Picked up this somewhat neglected '05 Beta 525 RR yesterday. I've been missing a big thumper for off roading for some time now so when this one came up for sale locally, and after selling my Ducati, I decided to see if I could snag it, and much to my amazement we worked out what I thought was a smoking deal. Needs lots of deferred maintenance and general tidying up so will be fiddling around with it in the coming days, also hoping to install the bits to make it street legal and get a license plate for connecting trails and a bit of hooliganing around town. I had a KTM 520 years ago and 100 yards into the test drive on the Beta and I was reliving those fun times. Holy cow, fun bike! I can't wait to get it out in the woods and dunes. Between my 165 smoker and this thing I'm pretty well setup dirt bike wise, feeling fortunate. -Eddie Ps: The kid who bought my very red Ducati left his not very shiny silver Yamaha R6 in my garage for a few days while he finds time to retrieve it. So now I have his Yami parked in my wife's parking space (I park bikes in my wife's space from time to time so she's used to that) and the Beta against the wall in that same parking space where the very red Ducati normally is. She hasn't noticed a thing! Too funny. I wonder what else I can go out and buy and she won't notice, Lol.
Nice Beta... I've been missing a big thumper too. Looks like Mike Mohrbacher rebuilt the forks. Mike has rebuilt a bunch of my old Ohlins shocks.
Thanks, and thanks for Mike's name, he is the original owner of the bike. The seller couldn't tell me much about the suspension mods so I was going to call him as his number is on some stickers on the forks. Hoping there are some springs in there that are suitable for my weight, and also maybe get some tips on recommended suspension settings, fork oil weight/height, etc. I'm thinking I will service the forks/shock asap along with just about every other maint item on the bike from front to back. Also wondering how many hours he put on the bike, the guy I bought it from rode it once, he didn't even think he burned an entire tank of gas in the year that he owned it! It will be a good learning and bonding experience, although I gotta say, after test riding it last night, I'm dying to go riding on it. On the test ride (in the POURING rain), I didn't want to stop riding it! Ha ha...
I sent Mike a text with a heads up. He said he loved that bike. Give him a call, he's in Renton and works nights.
Picked up some tires, tubes, take-off headlight and shroud, blinkers and blinker relay. Ordered some air filters and some other dual sport electrical stuff. Hoping to get started working on it this week. Met Frank at Frank's Motor Bikes in Bellevue, great guy (http://www.franksmotorbikes.com). Had the exact tires I wanted in stock in his small shop. Very cool.
Ugh, this poor bike. I just got done doing the 3rd major cleaning of it and I think I finally have it to the point that I can start wrenching on it. What a stone breaker this has been. I will never understand how neglectful people can be with expensive things like this fine bike. Some of the last of the caked on grime on the linkage. I see some bare threads down there, will have to check the parts fiche to see if I'm missing a nut, wouldn't surprise me with all of the missing nuts, bolts, mismatched hardware, and heavily corroded fasteners I'm coming across. Good thing I have a pretty good supply of KTM fasteners that I've accumulated over the years, they will definitely come in handy! The victim. Its getting there. Cleaning wise that is. More parts! Oil filters, hydraulic brake switch.
