Ive not read any long term reports on those sexy red/black/white family owned Italian supermodels....so here goes. ME: coming off both carbed and injected Huskies (510's and a 610). 44 years of dirt biking if one includes the mini bikes. 'A' level rider. 6' 190lbs. (really, ive lost some weight!) WHAT: a 2012 RS 450 BETA WHERE: I ride the south-west: Cali and Baja , from open desert to tight technical. THE GOOD: Overall the handling, motor, suspension, parts/support, build/durability, aftermarket have all worked out almost perfectly. I cant say enough positive stuff about how good its all been for me. Its been incredibly easy to 'dial' this bike. So big picture-the BETA is as good as its been hyped. Thats been a real relief, as i was kinda crossing my fingers a bit when i sold the aging Huskies and went with the BETA. Let me break it down a bit. Handling-BETA makes trials bikes, and they have done lots of R and D for KTM. So im guessing thats why this bike handles so amazingly well. Its flickable on the single track, yet stable at 80 mph on a baja 2 track. The cylinder points rearward, just a bit, compared for example to a Husky 450/510. Great mass centralization. Best handling bike ive ever ridden for my stuff. Suspension-my bike has the Marzzochi 45's up front (i also had them on my '05 510) and Sachs in the rear. While i struggled to set them up for my Husky-these new version Zokes are fantastic on my BETA. I have the compression at zero. Meaning the spring rate is perfect for me. I cranked the rear pre load up a bit, played with the clickers and have balanced the bike to a point ive not been able to get other bikes. So no need to re valve anything. Is it perfect? No, but it is perfectly capable of racing, and its at 95% for me. I might play around with oil height and weight up front, but its damn close right right now. Ive read a couple negative posts about BETA suspension impressions that i just dont see at all with my bike. Other models and years use different set ups, so i cant speak about anything but what i have, but on my bike the suspension is awesome! I suspect those negative posts are more a question of set-up, rather than anything else. But for a fast 190lb rider my bike has GREAT suspension, stock. Zero compression up front, 95mm sag in the rear, then just fine tune the clickers. Easy peazy. MOTOR- With its perfectly spaced 6 speed tranny, and linear power the powerplant is fantastic for me. It does not 'spin up' as fast as a Honda-it does not 'hit' as hard, but for me thats a good thing. I dont do motard racing, or motox, so i want traction and control, and i dont want to get the bike yanked out of my hands all day as some of my race bikes in years past would do. Fun-yes-but im faster on this bike, and fresher later in the day as well, important for me. This bike has a carb-and i love it. My old 610 was very well fuel injected, but this bike is just as good as the best FI systems. Ive been told the Keihin FCR has all kinds of special little tweaks in it-the result of intensive collaboration between BETA and Keihin. No flare outs, no backfires, great both at altitude and sea level, etc...and...wait for it...i get nearly 50 mpg when im just cruising baja 2 track. Thats huge for us long range guys. I have a 150+ mile range on my bike! Before you tell me its lean to get thru any CARB issues, let me just say it does not run like its lean, meaning no overheating and no starving backfires. This carb is spot on! Valves have been spot on both times i checked them, no movement at all. ELECTRICAL-The stator is kokusan, just like the 450 Husky and KTM's, with of course dc charging the battery and running the ignition, and then ac to the front lights. I had the ground floated (Baja Designs did it) and now run a full DC system, so i can run LED and HID front lights. I kept the key, making the power switched and the bike needing a key to start. I have a LED front light for those late nights in Baja. Might not be an issue for others. I found the electric start was occasionally having hiccups-when at TDC it hesitated to crank over, and the battery would drain after 3-4 estarts in the same 10 minutes. So i got a more powerfull battery-same size, just more cranking units. It fixed this minor hiccup instantly. Bike always fires without any hesitation and battery never drains now. PARTS/SUPPORT-I lived thru the Husky support issues and was a bit nervous about BETA. Man of man am i amazed at how well supported BETA is for me! All the BYOB bikes are built here in California, where the importer is also located. So that means all kinds of parts and aftermarket is all just two UPS days away. I call my dealer, stuff shows up at my door-and its not just OEM parts--they have all kinds of aftermarket stuff available. Its just like KTM 'Hardparts'. Its obvious the dealers ive dealt with (i bought my bike from George at Uptite, and have also gotten stuff from Dan at MotoXotica) are very happy with BETA, supportive of the brand, believe in it, etc. SO-behind the scenes- i have to rate BETA as A+. Ive been told BETA is a debt free, wholly family owned company with generations of expereince making bikes, with a factory near Florence in Tuscany, Italy. So again-behind the scenes its all very good. BUILD/DURABILITY-with a year on the bike, well over 1000 hard miles, i can say that the only problem ive had is the minor battery/starting issue. Oh-and a screw fell out of the front fender. Thats it! So far so good, with everything working amazingly well. My confidence in this machine started with a healthy skepticism to an earned respect. So far nothing is rubbing anywhere, and thats a first for a bike ive owned. My old 510 needed the banjo bolt rotated, the rear flap rubbed, etc. and so all bikes ive owned needed some little tweaking. My BETA is as far as i can tell just right on. Ive gown down a couple times now-plastics are good, no tears or rips or anthing. As an aside, the more i get to know the bike, the more cool little design and engineering upsides i find. Ive parked my BETA next to an '08 Husky 450 and marveled at both how similar the overall platforms are, and yet how many nice little updates or refinements the BETA has. It really is kinda like if Husky had kept those models and just kept updating them. AFTERMARKET-BETA has a nice program called BYOB where one can get a new bike with all the little farkles on it, and they subtract some of the price for the OEM take off stuff. But if you want to add stuff on later-its all available for the BETA's-from big tanks and extra protection to straight up bling like blue rims or graphics packages. while not aftermarket-there are also BETA factory options. I got a cooling fan for my bike from BETA. Plug and play. THE BAD- All bikes have something. For me the battery on my BETA was just not strong enough. I got another with more cranking units and it solved my issues instantly. Really thats it! MY BIKE- My BETA is a '12 RS 450. Thats their 'street legal race bike' 450. I have taken off the street stuff mostly, the plate is nice but just to connect trails for me. Ive set it up for my type of riding: added a big tank, bashplate, cooling fan, dc lights, flexible air-fuel mixture screw. Ive set the cockpit wide open (raising the bars and pushing them forward-its adjustable), set my clickers, set sag adjusted the controls, and thats it! CONCLUSION- BETA is about as good as it gets for me. I want a bike i can ride all day, and ride fast and hard. I want something durable, but i dont want to deal with a lack of support. Been there on my Husky during the transition period, it sucked. I crossed my fingers and pulled the trigger-and man oh man oh man and i loving it. Im sure KTM/Husky will evolve into some great bikes. Ive heard some great rumors about this and would consider a Husky sometime in the future. But for now, for me, the BETA is just an amazing way to go. My BETA in Baja over the holidays:
Thanks for the report, I am seriously leaning towards a used, carbed, RS 450, I have to have street legal and titled. My buddy had a race 450 with a kit on it, I loved it. One of the valves got tight, so he sold it.
Hey Mike, do you know which KTM model the stator cross references to? I'm trying to purchase a Trailtech stator but they don't list one for Beta. Nice report. Thanks
Great report and thanks for taking the time to do so. It must feel good to have a bike that's set up, does what you want, and pretty much trouble free. Enjoy ,
That was just what I was thinking... Just a detailed, successful, dirt bike riding story, with emphasis on a specific brand ... It is possible for some of us ... -- The mass of their sales numbers are in EU?
They're Italian so I'd imagine so. They didn't really take off here until 2013 when they produced their first 2 stroke. In its first year it won bike of the year and even some tests. They have a ton of models in EU but imported the 4 strokes before that. The engines on their older 4 strokes were borrowed engines from older KTM's. They even manufactured engines for KTM. They were mostly known as a trials bike company here. Do you check out endurocross? Look up cody webb. He's their marketing strategy which they actually lost to ktm for next year. They have other riders here but no one as successful as him
Good write up. I've been thinking about getting a big 4stk DS eventually and after the experience I've had with my 250RR, I'm definitely getting another Beta. I rode a 2011 450 around the parking lot of a place I ride a bunch and really liked the way it felt just cruising around. Want something I can ride some long camping trips with as I have a few buddies that do that quite a bit. I love mine so far, just had a few little issues that were easy fixes and most of my issues were related to me crashing in the tight woods.
