2019 Beta 125 RR-S Dual Sport - First Look

[Weezer the Geezer]

8 minutes ago, Oldie230 said:

I am intrigued! ?

At least 10 Kilo's lighter than my 249cc CRF230. I wonder how much less power to weight ratio with the 183cc Kit it has with a 75KG rider compared with a stock CRF230? If any?

Much better suspension and properly Road Registrable (probably).

Not listed as available in Australia either, but I will ask the importers if it can be. ? 

 

HA!  I was sitting at my computer when your post came in.  I traded my crf 230L for the Beta.  The power is about the same.  The 183 Beta has higher compression ratio and 4 valves, so makes it perform about the same.  I think it has even more low speed torque.   And the suspension is definitely superior.   

[TheSlayer]

1 hour ago, Weezer the Geezer said:

HA!  I was sitting at my computer when your post came in.  I traded my crf 230L for the Beta.  The power is about the same.  The 183 Beta has higher compression ratio and 4 valves, so makes it perform about the same.  I think it has even more low speed torque.   And the suspension is definitely superior.   

Now if only Beta will make a 200-250 4stroke dualspot that's just $1000-1500 over the 125 RR-S. They sure could keep riders from getting a klx250, drz, or similar.

Edited March 14, 2019 by TheSlayer

[Sierra_rider]

1 hour ago, TheSlayer said:

Now if only Beta will make a 200-250 4stroke dualspot that's just $1000-1500 over the 125 RR-S. They sure could keep riders from getting a klx250, drz, or similar.

Not going to happen as that would take away production capacity from higher profit margin bikes like the 200/300rr and 350-500 RR-S, that they have no problem selling at full price. I'm even surprised they have the 125rr-s...it's probably a big seller in Europe.

If we ever did see a 250 dual-sport, it'd probably be a higher-performance motor that shares common architecture with a 350, a la KTM. This is, of course, all pure speculation on my part.

[jussenuf]

Cost of the 125 RR-S $4995, add $1000 to $1500.  Will buy a good used bigger engine Beta or KTM.

Why did I buy the 125 RR-S?

I got in a few miles ride on a friends KTM 500 EXC. The foot peg to bar spec's were perfect for me. On the pegs, shifting, braking just fit. No feeling like standing on an edge like with my DR-Z or XR,  arm staining with acceleration and going over the bars with braking. Really wanted that KTM, but sure did not need the race motor, or the $10,000 price tag. So along comes the Beta 125 RR-S. When you look at the Beta machines, the 125 RR-S, is just a bit smaller, but shares a great deal with it's bigger plated racers. With riding the 125 RR-S, the frame dimensions that work for me are there. On the pegs in the trails it works. It's got the gearing to work well with the small engine. 

Art

 

[Weezer the Geezer]

21 minutes ago, jussenuf said:

Cost of the 125 RR-S $4995, add $1000 to $1500.  Will buy a good used bigger engine Beta or KTM.

Why did I buy the 125 RR-S?

I got in a few miles ride on a friends KTM 500 EXC. The foot peg to bar spec's were perfect for me. On the pegs, shifting, braking just fit. No feeling like standing on an edge like with my DR-Z or XR,  arm staining with acceleration and going over the bars with braking. Really wanted that KTM, but sure did not need the race motor, or the $10,000 price tag. So along comes the Beta 125 RR-S. When you look at the Beta machines, the 125 RR-S, is just a bit smaller, but shares a great deal with it's bigger plated racers. With riding the 125 RR-S, the frame dimensions that work for me are there. On the pegs in the trails it works. It's got the gearing to work well with the small engine. 

Art

 

 

Ditto!  I have never had a bike that felt this good.  And it is the first bike I have had that I can comfortably stand up on for long periods of time.  

[TheSlayer]

2 hours ago, Weezer the Geezer said:

Ditto!  I have never had a bike that felt this good.  And it is the first bike I have had that I can comfortably stand up on for long periods of time.  

Did you ride the bike much stock before the big bore? I'd like input on how they compare.

Edited March 14, 2019 by TheSlayer

[Weezer the Geezer]

5 hours ago, TheSlayer said:

Did you ride the bike much stock before the big bore? I'd like input on how they compare.

Yes, I rode it stock, and would NOT have bought it without the big bore.  It made a big difference.

[Gflo]

There are a variety of big bore kits for this engine.  The engine is made in Italy by Minarelli, or some company similar to that.  Yamaha owns the company and uses the same engine in a few of their European models like a WR125F.  Yamaha even sells a 150cc big bore kit for about $165.  You can also find big bore kits that are 183cc and 200cc for under $200.  The Beta kit, at 183cc, has a high quality Athena piston, but runs about $700.  You can find these cheaper kits on eBay.  They all seem to be out of Europe, where this engine is used in a lot of bikes.

[Old Plonker]

57 minutes ago, Gflo said:

There are a variety of big bore kits for this engine.  The engine is made in Italy by Minarelli, or some company similar to that.  Yamaha owns the company and uses the same engine in a few of their European models like a WR125F.  Yamaha even sells a 150cc big bore kit for about $165.  You can also find big bore kits that are 183cc and 200cc for under $200.  The Beta kit, at 183cc, has a high quality Athena piston, but runs about $700.  You can find these cheaper kits on eBay.  They all seem to be out of Europe, where this engine is used in a lot of bikes.

One weakness with the cheaper kits is that the cam chain becomes noisy with the stock tensioner. @ferraiolo1 has a fix for that:

 

[Gflo]

1 minute ago, Old Plonker said:

One weakness with the cheaper kits is that the cam chain becomes noisy with the stock tensioner. @ferraiolo1 has a fix for that:

 

I had read about that.  The Beta kit comes with a new tensioner.  Shouldn’t be hard finding a tensioner that will work.

[Old Plonker]

On 3/7/2019 at 11:35 AM, Gflo said:

My daughter has one of these and loves it, coming off a TTR125LE.  At 5-1, it was too tall.  After installing Beta’s 2” lowering kit and a Seat Concepts 1” lower seat, it fits her well.  She now enjoys being able to ride without restriction, and we can do dual sport rides.  This is an underrated bike IMO.

Here she is getting ready to start her first dual sport ride.

 

@Gflo, what plate mount is that on your daughter's bike?

[ferraiolo1]

I had read about that.  The Beta kit comes with a new tensioner.  Shouldn’t be hard finding a tensioner that will work.

 

Yeah but $800 for the beta kit is crazy. I think all in even with the ttr tensioner it was $160ish.

 

She is still loving it. Have about 700 woods miles on the kit with zero issues. Only had to adjust one valve. Also as far as mileage. It did get about 100 with the restricted exhaust, smaller jets, and stock engine. Now the restrictions are gone, big bore, and jets it’s around 60ish to a tank with stock gearing.

 

My one complaint about it is the crappy chain, you can’t get an oring chain in that size and the rear sprocket is proprietary beta. The front sprockets you can get from the uk.

 

She is still working on taming the extra power with that m5b grip though

[KDXGarage]

On 3/7/2019 at 9:23 PM, TheSlayer said:

63T rear sprocket - Is that a typo? WTF.

Seems like a good (street legal) bike for less experienced (and lighter weight) riders. Definitely much easier to handle than something like a KLX250, and much better components than a TTR or similar.

I wonder what the mileage is like. 15 HP isn't  too shabby. That's 5HP higher than a Honda Grom, and similar to a mid 80's KDX 200

1986 KDX200 was 24 Hp in Dirt Rider on the Kerker dyno.

[Gflo]

33 minutes ago, Old Plonker said:

@Gflo, what plate mount is that on your daughter's bike?

The stock bike has a big fender extension to hold the license plate, license plate light, and turn signals.  I just unscrewed this extension and mounted the plate on the subfender using a trimmed stock plate holder.  I got some flushmount turn signals and mounted them on the side of the subfender.  Here are a couple of other pictures of it.

 

Edited March 14, 2019 by Gflo

[Old Plonker]

12 minutes ago, KDXGarage said:

1986 KDX200 was 24 Hp in Dirt Rider on the Kerker dyno.

Yeah, the 125RR-S w/big bore kit is probably more comparable to an XR200R (something like 12hp?).

[Gflo]

Just now, Old Plonker said:

Yeah, the 125RR-S w/big bore kit is probably more comparable to an XR200R (something like 12hp?).

No, I saw a Dyno chart showing the stock 125 RR-S putting out 15 hp.

[ferraiolo1]

It’s slightly less 15hp stock. It’s restricted due to euro standard for licensing from what I hear. Because that same engine is used in several applications, some fuel injected, and it produces more power.

[Gflo]

25 minutes ago, ferraiolo1 said:

 

Yeah but $800 for the beta kit is crazy. I think all in even with the ttr tensioner it was $160ish.

 

She is still loving it. Have about 700 woods miles on the kit with zero issues. Only had to adjust one valve. Also as far as mileage. It did get about 100 with the restricted exhaust, smaller jets, and stock engine. Now the restrictions are gone, big bore, and jets it’s around 60ish to a tank with stock gearing.

 

My one complaint about it is the crappy chain, you can’t get an oring chain in that size and the rear sprocket is proprietary beta. The front sprockets you can get from the uk.

 

She is still working on taming the extra power with that m5b grip though

I have been looking at the big bore kit.  For the price, the cheap ones seem to be the way to go, especially since this bike doesn’t get ridden much.

[Gflo]

Here is the dyno chart I saw.  It is on Beta’s website.

 

[Old Plonker]

4 minutes ago, Gflo said:

Here is the dyno chart I saw.  It is on Beta’s website.

 

Thanks for posting this dyno chart. It says volumes about how the big bore kit changes the character of the RR-S engine.

My 1981 XR200R, made about 12hp, but the shape of the XRs power curve was more like the big bore RR-Ss than the stock RR-Ss, so it had gobs of torque where you most need it in trail riding. 

The boost in torque of the bored engine, right in the meat of the powerband, is amazing. Seeing the shape of the curve makes me wonder if the head has potential, through conservative port shaping, for intake flow velocity increase at the upper end of the powerband to yield another two or three hp without taking anything away from the midrange torque? If not, there's always the 200cc cylinder and head from Racing-Planet (near $600 with shipping I'm guessing):

https://www.racing-planet.co.uk/cylinder-naraku-200cc-ceramic-yamaha-p-184593-1.html?sessID=713dd0b1a8e45f6479028701938be187#.XIqkSi2ZPOR

https://www.racing-planet.co.uk/cylinder-naraku-yamaha-p-184592-1.html?sessID=713dd0b1a8e45f6479028701938be187#.XIqkZC2ZPOQ