C
ardboard is not an exciting medium. But
I was bloody excited. Cardboard is brown,
dull, and sort of texture-less but I had been
waiting nearly a thousand days for this moment,
so it’s fair to say that I was fair fizzing at the bung
to get at my cardboard box.
A snip with the cutters and some fevered
fumbling and it opened to reveal a plastic-
shrouded ghostly shape. Like a bride’s nightie
I took barely a second to remove it; looking in
wonder at the best of Italian workmanship. Dang
it was petite, and so pretty!
Beta is the only Italian manufacturer of trials
bikes and the often acclaimed stylishness of Italy
is totally present in the new line up. The graphics
are not overdone or fussy, the new lights front
and rear are tiny and unobtrusive, yet effective.
Paint work in white is thick, smooth and pearly,
and the standard fuel tank incorporated in-frame
offers the usual blocky shoulder at the steering
head. This has always created a slight problem of
how to route cables and wiring out of the way. In
the past they have passed into a rubber-capped
hole that always seemed to be loose or popping
out, it looked messy, but Beta has now tidied this
up with a simple plastic X-mount over the tank. It
solves the issue and now looks great. It is this level
of thinking about detail that is typical of the Beta
company. It has been around since 1905, making
dirt bikes since the 50s, and specialising in trials
from the 80s on.
This latest 2020 incarnation has seen input from
James Dabill, who is still fresh from winning his
third Scottish Six Day Trial, aboard the Beta. It
is interesting to note that of the 280 starters, in
what is the worlds most infamous and hardest
trials event, 90 of them, or nearly one in three,
were Beta owners and riders.
The headlamp which has more than a touch of
the ‘Transformers” about it works effectively
KIWI RIDER 103