2018 M8000 , MY 2 CENTS

After spending a few days on the 2018 last week I have to say I am extremely impressed!
We have a couple new machines and spent time comparing some of our new parts to the stock machine and dial in the new clutch kit for it.

The motor is extremely smooth and responsive. What really works excellent is the clutches with bearing in the drive clutch. The way the belt sits nice and high in the driven clutch and then tight on the drive clutch makes taking off so smooth and powerful. It's night and day over 2017 even. This is because you are simply starting out in a lower ratio. The combination of this new motor and clutching is what really makes the sled so much better. After riding the 18 a lot, I jumped on a stock 17 model for a bit, and I couldn't get back on the 18 model fast enough. Night and day difference in throttle response and low end power.


We kept one machine stock and the other we had our Promax Induction hood installed. We also started out with our head and titanium muffler the first day. The billet head kit with a normal hemi style pocket and 14:1 ratio produced a very noticeable gain in throttle response power. You could easy feel the difference. The stock clutching works decent, but was still a bit lazy in the backshift department. With the stiffer spring and compound radius helix, the response was much more instantaneous when your on and off the throttle. We were running our ProMag weights at 73 grams at this point. So the head was doing what it should, at 9500' elevation and that much weight.
Next we added our pipe mod to the stock pipe, and just like normal, we had to add more weight to the clutch. But the big gain happened when we added our stainless Y pipe along with the pipe mod. The whole combination really came to life at this point. We ended up at 76 grams in the clutch!! And it ate it up like nothing, and that at 9000-10000 feet! This bolt on package really made such a big difference. It felt much stronger than a 800 at this point. The low end grunt is strong, and throttle response was insanely quick. It easily puts a few lengths instantly on the stock machine with a steady pull away. Plus with the drop in weight from the muffler and hood, the front end was noticeably lighter. The nose would come up much easier especially with the extra power.
The new hood and side panels come off and on in seconds. There is one screw in the front, so I guess you do need to remove that for the hood, so a minute or two I guess. But the fit and finish in just perfect. The side panels fit great and come off and on easily.
Our new ProMax Induction Hood is clean and effective. 7 lbs lighter too. Cold air is drawn from the front near the shock areas on the side, and then on top behind the windshield. All vents are covered with frogskins to keep the snow and moisture out and prevent snow from icing up. The dash is very clean and effective.

My only complaint would be the ski's. Not super fond of the long leading front side of the ski. Slp Mohawks are going on right away.


If you are looking for a new machine, the new Cat is a home run in my book. New motor is excellent, new clutches excellent, new hood and panels excellent. A very very big improvement over the previous M8000. It's a great stock machine and already proving that it's easy to make it even better. Next up, 950 big bore. We will keep you posted.


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Matte Murder said:

So is the new Cat engine the same dimensionally as the Suzuki motor? Is that how you could bolt on your y-pipe? Are the head and cylinders interchangeable? I quests the quick way to ask the question is Cat just building the Suzuki engine in house or did they do something new?

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Well it is similar to the Suzuki, but the exhaust valves close off the sub exhaust ports and the fuel injection goes into the cylinder. It injects fuel both through a window in the piston and above the piston depending on the position of the stroke.
The head has a single spark plug instead of dual, per side.
The new cylinder uses smaller exhaust studs and different style of spring tabs.

kdardis said:

Is that your LED headlights on both sides of the front bumper?

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Yes, we had led lights on both sides of the bumper.

CO 2.0 said:

I think its a choker you put between the pipe outlet and can

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We cut the pipe in half and add more volume to the center (belly) section, and then change the internal baffle inside the tail cone of the pipe.

CO 2.0 said:

Nice write-up. Pretty much how I felt about it stock. Are they still using a 48deg helix? I didn't bother to look.

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Yes, stock is 48 degree

kiliki said:

great for low end power and torque not so good for long azz climbs and you get heat build up in the motor and the pistons get too hot for the jug ...just sayn. has to be a balance
between a tight pipe and a tight outlet.

nice write up too

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Actually we cut the pipe in half and add some volume on the center section, and change the internal stinger.


The stock pipe is on the extra loose side stock, has a bigger outlet than what the 1000cc twins came with even.
The pipe mods are a nice little upgrade though. A bit more power at all rpm's, and not to restrictive for long pulls by any means.

You can do the muffler, head, and y pipe with no fuel controller.
Or if you do the Y pipe and Pipe mod you don't need one.
But if you do the head, y pipe, pipe mod, and muffler, then you should do a power commander.


I rode ours alot with no fuel controller, but it did trip the DET in the mid range a couple times on the trail ride back just holding the partial throttle at a constant rpm.


And if you add a timing key with all of those parts you would need a fuel controller for sure too.


We will have pipe mod pipes for exchange and for sale this season too. Available black or ceramic coated silver.

knifedge said:

--So factory oem head(13:1), y- pipe, Pipe mod, and muffler combo...would you need a PC???

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No fuel controller needed