low traction conditions . I ’ m not a huge fan of TC on dirt bikes , mainly because I ’ m too old and my brain is hard wired not to use it . Also , I ’ m stubborn and just don ’ t like the feel of the throttle not giving me what I ask for . I ’ m not sure if the young fast guys use TC or not . There are two things to consider here - firstly , what feels fast isn ’ t always fast , and , secondly , the stop watch never lies . So , you young guys out there should definitely practice using TC in all conditions and work out what is best / fastest for you on each type of terrain . Back to the bike , in the aggressive mode if the throttle is cracked open too quickly the power stuttered . It didn ’ t falter like some EFI engines do , it just failed to accelerate for a bit . A less rapid throttle hand solves the hiccup . It ’ s a minor issue that some may not even notice and was perhaps caused by the very open FMF muffler not matching the EFI electronics . I was riding with Tom Buxton and both of us suspected this to be the case . The braking is top drawer with decent sized discs of 260mm up front and 240mm at the rear . The feel and braking power is excellent from both ends and well up to its task .
SUSPENSION The forks are 48mm USD KYB AOS items that are adjustable for compression and rebound damping and have 290mm of travel . At the rear there is a single linkage mounted KYB shock with 315mm of travel and is fully adjustable . I mentioned earlier about the firmness in the suspension ’ s initial stroke . I ’ d put that suspension feel down to two things . The testing ground was hard , dry and a little cattle pugged and the KYB suspension was brand new . It is fairly common knowledge that KYB forks require a few hours of hard work before they free-up nicely and then the action is very highly rated . Later in the day it was obvious the forks were freeing up well . The suspension action is actually great after the initial slight harshness in the initial low speed movement and the Beta can be pushed hard confidently in the rough . It ’ s smooth , controlled , and predictable even on the MX track - at my relaxed pace anyway .
60 KIWI RIDER