Australasian Dirt Bike — January 2018

thenwhenyouneedalittlemore,
forgetthegearbox,justtwistalittle
moreoutofit.The2018Beta350RRis
now more racer than traily.
Some of you may be reading this
thinking that’s a bad thing, and for
thosepeopleitmightbe.Butwait,I
haveasolution,whichI’llgettoina
minute.Fortherestofusyouwillbe
overawedbywhatBetahasbeenable
todo.Thisengineissomuchmorefun
andexhilaratingthanthe2017model.
Iseenoreasonastowhythis2018
350RRcouldnotberaced
competitively against the other
mid-capacity four-strokes already
winning championships.
Now,backtothesolution.Forthose
lookingforatrailbikewithoutthe
responsivepowerpunchofthe2018
model 350RR, there is always the
390RR. This is the ultimate trailbike.
Wehadaquicksquirtonthe390on
thesamedayanditfeelslikeit
produces a less responsive and more
docilepunchwhiledeliveringalittle
morelugortorque.But,ifthenumber
390isaturnoff,youcansimplyadjust
thethrottleresponseonthe350RR,so
itisalittlelesstouchy.Afterasking
Grabbo about its new-found aggressive
nature,hesaidhenoticedthestandard
throttle response is a little too abrupt
aswell,andsaidthiscanbeadjusted
atthethrottlepullifnecessary.

THAT’SASACHING

For 2018 Beta has made some

significant changes to the chassis and

afewtothesuspension.Thechassisis

10percentstiffer,whichmeansmore

accurate handling on braking bumps

contributingtoafaster-feelingbike.I

have no doubt this contributes to the

raceyfeel,butitisnotthedetermining

modificationforthe2018powergains.

Thesamecanbesaidforthe

suspension. Sachs is responsible for

absorbing the bumps and it does a

superb job. New sleeves make the fork

lighter while improving rigidity and

reducing friction. And of course the

internal settings have been adapted to

marryupwiththeotherchanges.

Overall the suspension is firmer than

the2017model,butitwillstillneed

someworkifyouwanttogoracing.

Forfasttrailriders,it’sgreat.

MID-RANGEMONSTER

The2018350RRisspecial.Itisthe

first “Race Ready” Beta I’ve straddled.

Justlookingatthedynochartonthis

page,itisclearBetahassqueezeda

little more juice out of this mid-cap

trailwarrior,andmostofthatisinthe

mid-range.

This mid-range improvement now

means the 350RR power delivery is

more linear than ever. But is Beta

barkingupthewrongtree?Isthe350

Sachsisresponsiblefor

absorbing the bumps and it

doesasuperbjob

The red line shows the gain in torque Even in rain mode it felt like it had more power

http://www.adbmag.com.au JANUARY 2018 | 81