2017 Beta 300 RR review

If you are after a 300cc two-stroke to tear up the bush with in 2017, you have choice a-plenty. Euro bikes are the way to go, with compliant chassis married to broad, grunty engines and a features list to rival its more expensive competition – including not having to pre-mix your two-stroke fuel!

Which bike to choose, though? For me it always comes down to which one is the most rideable, and therefore most enjoyable. There may be a racier one, a flasher-looking one, a bike with slightly more power or marginally better suspension, but it has to be rideable or you will hate it halfway up a root-infested hill. And your mates will cane you on their “more rideable” bikes.

So when Beta’s Ben Grabham (yes, former desert king Ben Grabham, now working for Beta Australia) tells me the Beta 300 RR is aimed at trailriders, I am all ears. 300 two-strokes are often over ridden by trailriders – trying to rev out a 55hp two-stroke through the trees is not something even our best enduro racers do – instead of using torque and grunt to roll their way through the bush. Even Toby Price grunts instead of revs.

Mid-range oomph
That’s the strength of 300cc two-strokes: not the top-end power, but the mid-range grunt that gets you up and over hills, rocks and roots, and then flattens the goggles on your face when you crack it hard down a firetrail.

The 300 RR lets you set it up for grunt-to-the-moon power, with an adjustable power valve spring and two ignition map options – rain and full power – via a handlebar-mounted switch.

Our test was on some of my favourite trails in Sydney’s Blue Mountains, with a day that started wet enough to quench the dust, then dried enough to produce the kind of loam the area produces in perfect conditions.

Being a trail-rider-focussed bike, we tested it with a solid day’s test ride on all kinds of terrain: rck, sand, loamy single track, open firetrails and everything in between. The Beta devoured it all.

Start at the bottom
I began with the engine in the doughiest mode possible: a slow-opening power valve and in the rain map. This is where I generally want to ride a 300cc two-stroke, and I’m in good company as many of our top enduro pilots do likewise.

It's no secret that 300cc two-stokes all make good power these days; it’s how they make them that matters. The Beta has the smooth, responsive, yet relatively mild initial throttle response I like, because it gives me confidence over technical trail litter and lets me control the rear wheel because I can feel what it’s doing. This confidence is gold for a trail rider.
With Grabbo leading, we dove into some superb second and third gear singletrack, and the Beta let me burble it along, feeling in control and as relaxed as I get. So I thought I’d give it a bit more and was suddenly all feet and legs out of corners – too much, then…

Deceptive power
The Beta has deceptive power, in a way. It’s so easy to use off the bottom that I find it easy to forget how much power it has elsewhere. Its trail-focus doesn’t mean it’s soft – it hits like a sledgehammer up top. It feels every bit as powerful as the KTM and Husqvarna up top and, combined with a rear end that hooks up better than most other Sachs-equipped rear wheels, makes for a formidable grass track weapon.

In the bush, though, on the tough and technical trail we were riding, it's smooth and progressive down low. As long as you remember to run the bike a gear higher than you think it can, it’s as manageable through the bush as anything else.

Then I switched it all over to 'full nuts' mode, and it’s fully nuts! Still rideable at the bottom end, the thing cracked like a whip when the trail allowed more than quarter throttle. While it was exciting, I was soon back in the more manageable mode – and was more faster, too.

Better suspension
The front end is a built-for-Beta Sachs open cartridge fork and well balanced with the Sachs shock. The Sachs is a big improvement from the last Sachs-equipped bike I rode, with much better traction and stability and a small-bump compliance that makes an all-day ride more enjoyable.

Is the suspension better than the 2017 KTM gear? No, but the bike is $1000 or so cheaper, leaving room for some suspension work if you wanted to get it closer to the amazing KTM-spec.

As it is, it steers into turns as lightly as a well-appointed mountain bike, with enough feel to allow you to take it to the edge of your comfort zone. Our bike was a little underdone in the rear spring preload, so ran a touch wide on the corner exits, but was otherwise neutral and a sweet steerer.

Stuck in the full blown engine configuration, I found myself on a very technical rocky climb, and once I calmed down a bit the bike let me pick my line through and over the worst of it. It's an easy handler. I don’t need to wrestle it anywhere it refuses to go; it just goes there.

Features galore
The bike delivers well on features. A single push button removes the seat, the grab handles under the seat can actually fit a bloke-sized hand in them, and the bar-mounted ignition switch is functional – although I did adjust it accidentally as I banged the bars up a hill. I’d reposition it if I owned it.

If longer rides are your forte, the addition of the 650cc oil tank is magic. There is a sensor on the carby to adjust flow of 2T oil, though I have to say I didn’t notice it working. That said, the bike ran cleanly at all throttle openings, though a well-jetted pre-mix burning bike will do like-wise.

The main point is you don’t need to carry extra premix for long rides any more, and are no longer parked with the two-stroke “lepers” pre-mixing, while your four-stroke mates line up at the pump. For some, that’s a big selling point. Topping the oil up every 2-3 rides is certainly easier than having a two-stroke dedicated jerry can, carrying pre-mix or oil with you in the camelback, etc.

Air filter access is as easy as any other bike in the class: just rip off the side plate – without tools – and you’re in. The digital speedo is full of features, including average and maximum speeds and the new fuel cap is easy to use and stays solidly shut. It’s nice to know you don’t need to pour pre-mix into it…

Frame guards, a small plastic bashplate, and handguards are all standard, although the handguards need a second bolt to secure them better. I’d also be protecting that pipe with a bash guard if I owned it.

The bike is slim to sit on and while there’s a hint of trials ergonomics to it, the low bars and flat seat make punting between the trees a natural feeling pastime.

The electric start was flawless during our ride, and the bike is solidly built overall – but I wanted sharper footpegs and a wider foot on the sidestand. Most bikes are guilty of the latter, though.

Tameable powerhouse
Does the Beta 300 RR live up to the trailrider focus? The feature set is very attractive, particularly for those who hate premixing fuel and want an engine that can totally change character with an allen key and push of a button.

It is no docile donkey, though – punching hard out of a turn will lay your hair back, and it gives away nothing in power to anything else in the class. It also hooks up the rear tyre much better than I expected, making long hill climbs less likely to disappear in wheelspin, but also means you need to respect it like any other 300 out of a corner – it goes!

For the feature set and even just how good it looks in the flesh, the bike is very well priced, too. Cheaper than its main rivals at $11,990 (KTM $13,495, Husqvarna $14,295), it is a good opportunity to get into a well-specced 300 2T and not lose out in any one area.

The KTM has better suspension, but it has better boingers than anything and the Beta isn’t far behind and remains an all-day bike, rather than just something you ride in the morning and then swap your mate for something more placid in the afternoon. Everywhere you look on the bike there is quality and you want for nothing from the showroom floor, save for a bigger bashplate and your choice of handguards if you don’t like the open type. Just get on and ride it.

Why more manufacturers don’t go to an oil tank, I don’t know – Beta has proven it works well and have saved trailriders time in the shed, the servo and on the trail with a tank that has little downside. The bike ran cleanly all ride, at all throttle openings.

Beta is a smaller presence in Australia than many other camps, but they can be a more personal brand because of that. If you are a trailrider who wants to enjoy a tameable powerhouse, doesn’t mind riding something a bit different and yet doesn’t want to give anything away in rideability, power or features, then saddle up on a 300 RR and find out for yourself.

SPECS: 2017 BETA 300 RR

PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: not given
Claimed maximum torque: not given

TRANSMISSION
Type: Six speed
Final drive: Chain
Clutch: Wet multiplate

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Double cradle steel
Front suspension: Sachs with adjustable rebound and high/low compression, ???mm travel
Rear suspension: Sachs with adjustable rebound and high/low compression, ???mm travel
Front brake: 260mm disc
Rear brake: 240mm disc
Tyres: Michelin Enduro Competition – front 21-inch, rear 18-inch

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Rake: 27 degrees
Claimed dry weight: 102kg
Seat height: 930mm
Ground clearance: 320mm
Wheelbase: 1481mm
Fuel capacity: 9.5 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: $11,990
Test bike supplied by: Beta Australia
Warranty: Six months limited