With 2012 bikes rolling into dealer's showrooms and proud new owners wheeling them out the first Aussie ride reports are starting to come in.
With the new red tank covers and guards and white headlight shroud and fork protectors the first impression is "Wow, they look even sweeter than the 11's".
Next attention is drawn to the new exhaust and disc rotors, then to the new forks and finally to the new clutch master cylinder and the owners are thinking "I can't wait to ride it to see what a difference these new bits make."
And they're not disappointed. All of the riders agree that the new exhaust definitely frees up the motor right through the rev range – it sounds and feels sweeter all the way through. The new brembo clutch also gets a tick. The pick up is just as progressive as the AJP it replaces but you notice that it feels tighter, with less movement in the lever, and more robust.
A blast along a rocky twisty single track also showed up the advantages of the stiffened frame and new Sachs forks. New RR400 owner, Matt, came back beaming and excitedly spluttering about "… tracks turning into freeways…." and "….rocks disappearing…".
Although no one has yet hit the hills or the big whoops the motor and the forks certainly feel like they will soak them up.
Roll on summer and playing on Beta – THE Play Bike.
Click on the below link to download the 2012 Enduro Brochure
Beta Racing's Trevor Campbell rode his RR350 into first expert and second outright, just 31 seconds behind ISDE pro rider Brendan Harper, in MCRCV's Flowerberg 3 Hr Enduro X on Sunday.
Situated in the awe-inspiringly picturesque Yea ridges the event featured steep rock strewn hill climbs and descents, muddy and rocky creek beds, off-camber tree root infested single track and a small, but soul destroying, man-made extreme section.
Campbell chose to ride the RR350 over his Factory RR450 and found the power characteristics and light handling ideal for the extreme event. "The bike just motored up the steep rocky hills without losing traction and it always felt so light and settled. I usually hit the wall at about two and a half hours but was so fresh after 3 hours today I could have kept riding for another couple of laps." Campbell stated.
The RR350's win follows Cody Webb's third outright aboard his Beta in the second round of the AMA Endurocross in Everett, Washington.
RR 350's RAVE REVIEWS CONTINUE
"....... the 2012 Beta RR350 is one of the best offroad motorcycles I have ever ridden." writes Justin Dawes in his review of the 2012 RR350 on the Motorcycle USA web site.
He concludes by writing; "I was completely blown away by the 350 RR, and you will be as well, if you give it a chance."
Read the complete article here or the pdf version below:
.....AND THE COMPLETE 2012 RR RANGE REVIEW SAYS....
On the 498: "....... powerful, fast and suitable for long distances!" On the 450: " A perfect bike for racing." On the 400: " The number 1" ...." The 400 is the right combination of agility, power and exploitable." On the 350: " I was curious to see the performance of this new bike.. I was not disappointed."
BETA FACTORY EDITION STARS IN FIRST COMPETITIVE OUTING
Although in the country for less than 2 weeks two of the five Factory Edition BETA Enduro bikes in Australia made their successful competition debuts on the weekend.
Trevor Campbell put his Beta 450RR Factory Edition onto the podium in its first race in Australia. Trevor rode to third in E2 class and 13th outright on Saturday’s round 8 of the Victorian Offroad Championship at Broadford. He followed this up on Sunday with a 4th in class and again 13th outright.
“The bike is awesome!” stated Campbell. “The front just sticks like glue and it goes so much harder right through the rev range.” he added.
Meanwhile Marty Wright from Wright Motorcycles in Yass rode into 12th Outright, 2nd O’35’s on Sunday aboard his RR400 Factory Edition in the 3rd round of the Leeping Log Enduro Series held at Leeton, NSW. Having only time enough to run the bike in the day before, Marty was excited as to how well the bike performed “out of the box”.
“I can’t wait to spend more time on the bike.” Wright stated. “This is a true though-bred enduro machine. I haven’t even turned a clicker, it is incredible.”
2012 BETA RR - Even Beta than before
The new 2012 BETA RR ticks all of the boxes:
Pretty as ever,
Reliability refinements,
New forks, exhaust and clutch,
stiffer frame.
Read the BETA Italy press release for all the low down.
NEW RR ENDURO 4T MY2012
Constant evolution with an even wider range of use.
The Beta RR Enduro models have become well known for their immediate and genuine approach, for reliability, long maintenance intervals and, last but not least their 100% Italian style. Today, the third generation RR4T models are equipped with our own engine made in Rignano Sull'Arno and arrive on the market as the result of a continuous development for many different riding abilities. Many are the refinements and innovations, both on the frame and the engine, all designed to increase reliability and riding feeling. A wide range of displacements are now available, strengthened by the new 350cc engine, a first for Beta in the enduro market. For 2012 Beta has developed a complete range of enduro bikes to appeal to both the weekend hobbyist as well as the seasoned Pro.
Updates for 2012:
ENGINE
Balance countershaft
New roller bearing for increased reliability (3 times more durable)
Cylinder head
Reinforced camshaft bridge: increased stiffness reduces the deformation of the camshaft under stress, it performs better with a valve train that is much more precise.
Reinforced valve retainers
New cam chain tensioner with resized retainer mechanism to reduce noise when engine is cold.
New cam chain guide with metal insert: stronger at high temperature and under stress, it allows a more precise function of valve train.
Additional oil spray on the cam chain to increase lubrication, improve chain guide workings and reduce losses due to friction.
Clutch
Reinforced primary gear: increased rigidity reduces axial movements of the clutch bell providing precision to the engagement and increased working stability under stress usage.
New clutch springs: high quality material to resist to high temperatures, minimum tollerances to drastically increase engagement force.
Gear box
New guide design in gear desmodromic for a smooth gear action.
Lubrication
New oil drain cap with hexagon head to make maintenance operation easier.
New silencer
New design, shaped, integrated with bike style and new performances: the new silencer provides performance improvement along all the ranges, better feeling and engine ride-ability.
Full respect of noise emission FIM/2Metremax rule.
Hydraulic system with compression / extension pistons with differentiated diameter (greater in compression, smaller in extension). This choice improves the balance of the oil flow inside the stems and, specifically, it makes the front end capable of cashing out the bumps without unpredictable reactions.
.48 kg springs: they offer more support which means higher compression braking and, consequently, greater stability and easy turning ability.
significant improvement of smoothness operation
Adoption of SKF seals and dust seals. Thanks to the special self-lubricating compound they reduce the stick-slip effect and provide better working precision.
Improved progressive action to provide a more positive feedback to the rider
New dedicated triple clamp. The increased stiffness allows for increased precision and direction of the front wheel.
New tube cradle frame with Ø 28 mm tubes (instead of 25 mm). They increase overall stiffness and strength with significant advantages in terms of riding precision in extreme conditions
New brake discs with optimized profile for better performance in heavy usage conditions
New Brembo clutch pump, a step forward in delivering a good feeling from the engine to the rider. In fact, the increased linearity of operation, increases the feeling of smoothness, improves the feeling with gearbox and, therefore, the research for grip in extreme conditions
New design of front headlight and fender support
Click on the link below to download the full Specs sheet.
After an extended wait the BETA RR 350, the first fully road registerable modern 350 enduro bike, has finally turned a wheel on Aussie soil and the wait has been well and truly worth it.
The bike has lived up to all of the hype generated by its excellent European ride reports. The thing that struck us immediately was how light and agile the bike feels and accurately it steers. Then, as the bike became run in and loosened up, the ability of the motor to rev to sky became obvious.
As Mike Hughes, a four time Dakar veteran, said as he returned from a two hour ride, “It’s the ‘ducks guts’. If you have 50 meters between corners you don’t worry about swapping gears you just crank it on and let it rev. After 2 hours riding I’d normally be knackered but it is so easy to ride and the suspension so plush I’m feeling as fit as a fiddle. It just loves single track.”
The bike is now off to the mags for test ride reports – so keep an eye out for it in your favorite dirt bike mag.
Click on the link for technical details on the RR350.
and a video from BETA on the WEC rounds in Portugal & Spain:
http://www.youtube.com/user/betamotor1904
For those that haven't visited BETA Italy's web site, betamotor.com, there is a new link on the front page to news and videos - check it out.
WORLD'S FIRST MODERN 4 STROKE 350 ENDURO BIKE
"I've never felt so comfortable on an enduro bike."
"The 349cc engine has all of the qualities that one would hardly dare to hope for,.."
"...allows you to place the 350 with a precision millimeter perfect. The feeling of having all the control is indescribable. We are constantly wondering how far one can go before going too far."
"For my part, I think the RR350 is the creme de la creme among enduro bikes."
that is according to Rob De Rover in his ride report in French magazine MXmag. Click on the link below to read the original article and click on the link at the bottom of the page to read the English translation.
Follow this link to a video presentation from Beta Austria:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-dQD2CZLKY
To further reinforce the belief that the 350 may be the new 450, Lorenzo Bali, the export manager at Beta, reported that almost the entire first production run of RR350’s was sold out in just 2 weeks, far exceeding sales expectations.
Australia has secured a limited number of RR350’s. To be the first kid on the block with the world’s first modern 4 stroke fully road registerable 350 enduro bike or to sample the creme de la creme of enduro bikes contact your nearest Beta dealer or Beta Motorcycles Australia today.
Just when you thought nothing could be better than owning a Beta RR along comes the RR FACTORY.
Build by the BETA World Enduro Race Team the RR FACTORY is a true "factory" bike and is ready to race - be it in competition or just your mates.
Featuring:
* Arrow full titanium Exhaust
* 50mm closed cartridge forks
* On the fly switchable dual map ignition
* New CNC milled billet Al triple clamps with adjustable steering stem clamp
* Higher compression ratio
* Carbon-kevlar bash plate and frame protection
* Quick release front axle
* Gripper seat cover
* Wave brake discs
* and lots of bling - click on the link below for full details
There are a limited number of the RR FACTORY released onto the world market but Australia has been promised bikes.
At a RRP's of $13,400 for the RR400FE, $13,600 for the RR450FE & $13,800 for the RR520FE inc GST this is no more than some other manufacturers standard models.
Further more the accessories that make up the FACTORY have a retail value of over $8,300 yet the FACTORY EDITION is only $1400 more than the equivalent RR model.
To make sure you are one of the lucky ones to be the proud owner of a RR FACTORY contact your nearest dealer or Beta Motorcycles Australia by March 11 to make the April shipment.
After many months of testing the much anticipated all new RR 350 has entered production. Although based on the hugely successful RR400/450/520 the RR350 has undergone significant further development and by all reports, and from the success of Cody Webb at Hell's Gate and in IEWC events, the result is a a hugely tractable yet very powerful 350cc motor and great riding dynamics.
Limited numbers will be available in Australia from April with a RRP of $11,990 inc GST.
The RR 350 is ADR complient and can be fully registered throughout Australia.
Contact your nearest dealer or Beta Motorcycles Australia under the Contact Us menu for details and to place your order.
