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Why would their 300 be counter balanced and the 350 not?
I was dreaming of a dual-weight balance shaft like KTM.
Beta’s current balancer has a single counterweight and is only about half as effective as the KTM version.
Sounds like I may have found my next bike. Unless Kawasaki really nails it with whatever they’re cooking up.
I'd be very surprised if it's ''a stand alone bike '' - I assume you mean that as being a completely new engine package.
With what is a relatively small company, I'd expect it to be, largely, based on the 250 / 300 engine module. And that, I see nothing wrong with.
With the Bore and Stroke ratios we've so far been shown, I figure it has just been taken to as big as it safely, and performatively, can be made.
Beta have quite a wide range of capacities available with their 4ts - I think all share the same 'base' cases / design elements?
But, I could very well be wrong, on all points.
PS - just as a side note : with the up to 2015 / 2016 (?) KTM 250 / 300 engines, people were able to fit the crank from the 360 / 380 engines, with just machining to the one end of the crank. I'm not sure if the Barrel would go straight on, or, if they re-sleaved the original. Though, I doubt it with the later year barrels, as they had been somewhat 'shrunk' from the original, approx 98 /99 250 /300s they were based on. KTM got a few decades from that era 250 /300 engine module, as well as they did with the 125 / 200 engine module.
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Yep good points
My reference to the KTM 150 was an example of stand alone (2015 and before) vs when it went to a big bore 125 (2016 and beyond). The power characteristics were different.
I would have to read back to see if the KTM 300s have always been a big bore, or stand alone models and if/ when they changed.
I was looking over Beta's new RX 2 stroke engine specs and was surprised at what they did with the new 250 and 350 RX vs the old 300 RX engine. The new 250 seems to be a hot rod motor and I wonder if it will run on pump gas with a claimed almost 15:1 compression ratio. The 350 engine is more of a gentle giant that would happy poking along on a slow trial. Both the 250 and 350 run the same size carb. Here are the RX engine specs and I stuck in a trusty old 2001 CR250 engine for comparison. The Beta compression ratios are taken from their web site and I imagine them to be the dynamic compression ratios, but they seem rather high for a production 2T motor that should be able to run pump gas, especially the 250cc with 14.6:1 compression ratio.
2001 CR250R
66.4mm x 72.0mm (bore X stroke)
8.5:1 (compression ratio)
2026 Beta 250 RX
66.4mm X 72mm
14.6:1
2025 Beta 300 RX
72mm x 72mm
13.3:1
2026 Beta 350 RX
78mm X 73.6mm
12:45:1
The 250RX model, uses that quite traditional bore and stroke.
Whereas, the 26' Enduro RR X-Pro 250s, and 300, use the 69.9mm stroke, with a 67.4mm and 73mm bore, respectively. I think, the 69.9mm stroke was first used by Beta on the X-Trainer.
It will be interesting to see what Bore / Stroke combo is used on the "Off Road Race" line up they have yet to put up on the USA Beta website.
ccullins76: : that, their using the classic 'Squared Up' format, previously, I know.
I like how they do things, at times, differently. And well, the 350 2T, is just fantastic to see being done.
The first test rides of the Beta 2026 250 and 350 RX's are up on Youtube. It is a long video by an Italian magazine and uses a crappy robo translator so it is painful to listen to, but if you listen carefully, it is quite revealing. Just as I thought, and as Beta has been hinting at, the new 250 and 350 engines are set up completely different than the 2025 300 RX, but they are also set up completely different from each other and aimed at very different types of riders.
The new 250 RX engine is more high strung, high compression and more top end for serious MX racing. It should be very comparable to the current YZ250 2T. The new 350 RX is a mildly tuned engine with lower compression and a smallish carb. No hit and slower response. It is not intended for serious MX racing, although meant to be a jack of all trades. It seems that the target audience is old vet riders that do a lot of different types of riding, from slow trail riding to MX practice, but not high level MX racing. It is meant to be very easy to ride whether at a snail's pace or at the local MX practice track with less maintenance than a more highly tuned engine. The test rider was a youngish guy and said he really didn't like the 350 for serious MX, but it was very easy to ride.
The 2025 300 RX is very middle of the road compared to the new engines it seems. Lots of low-end and arm-stretching mid power, but a bit flat on the top, targeting lazier vet riders that do mostly MX. So we have 3 very different engines with very different objectives, irrespective of displacement. I should have mine in a few more days.
That setup of the 350 is entirely logical.
Make an easy to use, smooth "open classer', that can be used by near on all riders.
I'd say they've predicted the first, and major market for the 350 2T, perfectly.
Making it fire breather from the start, would be foolish. They can do so if there's ever demand for such a thing.
That 'Youngster' has, from your description, the type of bike he might want, in the form of the new 250.
Though, it won't be hard to make it so - a Fire Breather. We nutters in 'Bikedom' have been doing so for decades, even if it's making something that, in reality, most of us can't use that effectively.
There are a lot more Italian test videos up now. I dont speak Italian, but I translated the comments of others that listened to the video. The 250 2T makes sense to every rider, but the 350 2T is very controversial, being aimed at older amateur riders and not something that could be a serious racer in stock form. I think Beta made the right move in terms of positioning in terms of being able to sell more units, but it certainly seems it is no fire-breathing monster. Yes, and there will be a few that redo the porting/ port timing, jack up the compression and put a bigger carb on it to make a modern fire-breathing big bore 2T!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xp1sHFnVxY&t=1150s
Wouldnt long before head pipe ignition jetting is figured.
There's plenty of people that would like a 500cc to come back. This could be the push that way. A 300 2t has almost the same hp as the old 500 2t but lack the torque. Let the hp wars begin.
Seriously thinking about the 350. Went to the website, read about it, watched the videos, and then went to find a dealer. Thought I might like to check one out in person, and that's when I see they only have one dealer in the entire US?
In Los Angelos area, or I could use the New Brunswick, Canada dealer?
That kind of dampened my spirits. I'm older, love 2 strokes, and finally have just a little money, so they intrigue me. But man, over 2000 miles to a dealer is maybe too much. You'd think Texas, with 34 million people would have a dealer.
I mean, the island of Tahiti, with 281,000 people has its own dealer!!!!
There's quite a few dealers here in the states. Maybe you misread the website? Betas support is very good also.
You might want to re take a look there
I put my info in the Beta website and the map shows one dealer in the US. Weird
When at the betamotor.com website, and I put in my location the only one in the US is in Los Angeles, but if I go to betausa.com then it allows me to find dealers throughout the US. Both websites should show them, but only one does. I started out with the betamotor.com website. That's where the confusion lies. Thanks, found a dealer 23 miles from my house.
Pit Row
Do it without your info zoom in a bit and then just move the map over to your state.
This makes sense but I must admit i'm a bit bummed. I was looking for an MX specific bike as my next bike and was hoping it would be the 350!
I am sure it is a good bike and will have enough power for an amateur weekend warrior, but it will be a docile, linear kind of torquey power... more of a tractor than an arm stretching rocket ship. If you plan to race seriously with 450 4T's, the italian video said you would be better off with the 450 4T. Except for the start, for most of us at the amateur level, the competiveness is based more on the rider than the bike these days, w/o a doubt. I would like to ride one at the Beta ride day when it comes back around next Spring. There is no one out there making a 350 2T mxer, so indeed a unique bike.
40 hp for a 300 is pretty low. Mod Ktm 125 can get 43. I hv 38,39 out of a c12 04 cr125. And Quick I pulled a Stark for 50 ft on the uphill start then he hit a diff mode & sprayed me with clay&
grass. Haha
I started in 1st gear
I think I'd wait on a few more reviews first. This guy seemed to be really off put by it doesn't have a class to race in bs and just kept getting hang up on that. A kept saying because of that it's not a real serious race bike.
That review was pretty crappy actually.
They have dealers all over the US.. there are about 5 or 6 in the NJ/ NY area.
That review is hard to understand the nuances of what he was saying with the robo translation.. his main point was that it is not a 450 4T beater like some had hoped. There is another Italian video from earlier this hear where they test and compare lap times of the 2025 Beta 450 RX (another good bike) against the 2025 300 RX. The lap times were nearly identical. They said the 300 RX was much more fun to ride, but harder to hold onto for many laps and required a bit more work than the 450 RX 4T. This day and age, all the bikes are very good, and comments get put under a microscope on social media.
Anyone planning on a 350 over rev fire breather project? I do wish they did this with the 350. Love to see a 450 killer.
I saw the Dirtbike review where they played with jetting and needle to be more of a ripper. The power was a bit much and ended up having slower GH lap times than the 250RX.
I know there is a Dutch tuner working on a project to get a 60HP workhorse RX 350
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