dabbing with one foot, might work great for the Mighty Jarvis, but other riders (like me) often feel the need to double-dab in some situations and/or not be required to rock the proverbial boat when doing it.  There's nothing more terrifying trying to dab in terrain like shown below and only finding air under your toes for that brief moment before the gravity storm start.

I realize that my needs might be somewhat non-typical, but so what?  The point is that the Xtrainer is a great multi-use enduro bike that offers additional applications for riding when fitted with a quality enduro suspension.

Below are some examples of mountain terrain where I love to ride mine.  But sometimes desert riding at higher speeds is also fun.  Upgrading my suspension was a game-changer for both.

Here's a photo of my 2016 Xtrainer.  When I outfitted it with a Fox shock and 48mm CC Marzzocchi fork kit from Boano Racing the incremental cost over a stock 300RR was about $400 USD, which is probably not far from the value of the stock Olle/RI6V components now gathering dust on the shelf.  If Beta offered the Xtrainer with a Sachs suspension like on the 300RR, for the same prices as a 300RR, many riders like me would gladly pay it.  That would be greatly preferable, and a better value, than the current requirement of purchasing two suspensions just to get one good one.


 

[chesterXT]

2 hours ago, wwguy said:

Another great video Barry!  As always your topics are well thought out and well-articulated in that way you have that makes your so videos engaging to watch.

I found it interesting that the solution that brought you the most value (i.e. satisfaction for the price point) was a custom job with limited availability to riders around the world.  We have several suspension pros here in the USA, some Xtrainer riders themselves, that claim to have done similarly.  But it seems that everything is a one-off and different shops are approaching the problems and solutions uniquely.  Since the Xtrainer is now on it's 4th model year and continues to gain in popularity it would seem that a few best-practices, standardized approaches, or even new solutions from mainstream manufactures, might emerge.  But disappointingly that doesn't seem to be the case.

You briefly mentioned the extra weight associated with fitting modified full size forks from other bikes.  FWIW my Marzzochi 48mm CC kit built by Boano Racing only added 3 lbs. (1.4 kg) over the stock Olle setup.  So not a huge increase.

Thanks again.

The premise appears obvious to me, but then again I've ridden one for the past couple of years.  The objective is to put a quality enduro suspension under a compact 300cc enduro bike.  The only thing "trials" about this bike is the inexpensive stock suspension.  Properly suspended, but otherwise in stock form, it's a woods weapon in tight trees and a mountain goat in the gnarly stuff.

The 300RR is a great bike, but it's heavier, wider, taller, and has a wider turning radius (a big deal when negotiating switchbacks in steep narrow mountain terrain.)  The 300RR engine, although very smooth for a modern 300cc 2-stroke, has a much less-linear power curve than the Xtrainer.  The Xtrainer's engine characteristics are highly appealing to entry-level riders and to experienced riders in tight, steep, technical terrain.  The differences in the engines includes ECU/CDI, cylinder, cylinder head, exhaust power valve, and expansion pipe, so "de-tuning" a 300RR to match Xtrainer characteristics isn't a simple matter.  A 300RR suspension can be lowered, but there's some incremental expense and effort required.

Regarding "the XT was designed for a specific purpose and seems to do that very well."  No argument there.  But that doesn't mean that's the only practical purpose for this bike.  Beta will happily sell them to whomever wants to use them however they see fit.  Just like with any other dirt bike manufactured over the past 30 years or so, the aftermarket parts manufacturers are happy to build and sell parts to replace inferior stock bits and/or extend the capability and enjoyment of the bike.  Same as with the 300RR and just about any other dirt bike out there.

I'm also 6'2" and am obviously no Jarvis either, which is a major reason I chose the Xtrainer.  I'm just an Idaho USA woods rider in his early 50's that wants a lightweight, compact, nimble, and powerful trail bike with a tight turning radius, a linear power curve for slow technical riding, and a proper enduro suspension with adjustable damping and springs in both forks (so the forks don't dive every time I work the front brake in steep downhill terrain.)  A well-suspended Xtrainer is just that.  A 300RR not so much.

Sliding off to one side to dab, or only dabbing with one foot, might work great for the Mighty Jarvis, but other riders (like me) often feel the need to double-dab in some situations and/or not be required to rock the proverbial boat when doing it.  There's nothing more terrifying trying to dab in terrain like shown below and only finding air under your toes for that brief moment before the gravity storm start.

I realize that my needs might be somewhat non-typical, but so what?  The point is that the Xtrainer is a great multi-use enduro bike that offers additional applications for riding when fitted with a quality enduro suspension.

Below are some examples of mountain terrain where I love to ride mine.  But sometimes desert riding at higher speeds is also fun.  Upgrading my suspension was a game-changer for both.

Here's a photo of my 2016 Xtrainer.  When I outfitted it with a Fox shock and 48mm CC Marzzocchi fork kit from Boano Racing the incremental cost over a stock 300RR was about $400 USD, which is probably not far from the value of the stock Olle/RI6V components now gathering dust on the shelf.  If Beta offered the Xtrainer with a Sachs suspension like on the 300RR, for the same prices as a 300RR, many riders like me would gladly pay it.  That would be greatly preferable, and a better value, than the current requirement of purchasing two suspensions just to get one good one.


 

I found your bike in a google image search last week when i was trying to decide if I want my Xtrainer to come with white plastics and race team graphics.  I love it.  I just decided Ill break the red ones first then I will go white.  thanks for the fork weight comparison.  I tried to figure out what the difference was going to be, but until now couldnt find the info.  My earthx battery should make up for the difference. 

Your photos are amazing.  I have been stuck in the worst part of Indiana my entire life.  I am now 37, and have recently decided to start moving forward with a plan to move somewhere in the rocky mountain region.  It is going to take me a couple of years to get things in order to do it, unless I win the lottery.  Been looking at houses around a few cities,  and real estate is quite a bit more expensive out there.  Whatever,  I don't want to be born, live, and die all within a 1 hour drive.  This world is way to awesome for that!

[wwguy]

46 minutes ago, chesterXT said:

I found your bike in a google image search last week when i was trying to decide if I want my Xtrainer to come with white plastics and race team graphics.  I love it.  I just decided Ill break the red ones first then I will go white.  thanks for the fork weight comparison.  I tried to figure out what the difference was going to be, but until now couldnt find the info.  My earthx battery should make up for the difference. 

Your photos are amazing.  I have been stuck in the worst part of Indiana my entire life.  I am now 37, and have recently decided to start moving forward with a plan to move somewhere in the rocky mountain region.  It is going to take me a couple of years to get things in order to do it, unless I win the lottery.  Been looking at houses around a few cities,  and real estate is quite a bit more expensive out there.  Whatever,  I don't want to be born, live, and die all within a 1 hour drive.  This world is way to awesome for that!

Thanks! 

Speaking of broken plastics: During my first season on my new Xtrainer I rode on the stock forks and Fox shock, both sprung for my 245 lbs riding weight with full gear, pack, water, and chainsaw etc. (Chainsaws are the proverbial keys to the forested riding kingdom around here.)  The entire season I really struggled with front end deflection and excessive fork compression in whoops and during front wheel braking.  It was even worse going through extended rocky downhill terrain where the combination of front braking and going over repeated rocks would cause the front forks to pack up.  The stronger-than-stock single fork spring just amplified the pogo action.  I tried heavier weight oil, as some had suggested in these internet forums, but that left me with the feeling that the entire fork action was more sluggish.  Anyway, that first season I managed to repeatedly ride off the trail and into the woods and weeds, eventually breaking both fenders and both radiator shrouds before the season was over.

The new graphics that you like reflect the replacement plastics I installed over the following winter, along with the Marzzochi CC forks.  Last season, my 2nd on this bike, I rode the upgraded suspension more than twice as many hours, and much more aggressively, and I didn't break any plastics.  Coincidence?  Perhaps.  But I'm certainly now riding the same bike at faster speeds over more difficult terrain with greater confidence than I was able to do on the Olle/RI6V suspension.  So I'm a believer... new graphics help, LOL!

There are plenty of great places to ride out here in the Rockies, but Southern and Central Idaho are pretty hard to beat for off-road riding opportunities.  I think that's a big reason that companies like Rekluse, Fastway, KLIM, ObieLink, and Seat Concepts have all located their businesses here.  Last time I looked (2012 stats) there were over 33,000 bikes registered for off-road use in Idaho, and half of those were here in the SW portion of the state near Boise where I live.  So if you're ever out this way with your bike drop me a line and I'll point you towards some great places to ride!

Edited March 4, 2018 by wwguy

[XTrainerChuck]

I have yet to find a thread on how great the forks are on an XTrainer.

I put 15w oil in mine and pretty much maxed out the pre-load and clicker and it made it acceptable but it's still nowhere as good as the 20 year-old forks on my KDX.  I think it's totally acceptable to have this bike as-is to make it more affordable but they should have a model with proper suspension.  If they did that for $400US less than the RR I think they would sell faster than they could build them.

Beta should hire me!