Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125531
TRACK TEST 100ee MOTO BETA By Dick .rigbt 'Participation in the lOOcc class has il chaDged lbe port t1m1Dg, (6) lidded DeW pP8IISioD chpmber, aDd (7) lidded eichtwbBeIs ad c ... 'tIon tires. He also took ott the l\gtJts and lidded i _-1DdI ll." btaer fins on the bead and cy1l.Dder for t-. ... <0 better' cooliDg. To prove the bike, Q) they bad Jim Peterson ride the local TI"s in the latter part of 1966. He woo 17 at 21 races entered, plus two SWeepstakes. '!be machine was then taken to BoonevUle wbere it set a new lOOcc record at 72 mUes per bour; they just cbaoged the tires, gearing, jetting, and let ber go. Dealers uP and down the west coast really liked the bike, but they needed a good price, and back to Italy went American Marine Industries. The Italians said they were nuts: It would use too much gas, and the engine was too bot. After a wbUe they !1nally got it through their· beads that the American market was completely dUferent, and the machine was put into production, to be called the XC-lOO. We recently took a cOuPle of stock machines out to put them througb their paces on the open desert trails, hills, and jumps on one bot saturday afternoon, and incidentally, had a ball test- gf t ~ .. ~ 0 :i: .., ~ loa :i: loa ...:l u :.. u THANKS FOR PROVING OUR FILTERS. • • • TlIE CRUELEST TEST YET - 900 MILES OF MEXICO! ALL BAJA FINISHERS USED FILTRON FILTRON IS A REVOLUTIONARY NEW CONCEPT IN AIR FILTRATION. ASK YOUR DEALER FOR DETAILS• P.s. • ROGER DE COSTER WON AN EXTRA $50.00 FOR WINNING WITH FILTROM AT HOPETOWN. CYQE "EWS W'U BE '" YOUR NEXT WEEK DEALER'S 011 WEDNESDA JD(u.ellowl) PHOTOGRAPHERS ENTER TIl, ._faduNfs baft aalldpatld tile riders' desire In bavlnl lb, cooUnI pnlvld,d bJ Jail" ft.ld ad aM CJIII., b_ _ of the 15/1 cOlllPress" and lb, additional ~r output of tile -II . more than tripled in the last two years. iog them. As an eJ:lUllple, in desert events in Southern California, the trail bike class has gone from tb1rty or forty riders to the present entries of 120 to 160 per event. There are two main reasons for this 1ncrease: one, the machines' low cost, aDd most important, the muchImproved engineering and power ouWut at the bUDdreds. It is now possible to have a macbiDe that will really turn up the rpm's, gett1:IIg uP to a speed of 55 miles per bour real quick, for between $400. and $500.00. 11Iree years ago Leo Krenzler, president of American Marine Industries, decided to bring a lOOCc machine into the U.S.A. to compete in this bot market. He went to several manufacturers in Italy, 'aDd finallY worked out a program with the Bela Corporation of Florence, Italy, who were at that time manufacturing only 50rc street machines set uP to last 20,000 miles and get 100 miles per gallon, as gas over there is $2.75 a gallon. The new Moto Beta, as it was going to be called, would be manufactured for export only. The first machine introduced was the 80rc XTR80, which was rejected by the dealers in the U.S., so the XTRloo was brought over and this still bad a way to go, as it bad a weak front end, Darrow tires, small brake bub, etc. Then Dennis Albrigbt, the district sales manager for Moto Bela, decided to boild a macblne here in Southern California according to the dealers' specif1eatlons. He took the XTRloo, and added: (1) Cerianl suspension, (2) a lighter trame, (3) better swinging arm, (4) a bigger and redesigned seat, (5) My impressions of the bike were that (1) the troot forks are great, but in the desert they sbould have another incbJlDd-a-balf rake, (2) the engine was a pleasant surprise, as it had plenty of po_r for the class, and the big bead and cylinder kept it runo1og cool, (3) the three-gallon gas lank is an asset on a long run, (4) the rear sbocks are the best I have ever seen on a bike of this price range, and (5) the brakes be1d up very well. After this brief introduction to the bike, I decided to enter the Moto Bela in a Hare Scrambles, so we made a couple of quick cbaoges, such as putting on a quick-turn throttle and cbanglng the bars (both of these, of course, are just my preference). We also changed the expansion chamber to give us bigber rpm's. The bike pulled very well off the startiog line and I stayed right with the first ten riders, feellng as thougb I bad as mucb power as any of them. Later on I dropped the chain, and after cbecking it over I found that it was rather small, and felt sorry that we hadn't replaced it with a larger one. The Moto Beta was expressly designed for competition, and therefore it Is not necessary to take off lights and mess with wiring, or even pay fOr them. This means that If you want a bike to ride in the dirt, your money will go for only that purpose. I think it's great for the buYing public that dUferent manufacturers are competing for the buyer's dollars. Tbls competition improves the equipment available to us, and the Moto Beta XC-loo sbould be a strong competitor in the races as well as In the showroom. CYCLE EWS ACTICJl4 PHO.TO (j CQN.TEST ~Jf--!c\ 0 ~~' · ~ W~ . ,J' ~L-L r-, J ,I., or-. . .OT05I1lPHER TO ..a.UDE _ AID AODIESS O~ laCK OF I'llDTO. -- .1lI10EJTlnc:Allllll OF IIIDU, uaull£, lOCAnol AIID DATE TAIEL UTU AS OFTU AS YOU lin -ALL PHOTOS IE C"E 11IE "OPERTY OF CYCLE .EllS AID .lL lOT n IlETUIIIED OPEl TO AUTEUR . .0 PIIOFESSIOUt. PIIDT05RAPHERS ALIKE. ,xlO II Sill, S 10.00 PRUE •