Trail Rider Magazine

18 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Another interes ng — and appreciated — fact was it seemed to be sprung for a heavier rider. As a guy who's 220 or so suited up, ini al impressions were very posi ve. We were not going to bother with adjus ng ride heights or clickers; they fi t us very well in stock form, and a quick rip around the paddock proved our decision. During the seven weeks we had possession of the 250 and 300RR's, we were able to do several fairly long events. Our fi rst test was the Ammo, jumping in deep with 122 miles of challenging Vermont rocks, roots and twisty single-track. A er a few miles of ge ng used to the 300RR, I started to trust it not to do anything funny. It tracks very well and the Sachs fork and shock seemed to be valved and sprung for a rider of my size and ability. The rear suspension is a linkage design. Plush, but incredibly progressive, and handles trail junk with ease. It does not kick out at all and even though it's sprung for technical woods work, the rear can hang tough for short sec ons of whoops. Confi dence in the bike was gained quickly. This strange mount was not going to hurt me, and as I grew more comfortable behind the bars, I quickly started to feel "one" with the bike and was soon fl ying through the woods carving turns and bounding over boulders. Chassis-wise, it feels a li le smaller than what I've been used to but at six feet, it fi t me well. Beta's got the ergonomics nailed, with footpeg placement and bar bend/posi on set up perfectly for a rider of this guy's size. Ligh ng includes brake lights, front and rear, along with a mul -func on switch complete with direc onal switch (direc onals not included but can be easily added). Tires are Michelin Enduro Compe on, DOT legal knobbies and although certainly not my fi rst choice in res, the suspension was set up so well that re selec on was not that big of an issue. Beta's 300RR powerplant is fi ed with electronic oil injec on. This is something we're not used to and it was a treat not having to be concerned about carrying oil on longer rides. Access to the oil reservoir is a breeze with a push-bu on seat latch, with the reservoir holding enough injec on oil for several tanks of gas. The motor is electric in feel. Just a quick stab at the electric start bu on and it pops to life. It's a nice sound; when ridden easily, it makes very li le noise. When on the pipe, it sings a sweet song. Je ng was crisp although it was a bit thirsty with reserve needed a er 50 miles or so. I suspect the fl oat level was set a bit high as the bike dribbled fuel rather easily when leaned over. It chugs down low like a tractor, next to impossible to stall. Power delivery is incredibly linear, nice torquey low end that you'd expect from a 300cc two-stroke, but not brutal arm pulling torque that would wear one out in short order. Mid-range is strong with great over-rev. I found riding the bike a gear or two high in the technical stuff to be where it likes to run, with trac on found easily in all condi ons. It's a very confi dence-inspiring bike. For a 300, it's not so brutal that it res the rider. In fact, my fi rst introduc on to the 300RR being a 122 mile ride, I was impressed that its strong point is the bike was set up so well out of the box that it does not re the rider out at all. It's a bike that you just want to ride and ride it a lot! Although the 250 and 300RR's are iden cal in appearance and the only real diff erence is the top ends. The diff erence in power delivery makes them behave very diff erently. Where the 300RR has very linear power and is very easy to ride lazily, the 250RR is a lively beast. Low end is strong but not the torque champ of the 300. It s ll claws its way up the nas es but is really at home singing on the pipe. It begs to be ridden hard with a sweet mid- range hit and loves to be revved. In fact, I feel I was faster on the 250 as it just loves to be ridden aggressively. Just a fl ick of the clutch and the front end is in the air. Because of the contrasts in power, they feel quite diff erent 18 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com

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