VOL. 55 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 P121
1
-2-5. It's crazy how just
these three numbers can
conjure up so many wild
thoughts in your head.
I know it does in mine.
Those three numbers make me
want to open up a handful of
throttle and bang through the
gearbox, all the while savoring
the sweet sound of each and
every one of those cubic-centi-
meters being rammed through
the exhaust pipe and out of the
back of the muffler. It's music to
my ears.
Unfortunately, 125cc two-
strokes basically got shown the
front door when the manufac-
tures finally figured out how to
make four-strokes competitive in
the late 1990s. Thankfully, a few
companies like Beta haven't for-
gotten about them and continue
to make them; they know that
there are plenty of us two-stroke
diehards still out there.
WHAT IS IT?
Usually when we think of
125cc dirt bikes, we think of mo-
tocross, since 125cc two-stroke
enduro bikes, unlike 125cc
motocrossers in the day, have
never really been all that popu-
lar here in the United States.
But Beta's new 125 RR is pure
off-road, having been fitted right
out of the crate with a headlight
and taillight, an extended rear
fender, an 18-inch rear wheel,
D.O.T. tires, a speedometer/
meter, horn and a kickstand that
automatically retracts when you
unweight it. Actually, it's close
to being street legal, at least in
a few states. Beta says that the
125 RR is designed to fill the
need of both the play rider and
the serious off-road racer who
might be considering racing the
new XC3 class in GNCC.
The Beta 125 RR is a brand
new model. It has a chassis and
engine that were designed specif-
ically for it. The engine is all Beta,
built in its manufacturing plant in
Rignano sull'Arno, Italy, and is
carbureted, via a 36mm Keihin
PWK mixer. At the other end of
the cylinder is an FMF exhaust
pipe and an in-house-built muffler,
sans spark arrestor. The Beta's
engine uses a crankcase reed-
induction system, which is fitted
with a Moto Tassinari VForce4
cage. A six-speed transmission
transfers power to the rear wheel.
To save weight, unlike some
of its bigger two-stroke brothers,
there is no oil-injection system,
or electric starting, just manual
kick. (However, Beta says that
BY NIC GARVIN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SPENCER OWENS
OF
The Beta 125 RR isn't
just a play bike; it's
serous about racing, too.
