Australasian Dirt Bike — June 2017

46 |JUNE 2017 http://www.adbmag.com.au

BETA

FOUR-TIRTY

THEBADGEMAYNOTSAY 450 ,BUTTHEBETA 430 RRISSTILLAWINNER

FORNEARLYAdecade,

250 ccand 450 ccmachines

dominatedthecapacitybattle.

Butnowadays,withtheexception

ofYamaha’sWR45 0 F,

manufacturers’450sarebeing

outsoldbyalternativecapacities.

AccordingtoFCAIfigures,

Sherco’sbestselleristhe

300SEF-R,whileKTM’s

500 EXC-F, 350 EXC-Fand

300EXCmachinesalloutsoldthe

450 EXC-F.TheHusqvarna

TE 300 andFE 350 alsoflewout

fromdealersfasterthanyoucan

spell 450 ,soit’snosurprisethat

Betahasmovedthegoalposts

withits 430 RR.Perhapsit’sjust

aclevermarketingploy,butone

thing’sforsure,thenew 430 RR

isawesomeandisnolongerjust

aKTMalternative.

Itwasn’twellpublicised,but

the 2017 Beta’sunderwent

someserioussurgery.The

2016 Beta 430 wasaslow,

under-sprungtrailbike,but

the 2017 isverydifferent.

Mostofthechangeswerein

suspensionupgrades.The

lengthoftheSachsUSDfork

hasbeenincreasedby5mm,

whichhasincreasedthe

travel,whileLiqui-Molyoil

reducesheatbuild-upandthe

dreadedstiction.Italsohas

differentinternalsettingsin

regardstoshims,whilethe

topouterforktubeshavea

differentprofile,with

differenttaperstoaidflex.

Youwouldn’thavereadall

thisinapressrelease

becauseBetadidn’tmakeit

public but we discussed it in

our launch report in issue

#444. Instead, we had to tie

down a redheaded Ben

Grabhamandthreatenhim

withexposuretosunlight

unlesshetolduswhathesaw

intheBetafactoryonhisvisit

toItalylastmonth.

TheSachsshockhasnew

valvingspecs(again,

somethingBetadidnot

publicise)andfinerhigh/low

speedadjustment.Theresult

isaforkandshockthatisn’t

softlikepreviousyears,but

isn’tharsheither.It’s

progressive,comfortableand

rarelydeflectsoffsmall,

choppybumps.Infact,we

weresoimpressed,thatMat

Boydandmyselfagreedthe

suspensionwasjustasgood,

ifnotbetter,thanthe

impressivesuspensiononthe

2017 KTMfour-strokes.

I’veneverbeenahugefan

ofSachssuspension,butafter

adayonthe 430 RRI’ve

changedmymind.Itwas

comfortable,consistent,

steadfastandpredictableall

atthesametime.Itwas

exceptional.Thetripleclamps

havebeenredesignedsothey

arelighterandmorerigid.I’d

liketosaythe 430 suspension

issuitedtotrailorrace

conditions,butIcan’t.Itsuits

both.Sure,nobikeoutofthe

crateissetuptohandlefast

raceconditionsinstandard

trim,butthisgearwillsuffice

formostclubmanandeven

B-gradeenduroracers.

The 430 RRenginehas

SHORT SQUIRT BETA 430RR

come alive in 2 017. But like

the suspension, Beta forgot to

make noise about this. For

2017 the power was far more

accurate and responsive. But

thanks to the unique stepper

motor that Beta employs, the

power is still smooth and

linear even with the added

aggression. To achieve this

Beta changed the camshaft,

valve springs, starter gears

(which were lightened), and

adapted the ECU to suit the

mods. The end goal was to

maximize power but keep that

signature smooth Beta

feeling. The engine is easily

one of the best power plants

I’ve ridden. It has the torque

to chug up hills and the

responsiveness to fly

throughsingletrail.

Acommonmisconception

aboutthebetaengineisthat

it’sslow.Thisisnotthecase.

Thesteppermotorsmooth’s

outthepowerand,unlikethe

KTMenginethathitsabruptly,

theBeta 430 RRpowercomes

onsmoothlylikeBarryWhite.

TheentireBetarangealso

receivesanew-lookspeedo

thatincorporatesatimer,

averageandmaxspeedsand

abatteryvoltagereading.The

fuelcapnowfeaturesabuilt

inbreathervalvetoventthe

tank,whilenewgraphics,

silverrimswithblackspokes

giveitafreshlook.

MitchLees

SECOND

OPINION

I was surprised by the Beta. I

didn’t expect it to be that

good. The power is a massive

improvement over previous

models. It’s a lot stronger

through the mid-range and

bottom-end. The engine was

like a motocross engine

because the bottom-end was

so strong. But it was still easy

to ride. It didn’t feel heavy and

you didn’t have to muscle it

around trees. The suspension

and handling was better than I

expected. We usually complain

about Betas being unbalanced

but there isn’t anything I

would change on this one. We

jumped it over rocks and

through whoops and there

wasn’t anything it couldn’t do.

Tech Editor Mat Boyd

SPEX

ENGINE

TYPE DOHC, four-valve

DISPLACEMENT 430.9cc

BORE & STROKE 95mm x 60.8mm

COOLING Liquid

COMPRESSION RATIO 12.3:1

FUEL METERING Synerject 43mm EFI

TANK CAPACITY 8.0L

TRANSMISSION Six-speed

CLUTCH Wet multi-plate

DIMENSIONS

WHEELBASE 1490mm

SEAT HEIGHT 940mm

GROUND CLEARANCE 320mm

WEIGHT 112.5kg dry

SUSPENSION

FRONT Sachs USD 48mm fork

REAR Sachs monoshock

BRAKES

FRONT Two-piston, 260mm

REAR Single-piston, 240mm

RUNNING GEAR

HANDLEBAR Beta

FRONT TYRE Michelin Enduro Comp

REAR TYRE Michelin Enduro Comp

PRICE & CONTACTS

THE BILL $12,890rrp

BROWSER betamotor.com.au

BLOWER (03) 5439 6333

WARRANTY Six-months parts and labour

SHORT

S

QU

IRT

BETA

430RR