Kiwi Rider September 2022 Vol.2 | Page 36

town is not something most owners would ever do and , as no key is required to start the Beta , security needs to be taken seriously . When I park it , there ’ s not much stopping someone walking away with it ... or just starting it up and riding away . Riding the bike through 50km / h zones is fine . But , I had a nagging thought in the back of my mind that those knobbly tyres , which had allowed the bike to gain traction so well on the diirt , would be sketchy as hell on the tar seal . Turns out they aren ’ t that bad . Sure , they ’ re no Pilot Road 4 , but putting such a road-focused tyre on a bike like this would ruin it . Once on the motorway and up to 100km / h , there ’ s a fair amount of vibration . Not only from the single cylinder thrumming away , but also from the tyres . There is no wind protection , so all that wind goes straight to the face and chest . I found the lack of disturbed wind to my helmet refreshing , and not as noisy as I thought it might have been . Obviously there ’ s not much in the way of luggage space unless you sacrifice some of your seat , so I ’ ve only carried a backpack . The Beta RR 430 is clearly not designed for
motorway commuting , so it was not overly enjoyable . It ’ ll do it if forced , but so will an electric pushbike . That said , it ’ s narrow and easy to filter on . I imagine it would be my bike of choice if required to evacuate a large city on congested motorways , in the event of a zombie outbreak . Another bonus of a road-legal dirt bike is that I can ride to where I ’ m going instead of trailering it - depending on the distance of course . I started this ramble talking about the other dirt bikes I ’ ve owned . Each one has been better than the last . And I ’ m pleased to say the Beta RR430 continues that trend . It ’ s the single best bike I ’ ve ever ridden on a beach or in muddy forest conditions . And I have to say , compared to the other dirt bikes I ’ ve ridden , the Beta RR430 is the best I ’ ve ridden on the motorway too ... possibly because it ’ s the only one that ’ s road legal . The 430 is a joy to ride , it ’ s fun , playful , agile , and begs to be spanked . It invokes a deep down , long forgotten hooligan inside me . It ’ s happiest when blasting down the beach at full noise . There is plenty more to do with this bike , and I shall share my future experiences as we go .
36 KIWI RIDER