Australasian Dirt Bike — January 2018

210 | JANUARY 2018 http://www.adbmag.com.au

REAR GUARD

SAYING GOODBYE TOmy
Beta Xtrainer brought mixed
emotions.Ononehandshe’d
beenagreatrideforthepast12
months, on the other she’d
cheatedonmeforthree
months with a motocross punk
fromTerryHills.Obviouslymy
talents weren’t enough.
Either way, I’ll look back on
theXtrainerasoneofthemost
fun,engagingbikesI’vehadthe
privilegeofriding,
unfaithfulness aside. I meshed
with the little Xtrainer well
because it suited my riding style.
It felt like a 125cc to push
around the garage, steered like
a200buthadthetorqueofa
300togetyouupandoverany
obstacleIdaredtackle.It’snot
abikeforeverysituation,but
Beta doesn’t claim it is.
TheItaliancompanymarkets
itasahardenduroweaponand
that’s what caught my
attention. My first impression of
the Xtrainer was that it was
smallbutverylightandhadan
incredibly tight turning circle.
YoucouldU-turnona10-cent
piecewithease.
Its small size took some
gettingusetoandIfound
myself standing almost
everywhere, even through
tight, rutted turns, because it
felt most comfortable. Because
ofthelowheightandsmall

frame Beta recommends the

Xtrainer for smaller riders and

newbies but that in no way

reflects its capabilities.

At the end of the day it still

has a 300cc two-stroke engine

at its heart. The small frame

and low seat wasn’t ideal for me

but that wasn’t Beta’s fault as

I’m a 196cm thanks to the

growth hormones they put in

chicken nowadays.

SITTING

To counter this, I installed a tall

seat. It was only an extra 4cm

but a lot firmer and the extra

height made a world of

difference. After that I could sit

more comfortably and corner

sitting down like I would on a

full-size enduro bike.

The first major change

though was to the coolant

pump. Beta Australia’s Garry

Grealy recommended I up the

size of the pump impeller and

cavity with a factory kit to

increase its cooling capacity

because, in rare cases, we’d

heard of Xtrainers boiling.

I never had this problem but

once the larger impeller and

water pump cavity spacer were

installed the thermo fan came

on far less, so it worked.

I then beefed up protection

with a pipeguard, frame guards

and linkage guard, threw on a

BIGGER,

BETA

THINGS!

HOW TO RIDE / ADB GARAGE / WE RECOMMEND / TECH / KIDZ KORNER / USED RIDE /

BETA

XTRAINER

300

set of sticky hoops from

GoldenTyre once the stockers

were worn and decked it out

with an ADB-branded graphics

kit from iMX Graphics. I decided

against radiator guards because

I was trying to keep weight

down and I didn’t experience

any radiator damage. And, of

course, handguards. Gotta

protect those golden digits.

While I was looking after the

Xtrainer it only had one issue

that had the potential to be

detrimental. For a short time,

Beta positioned a few diodes

and plugs on the 2017 Xtrainer

in such a way that they retained

water after washing.

My early-production bike was

one of those. The trapped water

corrodes the prongs on a diode

and that can affect the flow of

electricity through the bike’s

wiring. This can then mess with

the oil injection system. The

problem is unique to a few 2017

models and dealers now fix the

problem during pre-delivery.

I knew the Xtrainer was going

to be a fun bike, as Romaniacs

vets Rob Nowak and Con

Thermos both agreed it could

be competitive in Gold Class in

Romania there but it far

exceeded my expectations. Its

mellow power, mountains of

torque, low weight and soft

suspension make it fun for

flying along singletrack and

scaling gnarly hills.

Living with it for 12 months

couldn’t have been easier and

the only issue was a rare one

that has been fixed. Plus, no

mixing fuel thanks to Beta’s oil

injection was icing on the cake.

Digital Editor Olly Malone

AFTER A FLING WITH A MOTOCROSS PUNK

THE XTRAINER IS LEAVING OLLY FOR GOOD