BETA’S BIG
LEAP
2020 was always going to be a big year for enduro,
what with KTM fully revising its range. So chances were
– Husky aside – the rest of the enduro paddock were
going to fall behind, having already felt the heat since
the TPi revolution. Beta, though, is a sharp operator
and the savvy Italians have counterpunched with a
full model revision of their own for this year. And boy,
they’re good...
R
eady to Race. Yes, we know that one,
it’s been drilled into us for years
now. Kudos to Beta though, they’ve
not lowered themselves to come up with a
similar – but different – maxim. And they’ve
not stressed themselves trying to follow
KTM’s lead, either. No, Beta are strong
enough, brilliant enough, to walk their own
path, do their own thing – and win. Ready?
They were born ready.
Point being, ‘race’ doesn’t feature in their
triple bill of USPs. Instead Beta is keen
to accentuate the friendly nature of its
motorcycles; ease of use is their number
one facet. Second point: Beta’s investment
in technology. They’re not afraid to embrace
change, the bikes are moving forward too
– and they’re using this tech to the good in
every way, keen to point out the advances
have made ownership (and maintenance)
a more pleasurable experience. And finally,
having noted how much dirt bike prices
have inflated over these last 12 months,
Beta is pricing its bikes ‘competitively’ –
that is to say at a significant undercut on
Austrian equivalents. Cheaper, but none the
poorer for quality.
Of course a manufacturer can say all these
things, they are just words. But Beta has
the sales record to show buyers are backing
them, by buying more Betas. Having built
11,602 units in 2014, their production has
nearly doubled since then, in 2018 they
made 21,214 units. You might think they’re
at maximum capacity, especially given
they’re doing all this with just 170 staff, but
as their head of R&D, Stefano Fantigini,
pointed out, they’re still only working to the
single eight-hour shift a day.
And while Beta will probably have to live
with that ‘they’re a trials brand’ quip for a
while longer, fact is trials bikes are just 11%
of their output now, while enduro is their
biggest segment at 52% of production. And
they’re not home market dependent either,
81% of Betas are now exported. They’re
quite the success story. This issue we’ll focus
on the two-strokes, next issue we’ll cover the
four-strokes.
SHARPER AND SLIMMER
While Betas have improved year on year
there was no doubt they’ve needed a
revamp. The bikes worked crazy-good, have
KIWI RIDER 29