2019 Beta two-stroke launch review

Big things are happening for Beta motorcycles. While plenty of motorcyclists would associate the Beta brand with trials bikes, it’s in the enduro scene where the family-owned Italian company is really shining.

With a swag of world enduro titles and constant sales growth throughout Europe in recent years, Beta is charging hard. And that upward trend looks set to be emulated in Australia with the recent appointment of Lowry Australia as the new Aussie importer and distributor.

Managing Director Patrick Lowry sees plenty of potential to grow the Beta brand Down Under and one of his first undertakings was to launch the 2019 range to the Aussie motorcycling media.

At a secret test location in northern NSW, we were given the chance to sample seven of the eight-strong enduro range. First up for bikesales.com.au was the two-stroke range, a segment that currently accounts for two-thirds of Beta’s total bike sales. In Beta land two-strokes are still king! On hand at the launch was the all-new, eagerly awaited RR 200, the updated RR 300 and the somewhat surprising X-Trainer 300.

With Beta bunting marking the way, a handful of Aussie journos were let loose on a 3km enduro loop that featured plenty of off-road obstacles to put the new Betas to the test. Set in a valley, the loop had plenty of ups and downs, more than enough off-camber turns, river crossings, exposed rocks and tree roots, launch pads, G-outs and a surprising lack of traction considering how dry the ground was. We were told the soil gets so slick in wet weather you can’t even walk on it without ending up flat on your face, so for once I was happy to deal with a dusty track.

It seems Aussies have a soft spot for 200cc two-strokes – but have a hard time finding one. KTM’s 200 was wickedly popular, but is no longer in production, Yamaha and Kawasaki 200cc two-strokes are but a fond and distant memory, and even the Gas Gas 200 has been hard to come by in recent years.

Before it’s even landed, Beta’s new-to-the-range RR 200 has Aussie customers queuing up to place orders. Aussie enduro legend Geoff Ballard even made the trek to the official launch so he could sample the machine.

Despite the reduced seat height for all 2019 Betas it was difficult to get a leg over the Beta RR 200, simply because the smallest bike on show spent such little time under the Beta quickshades! As soon as a rider stepped off the 200, there was someone else ready to fill its seat.

It was clearly one of the most popular bikes of the seven Betas to choose from. Eventually I got my chance – and I now know what all the fuss is about! The RR 200 is a brilliant little machine.

Like many manufacturers, Beta is on the path of making bikes easier to live with, by fitting electric start and oil injection to all but one of its enduro two-strokes. Only the RR 125 misses out on the button and oil injection.

Over the years, I’ve heard how a failed oil injection system can damage a two-stroke engine, but Beta has clever electronics that switch the oil injection to a “max-oiling” mode should anything go awry with the oil injection, thereby flooding the fuel system with oil rather than stopping the flow of oil and causing an engine seizure.

Don’t like the idea of an oil-injected enduro bike? If that’s the case, Beta has an alternate range of Racing models without oil injection and with a host of race-inspired upgrades that pump the price of the bikes up a few hundred dollars. Personally, I think oil injection on bikes that most of us will use for trailriding is a great idea and at a lower price the standard RR models are bound to be the most popular choice.

Beta had a choice when it developed the new RR 200: sleeve down the 250cc model to create a 200 or beef up its RR 125. Beta chose to upsize its 125, and what a great move that turned out to be.

You get the light weight and nimble feel of a 125, but with a more ballsy engine. A 125cc two-stroke might represent hard work for some riders due to the need to work the clutch, gearbox and revs to keep the engine in its sweet spot, but the extra 75cc under the 200’s tank eliminates much of that hard work. The engine is strong, the power is easily accessible and for lightweights like me it’ll even loft the front wheel as you accelerate from turn to turn.

On the second and third-gear enduro loop, the Beta 200 was an absolute blast to ride. It has the power to pull hard out of corners and up hills, and has such a nimble feel that you could put the bike wherever you wanted it. Inside lines that I’d continually overshoot on the bigger Betas felt like they’d been delivered directly to the 200’s mailbox.

The 200 also proved to be a handy little hill climber. Where the bigger bikes fought for traction up the dry and dusty climbs, the 200 shot its way up the climbs like it’d been fired from a gun. No wheelspin, no fishtailing: just an arrow-straight trajectory all the way to the top. The 200 felt more efficient and faster than bikes twice its capacity.

It’s been a while since Shane Watts showed the enduro world how competitive a 200cc two-stroke can be. Perhaps it’s time a gun enduro rider jumped on a Beta to remind us all that dynamite comes in a small package.

With 100cc separating them I expected to experience a big difference between the RR 200 and RR 300 – and boy what an experience it was. If riding the 200 is like boxing in the featherweight category, then riding the RR 300 was like stepping into the ring with a heavyweight. The big-bore Beta is a serious enduro weapon that will take a strong, skilled and sizeable rider to tame it, especially around a relatively tight enduro loop filled with off-camber corners.

Along with the rest of the 2019 Beta enduro range, the RR 300 scored a significant suspension upgrade, moving from the Sachs fork and shock to the company’s top-shelf ZF components. I hadn’t heard of ZF suspension either but a quick Google search reveals ZF as one of the big hitters in the automotive industry. The new 48mm ZF fork features tool-less adjustment with 10mm of spring preload via a dial on top of the right fork leg, a smaller compression adjustment knob also on the right leg and a rebound adjustment knob on the top of the left leg.

Air filter maintenance is also done without tools, as is the removal of the seat, giving access to the oil injection tank and lightweight Lithium battery. Grab handles where the rear mudguard meets the seat are a handy feature and a reminder that Beta enduro bikes are built for the extremes.

The 300cc two-stroke market is a hot one in Australia and is being dominated by KTM, which is likely to be the bike people compare the Beta to when it comes time to buy. So, how do they compare? The Beta has a harder edge to it than the KTM and feels more race inspired, even down to the arse-aching hardness of the seat foam.

With its smoother power and less vibration, thanks to its counter-balanced engine, the KTM will be more trail-friendly, but for a strong, skilled rider who loves the raw power of a big-bore two-stroke the Beta could well be your bike. And at around $2000 less than a KTM, there’s good reason to consider the Italian alternative.

There’s no doubt the RR 300 is a beast of a bike in the bush and no denying it was too much machine for me, given the lack of traction and the stop-start nature of the test track. However, with plenty of suspension adjustment at your fingertips and an easily adjustable exhaust valve opening for a more linear power delivery there’s every chance the Beta RR 300 could be wound back from wild to mild and therefore more manageable for a wider range of riders.

I didn’t gel with the 300 during my short time aboard, but then again, I’m not six-feet-tall, I don’t weigh 90kg and I don’t have the skill set of current E3 world enduro champion Steve Holcombe.

From the research I’d done on the Beta X-Trainer I wasn’t particularly excited about riding it. In fact, I was confused. Compared to the rest of the Beta range, the X-Trainer has a lower seat height, less power than the RR 300, an inferior suspension package and a weird moniker.

I had the impression it was designed for beginner riders, but what sort of a nutcase learns to ride a dirt bike by jumping on a 300cc two-stroke? I steered well clear of the X-Trainer when it was time to choose our first of seven Betas at the launch. Going straight for the X-Trainer surely would’ve had the other journos questioning my masculinity…

Patrick Lowry must have sensed by reluctance because more than once he assured me I’d be surprised. He was right. I was expecting an ill-handling, underpowered slug, but what I experienced was one of the most enjoyable rides of the Beta range.

Despite the lower compression ratio and drastically different shape of the expansion chamber to alter the power delivery, the X-Trainer 300 still made more than enough grunt to make me and the other journos smile. Most of us agreed we’d be faster on the X-Trainer than the RR 300. I went as far as to say I felt faster on the X-Trainer than on any other Beta.

Any confidence I lost on the RR 300 was quickly reinstated once I jumped on the X-Trainer. In fact, I became over-confident and ended up battered and bruised when a wheelstand through a river crossing went horribly wrong. I’m still paying the price for that monumental slip-up!

The X-Trainer seemed to vibrate less than the RR 300, produced drive rather than wheelspin out of turns and barely put a wheel out of place. This is a 300cc two-stroke that rewards you for pushing harder rather than most 300s that tend to bite if you don’t show them the respect they command.

Some of the taller riders mentioned the unusual shape of the expansion chamber got in their way, but I was hard pressed to find fault. At nearly $2000 less than the RR 300, the X-Trainer deserves serious consideration.

Beta updates the X-Trainer models every second year model so the bike available in 2019 is essentially a 2018 model. It’ll be easily distinguishable on dealer floors as the only current model with red plastics instead of the 2019 models with white plastics.

If you’re in the market for a two-stroke enduro bike there’s a good chance Beta has an option to suit you. The RR 200 is bags of fun and a great way for young riders to get into enduro competition without the higher purchase price and maintenance costs of racing a four-stroke.

I could also see the 40-plus brigade having a blast on this bike while still having the energy to bench race after a day on the trails. With the convenience of electric start and oil injection the RR 200 is a whole lot of easy fun just waiting to happen.

The RR 300 is a far more serious matter. This bike has power to burn and will be best suited to the dedicated rider or racer. With so much brawn, the 300 is going to be more fun to ride in wide-open spaces rather than picking its way through tight terrain.

The X-Trainer 300 was the big surprise of the Beta launch. Don’t be fooled, like I was, into thinking the X-Trainer is a soft option. The power is predictable and won’t rip your arms out, but it’s still a 300cc two-stroke so there’s more than enough grunt to get your heart pumping.

The RR 200 was the most fun of the three two-smokers to ride, but the X-Trainer was the most versatile. So, despite my original misconceptions, the X-Trainer is my pick of the bunch. It’s also the most affordable.

For your own chance to test ride the entire Beta enduro range jump onto Beta Motorcycles Australia’s website www.betamotor.com.au to find out where and when you can find the next official Beta test ride day.

ENGINE
Type: Liquid cooled, single cylinder, 2-stroke
Capacity: 190.2/293.1cc
Bore x stroke: 62 x 63/72mm x 72mm
Compression ratio: 13.5:1/11.9:1
Starting system: Electric only
Fuel system: Keihin PWK 36mm carburettor

TRANSMISSION
Type: Six-speed
Final drive: Chain

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Double-cradle, Molybendum steel
Front suspension: 48mm ZF fork, 295mm of travel
Rear suspension: ZF shock, 290mm of travel
Front brake: Nissin double-piston floating caliper on 260mm wave disc
Rear brake: Nissin single-piston floating caliper on 240mm wave disc

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Claimed dry weight: 97.5/104kg
Seat height: 930mm
Wheelbase: 1477/1482mm
Overall length: 2167/2172mm
Ground clearance: 325/320mm
Fuel capacity: 8.5/9.5 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: $11,695/$12,395
Availability: Beta RR 200 due late January 2019; Beta RR 300 is available now
Bikes supplied by: Beta Motorcycles Australia

ENGINE
Type: Liquid cooled, single cylinder, 2-stroke
Capacity: 293.1cc
Bore x stroke: 72 x 72mm
Compression ratio: 11.3:1
Starting system: Electric only
Fuel system: Keihin PWK 36mm carburettor

TRANSMISSION
Type: Six-speed
Final drive: Chain

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Double-cradle, Molybendum steel
Front suspension: 43mm Sachs fork, 270mm of travel
Rear suspension: Sachs shock, 270mm of travel
Front brake: Nissin double-piston floating caliper on 260mm wave disc
Rear brake: Nissin single-piston floating caliper on 240mm wave disc

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Claimed dry weight: 99kg
Seat height: 910mm
Wheelbase: 1467mm
Overall length: 2157mm
Ground clearance: 320mm
Fuel capacity: 8.5 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: $10,495
Availability: Available now
Bikes supplied by: Beta Motors Australia