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Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
and the crowd goes mild!
Hopefully more money, but I doubt he's on a better bike.
Everybody talks shit on beta. RJ said he would have went there if they committed to outdoors too. Most of you have probably never ridden one.
The bike looks good, Shane looks good on it too.
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Shane will run 12th-16th range in sx.
I certainly wasn't doing that. Excited to see their 250f...
The quadlock honda's are pretty dang good though.
everyone who rides a Beta loves almost everything about them. It wins tons of off-road and WORCS races at the highest levels.
The only negative anyone has ever said and it's pretty unanimous across test riders and even ZachO said this recently - the moto 450 engine needs more pop. Both on the race bike and production bike side. This doesn't really matter in SX. The bike has already had some solid finishes indoors and I'd expect that to continue and probably get an all time high next season with Shane joining.
The Quadlock bike is good. But if Shane can make the same money or close racing just the US series versus Aus SX and I think most important is the 2 year contract,
Who's talking shit on Beta?
Go team Bald!
Lfgggg macklewrath!!
The seats look like they would be painful. Free inch or two of suspension modern bikes have really lost. Imho
*Electrical issues
Well, you are. Get a top 5 rider on it and see what it can do. Is it perfect? No but none of the bikes are. Ducati and triumph would be worse off too if they had different riders.
I was talking shit on McElrath, he's basically invisible, rides good enough to not make mistakes, not be in the LCQ often, doesn't cause any drama.........but he also never sees the front or has flashes of excitement.
I guess that is a criticism of Beta, I wish they had taken a chance on a rider that had potential to be more exciting.
They did they signed nichols who didn’t do shit and it backfired.
I agree with you there. Shane is great but Beta needs a top guy to really see what they can do or need to change to succeed
This
Super happy for Shane...a 2 year contract. Nice.
Pit Row
Yeah that was disappointing.
IMO they would get more ROI on their 2nd rider by taking a chance on someone who hasn't peaked yet.
If it goes bad, it didn't cost a lot and the Vitards can blame the rider.
But if anything good happens, it'll look like the bike is helping the rider improve.
Like who?
My first thought was Michael Hicks.
It's a hard question, you'd have to be really plugged in to know who's available and has potential to grow.
When you look at SX there are minimum 14 "factory" rides with a pair each for HRC, KHI, PMG, TLD, Star, KTM, and Triumph. Now add in the next tier (that i put Beta with) of Club, Quadlock, and Tedder and poof, there are the other 8 for your main event of 22.
Once RJ understandably backed out I don't see how Shane was not the next best option. Going to be tough, not counting the inevitable injuries, to get the bikes into the main where the eyeballs are. Shane will definitely get it in the main every night.
Now could it be said that Beta would get more eyeballs with an up and comer that is playing bumper cars for the last transfer in the LCQ? Sure, but I don't think that's what the team really wants no matter how much fun as fans we think it is.
Heck looking at the murderers row of factory rides in the 450 class, a consistent top 15 in the first half of the year and kissing top 10s after Daytona once injuries set in would be great results for Beta IMO.
Michael hicks wouldn’t get the exposure or results that McElrath will get for Beta imo. I expected more out of McElrath from his 450 career, but I think he’s a good pick for Beta to get some top 10s. Top 10s for 2027 SX are going to be hard to come by for anyone not on a good factory team.
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