Trail Rider Magazine

April 2014 25 THE RACE TEST The initial ride on the Beta didn't reveal any surprises. We knew that, because the Sachs forks worked well in the slower, technical terrain back home, that they would be too soft when pounding through the whoops at speed. With the compression set at its firmest setting, I still found the forks to be too soft. A B-rider friend spent some time on the Beta and found the forks to be more compliant, but still quite plush. We then added 10cc of 5- weight fork oil to give the forks some more bottom resistance. After some additional testing, we added another 5cc's. The addi- tion of 15 cc's of fork oil made the forks more suitable for the Florida trails; they weren't perfect, but with time running out be- fore the Alligator Enduro, we ran it. The rear shock by contrast worked well. It took a little time to es- tablish the right settings for the faster terrain but once we figured it out, the shock wasn't the issue. Unsurprisingly, we found the shock too stiff for the technical conditions back home and much better suited to the Florida conditions. The only other area we focused on was the jetting. We went with a 170 main, 38 pilot, n0ZK needle set in the third position with the air screw out 1.5 turns. We also ran the power valve spring in the most aggressive setting. This setup worked well but a nice compliment would have been an extra tooth on the back sprocket. Stock gearing is 13/48 and a 49 tooth rear sprocket would have given the bike a little more pull off the bottom. We also lopped about 10mm off the bars and mounted a set of Dun- lop 81's. The motor on the Beta continues to impress; it accelerates quickly but is also quite smooth and linear. It's snappy off the bottom and gets from corner to corner quickly and deliberately when needed. The motor reminds me of the KTM XC with the yellow power valve spring set at its most aggressive setting. We had no issues with the Beta cutting through the deep sugar sand and the motor did everything we asked of it. I don't think that I stalled it once during the whole trip. This was also our first chance to sling the bike through the tight trees. With the Beta being a quick turner and one of the more agile two strokes, it goes through the tight stuff with great effi- ciency. We have already identified the Beta's fine cornering prowess, so there's nothing to add to in the cornering depart- ment. With the Beta set up as well as we could get it stock trim, we headed over to Ormond Beach for the Alligator Enduro. The Race Test

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