Dirt Bike Magazine reviews the 450 RS Dual Sport

DUAL-SPORT TEST
BETA
450RS
The underground alternative
I 450RS without talking about KTM. Somewhere in an
t’s almost impossible to talk about the Italian Beta
Austrian boardroom there’s a picture of us all with a
giant bull’s-eye and a label: “American off-road rider,
seek and acquire!” Truthfully, it’s been hard to say no.
KTM has well-aimed motorcycles that target our needs
perfectly, especially in the dual-sport world.
But, there is an alternative. If you don’t want to join
the orange mob, there’s Beta. The 450RS is streetlegal in all 50 states, and it’s powerful, lightweight and
effective without modification. In truth, there’s almost
nothing that it gives up to the KTM 450EXC.
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Beta is no longer an obscure little
company making offbeat products.
The 450RS is one of the very best
dual-sport bikes in the world.
FEBRUARY 2014 / DIRT BIKE 35­
DUAL-SPORT TEST
BETA
450RS
REAL DUAL SPORT
A few years back we had to rewrite the definition of
the dual-sport bike. We all believed the myth that it was
impossible for a factory to produce a truly good dirt bike
that would pass the Department of Transportation’s scrutiny for street licensing. It was a big lie, perpetuated by
manufacturers who simply didn’t think it would be profitable. It was actually tiny Husqvarna that proved otherwise.
Then KTM came into the picture, perfected the craft and
took over. In the years that followed, if you wanted a good
dirt bike with a license plate in intensely regulated states
like California, you had to go KTM. At the time, Beta was
considered an obscure company that was too small to be
taken seriously, but now Beta’s U.S. importer is established, the dealer network is solid and the brand is recognizable. Beta is legitimate, and the 2014 450RS is for real.
The motor in the Beta is a double-overhead-cam
four-valver with an old-fashioned Keihin FCR carburetor. Thankfully, a small company like Beta is held to more
relaxed standards than the giants of the business, so it is
easier for them to get the bike through EPA and CARB.
You can ride the RS in a national enduro
without any modifications beyond handguards. Very few dual-sport bikes are so
formidable.
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The RS motor makes us realize we miss good old-fashioned
carburetors.
There are only a few compromises that are almost invisible. The fuel tank is vented through a charcoal filter, the
carb drain hoses are blocked, and there’s a check valve
that introduces air into the exhaust tract. The blinkers,
mirrors and switches are harmless. You would think that
fuel injection would be the easy road to emission compliance, but it hasn’t worked out that way. The California Air
Resources Board has come down hard on manufacturers
who have EFI systems that can be easily altered by the
end user. Carbs make both the bureaucrats and the customers happy at this point, and guess what? Carburetors
work! The 39mm Keihin FCR has long since had its bugs
worked out, and it eliminates the weight of the fuel pump
and massive charging system. There are slight differences
between the California model and the one sold in the other
49 states, but they do not affect performance.
The power gets to the ground through a six-speed transmission and 14/48 final gearing. Beta includes a 13-tooth
countershaft sprocket if you don’t see much pavement on
your rides. This year, Beta gave the bike an electronic fan
for extended slow-speed riding. This is technology borrowed from the company’s trials bikes. The bike also got
The Beta isn’t as quiet as a Japanese dual-sport bike or even
a CRF450X. But, it’s legal and much easier on the ears than a
motocrosser.
Beta has new wheels this year. The Nissin brakes are outstanding.
a new decompressor, a lighter swingarm, new wheels and
new Sachs suspension components at both ends. Perhaps
the biggest news of all is the instrumentation. The Beta
comes with a Voyager GPS instead of a simple speedometer. It gives you normal trip info, plus navigation capability and even coolant temperature. At this point no other
manufacturer has taken this step.
ation with a little throttle. When you’re ready for big power,
it can be summoned in a hurry or metered out evenly. The
450 is no slouch. The power output is excellent, with a
happy little hit in the middle just for fun. But, it’s no 450
motocross bike. At high rpm, the Beta signs off gradually
without the crazy over-rev that most MX bikes have. It
still has enough power to hold its own on the track, but it
won’t outpull an MXer in full moto trim with a competition
muffler. The Beta comes with a reasonably quiet, Italianmade spark-arrestor/silencer that’s easy on the ears but
still much louder than a Japanese dual-sport bike. If you
want to order the bike with an FMF Q, you can do that
through the Build Your Own Beta program. That’s legal
in this case, because the original pipe has no catalyst.
NO HINTS
There’s no way you would know the Beta 450RS is
street-legal from an experience in the saddle. You might
accidentally hit the horn button or see yourself in one of
the mirrors, but from a pure performance point of view, the
bike seems to be 100 percent dirt. Even those mirrors fold
up so they don’t get in the way.
What’s better, it’s a very good dirt bike. The powerband is outstanding. It runs smoothly off the bottom with none of that on-or-off, toggle-switch throttle
response common on fuel-injected bikes. The Beta has
very light engine braking that transitions to mellow accelerSachs suspension isn’t common, but the quality is
comparable to KYB, Showa or WP.
FEBRUARY 2014 / DIRT BIKE 37­
DUAL-SPORT TEST
But, take care. That’s not always the case with other dual
sports, and officials are cracking down.
To place the performance of the RS in perspective, it’s a
little milder than a KTM 450EXC on top but has more snap
in the middle. Compared to the dirt-only Yamaha WR450F
or Honda CRF450X, the Beta has more power everywhere.
Beyond the power, Beta has hit the mark perfectly with the
gearbox and clutch. First of all, the hydraulic clutch has
such a light pull that it’s somewhat worrisome. We haven’t
experienced any problems so far, so we have to conclude
that the pull is simply a result of good engineering and not
springs that are too light. The six-speed gearbox is great.
First gear might be slightly tall, but the gaps are perfectly
spaced so that you arrive in top gear at comfortably low
rpm, even at highway speed.
As for weight, the Beta is middle-of-the-road for its
breed. Without fuel, but with mirrors, blinkers and all the
other street accoutrements, the bike tips the beam on DB’s
superscale at 263 pounds. That’s about 20 pounds heavier
than an aluminum-framed Suzuki RM-Z450 motocross bike.
The Beta’s frame, of course, is steel, but apparently very
light steel. The company claims that the new swingarm
and wheels account for a substantial weight loss. The new
suspension components are also said to be very light. Even
though we don’t have much experience with Sachs suspension, most of our impressions so far have been positive.
The fork is set up on the soft side, which is appropriate
for a dual-sport bike, and it does well in rocks. The rear
suspension, on the other hand, is stiffer. It’s still not motocross-hard, but the bike isn’t perfectly balanced, and that
can result in a lot of fork dive and a stinkbug feel. Despite
the soft front end, the bike is very stable at speed, and its
turning manners are hard to fault.
TRACK LOGS
The fact that Beta thought it was worthwhile to give the
bike a GPS as standard equipment shows how serious
this company is about the dual-sport market in the U.S.
Many official dual-sport rides aren’t even marked with ribbons anymore. By supplying the Voyager, Beta is making
the transition into a new age a little easier. Likewise, Beta
shows some solid dirt awareness by giving the bike a sideaccess airbox, oversized aluminum bars and blinkers that
don’t break. But, there are some odd lapses. We would
rather have handguards than most of those things. The
headlight is weak, and the bike doesn’t always start easily.
The electric starter drains the battery quickly if there are
any problems, and then you’re stuck with a draggy kickstarter that drains your personal battery.
We would also like to see a bigger fuel tank. The stocker
holds 2 gallons, which is freakishly small for a bike with a
license plate. Once again, you can correct all these things
beforehand at Build Your Own Beta. There’s a 3.1-gallon
IMS tank, a selection of handguards and even an EarthX
lithium battery. The price for some of these parts is better than you can find on the open market, but not always.
What’s more important is that they are available. When you
deal with a non-mainstream brand like Beta, that’s rare.
With Beta, you get all the good aspects of having an offbeat bike with none of the disadvantages. Like we said up
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BETTER BETA
• Street-legal in all 50 states
• Excellent dirt performance
• Six-speed gearbox provides
wide range
• Smooth, powerful motor
• Plush suspension
• GPS is standard equipment
BADDER BETA
•
•
•
•
•
Reluctant starter
Weak headlight
Some vibration on road
No handguards
Not cheap
BETA 450RS
Engine type....................................... Liquid-cooled, electric-start
four-stroke
Displacement........................................................................ 449cc
Bore & stroke.................................................. 95.0mm x 63.4mm
Fuel delivery..................................................... 39mm Keihin FCR
Fuel tank capacity.............................................................. 2.0 gal.
Lighting coil..............................................................................Yes
Spark arrester...........................................................................Yes
EPA legal..................................................................................Yes
Running weight, no fuel......................................................263 lb.
Wheelbase............................................................................. 58.1”
Ground clearance.................................................................. 12.6”
Seat height............................................................................ 36.6”
Tire size & type:
Front................................................. 80/100-21 Michelin Enduro
Rear................................................ 110/100-18 Michelin Enduro
Suspension/travel:
Front...................................... Sachs inverted cartridge, adj. reb,
comp, 11.4” (290mm)
Rear......................................... Sachs aluminum piggyback, adj.
hsc, lsc, reb., 11.4” (290mm)
Country of origin..................................................................... Italy
MSRP...................................................................................$9699
Importer...................................................www.americanbeta.com
front, this is a direct competitor for the KTM EXC line. The
direction you choose in the end depends strictly upon how
much of a conformist you fancy yourself. But, the bottom
line is that you do have a choice. oConquering EnduroCross
obstacles comes naturally for the Kreft craft.