Beta 125 rr-s tell me about them

[Singletrack_rider]

I'm looking at picking up another lower powered 4st play bike. The 125 rr-s has my interest. So those of you own, owned or rode one tell me what you think on them.

[Raging Petunia]

15 hp of underwhelmingness

[lom]

Rode one at the demo day because no one else was in line for it. Really have never ridden anything it would compete with. It's like a scooter you can take offroad lol. Really, if you're just looking to buy one so you can go sightseeing, go for it.

[Gflo]

My daughter has one.  It has more power than any of the Japanese 125 play bikes.  It handles reasonably well, and is quite capable off road.  It’s also lighter than any other small street legal dual sports.  My daughter is small (5-1, 105#) and has ridden for about 12 years.  Previously had a CRF 80, then a TTR 125LE.  Hands down, she likes the Beta the most.  Her’s has been lowered for her size.  Also, the engine has been around for a long time in Europe, and is very durable.  Hop up parts are available if you know where to look.  My daughter loves her 125 RR-S.  She takes it on dual sport rides, and does all the hard routes.  It doesn’t have the latest in components, and some corners have been cut, but for the price, it’s a great bike.

[Raging Petunia]

For a bike in this category it needs to be shorter. It would be a good starter bike for my kids or an older trail rider but it is almost as tall as my 300.  IMO you could sacrifice suspension travel on a 15hp bike, if a shorter person could stand flat footed. 

[Gflo]

1 hour ago, Raging Petunia said:

For a bike in this category it needs to be shorter. It would be a good starter bike for my kids or an older trail rider but it is almost as tall as my 300.  IMO you could sacrifice suspension travel on a 15hp bike, if a shorter person could stand flat footed. 

Agree 100%.  Fortunately, Beta has a 2” lowering kit that is pretty easy to install.  That, and a 1” lower seat made the bike suitable for my daughter.  But that all ran over $600 in parts.  I had heard that they were going to offer the bike in a lowered version, but apparently not.  You can get it that way through BYOB.

[Beta300REcat]

It's a small bike with a big suspension. Stock to stock, I can ride one down the choppy trails faster than the XC.

Riding the 125 4t taught me how to shift the 300, and keep it in the powerband.

[Raging Petunia]

It's a small bike with a big suspension. Stock to stock, I can ride one down the choppy trails faster than the XC.
Riding the 125 4t taught me how to shift the 300, and keep it in the powerband.

I'm not good enough to "keep" the 300 in the power band. That's one of the things I love about the 300 it lugs and occasionally "screams". I agree with the concept of using a small bike to improve skills I just prefer the tried and true crashing and riding with people better than me! [emoji1] and crashing

[Singletrack_rider]

Thanks for the info so far, I appreciate it. The taller seat height is the appealing part of the bike to me. I don't need another bike that has power, I a few of those. My wife has a ttr125 and I've ridden that. For what the ttr125 is the power is fine, but way too small.  I did own a ttr230 for a while. The motor was fine but the bike was to cramped and the ground clearance was to low.  like having a slow quite bike, it fits a niche in what I ride occasionally. 

I was also curious if the bike had any known flaws or major problems. 

[jussenuf]

Have owned the 125 RR-S for almost 2 years. My reason for purchase is mostly my age, 72, and finding every fall just does me in for better part of 1 to 2 weeks, so I ride at what I call 60% and I'm just fine bringing up the sweeper position. Yes the power is underwhelming, if that's a word, but it's geared nicely and keeps pulling right up steep sections if not to loose or long. It's been totally trouble free, does not burn oil in spite of spending most of the time at higher rpm. Build quality is I think very good, it fits my 6 ft 1 in., 175 lb size well, and it handles better than the DRZ it replaced. It will go places the DRZ was struggling in that the Beta is geared right and finds traction. I use it mainly for my dual sport riding as I have a Sherco X-ride for single track. I have a friend who rides one in Colorado trails and he say's it surprises him at how well it gets around, even at high elevations. On my budget it was a great choice and I have no plans to replace it.

Art

[Raging Petunia]

21 minutes ago, jussenuf said:

Have owned the 125 RR-S for almost 2 years. My reason for purchase is mostly my age, 72, and finding every fall just does me in for better part of 1 to 2 weeks, so I ride at what I call 60% and I'm just fine bringing up the sweeper position. Yes the power is underwhelming, if that's a word, but it's geared nicely and keeps pulling right up steep sections if not to loose or long. It's been totally trouble free, does not burn oil in spite of spending most of the time at higher rpm. Build quality is I think very good, it fits my 6 ft 1 in., 175 lb size well, and it handles better than the DRZ it replaced. It will go places the DRZ was struggling in that the Beta is geared right and finds traction. I use it mainly for my dual sport riding as I have a Sherco X-ride for single track. I have a friend who rides one in Colorado trails and he say's it surprises him at how well it gets around, even at high elevations. On my budget it was a great choice and I have no plans to replace it.

Art

Nice write up Art. 

At the price and for the right person/ situation it seems solid. For a slower tech bike the xtrainer is a good option, you can still blip the throttle to get the nose over obstetrical.  However if you know you don't have the power you sometimes avoid situations where you need it. 

I know that I never got stuck when I had a 2wd truck, but when I got 4wd I got stuck a lot. Sometimes less is more. 

[jussenuf]

Should also add, that I don't do highways where the 55 to 65 is the expected norm. It gets loaded in the truck for paved miles to the forest roads and trails I ride. It is not straining to maintain 50 but that doesn't cut it most of the time for most highways. Also the 80 to 90+ mpg gives an acceptable range.

Art

[Beta300REcat]

5 hours ago, Raging Petunia said:

I'm not good enough to "keep" the 300 in the power band. That's one of the things I love about the 300 it lugs and occasionally "screams". I agree with the concept of using a small bike to improve skills I just prefer the tried and true crashing and riding with people better than me! and crashing

I was ignorant of the modern 300 2t when I got mine.

Riding the 300, riding the 125, and then getting back on the 300 was an education for me. Last 2t I rode was an RM250, so riding the small 4t and keeping it in the meat of the torque was a good training aid.

The Xt would likely be the easiest bike for any rider of any skill to get the furthest into the woods.

[engl]

Nice bike; my son rode it 30k kms last two years. Offroad its much better than one could think seeing the data.

The size: yes, its a bike for grown ups, not for small childten.

Suspension is comfortable. I m faster on it than with my RR300 or my CRF450 in the woods, when I cruise and dont push. Of course, in race modus you can ride them faster for an hour or two.

btw :Well, than you can  get a 200ccm cylinder and a fitting head for it. Naracu builds that stuff! (A 183 ccm cylinder without new head is a good solution, too. (eb..))

The airfilter of the RR300 fits with the RR300 cage. main jet about 145-155.

Than the clutch will be too week. Get a yzf125/WR125 clutch; its bigger and can transmit about 1,6 the torque than stock Beta.

These real 30 HPs (200 wth head) will than be too much for the rest of the bike.

A problem are the weak steering stops. One fall and there is damage. The regulator can be damaged. There you must figure out a diy solution.

But for the money it costs, its very much fun!

Edited January 18, 2019 by engl