Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ TEST Beta Zero Black Ma .c e ...... 0'. ~ ...... 12 Continued from page 10 Scott said, " Wha t impressed me the most was the rigidity of the fram e, th e light weight, and th e motor. This model is significantly lighter than the '89. The motor response off the bottom has been smoothed out dramaticall y. You don't have to use the clutch nearl y as much. There's a big increase in torqu e. We 're not talking littl e changes. With this one, you can ride it modem slingshot style or th e old torquey style. " The clutch was magnificent, The pull is easy and strong. It disengaged smoothly. There's none of that on/off disengagemen t feel. It feels a lo t stronger than the '89. I used the clutch as much at lower rpms tha t the lack of bottom end response found in the new-style engines was never mo re tha n a kind of nuisance. It was easy to overcome with the clu tch. But this new motor ma kes a lo t of that cl utch work unnecessary. " Head noted a difference in the bar/ peg relationship. "T he bars are higher or farther forward or the pegs are farther back. I'm not sure. Beta's old setup was more for the sho rter rid er. This is better for me. " T he brakes weren't working. I don 't know if it's a break-in thing. I could hardly do a nose wheelie, at least with confidence. Later in the day , Todd (R o p er) told me they were working better. " T h is is my first ride with th e inverted forks. I didn't notice much difference in the front end feel. Overall, the suspension felt tight and solid jumping off steps. That's the best I ever felt jumping off something, except for " my KX. " As an engineer, H ead is fascinated wit h the mec hanica l aspects of machinery. " I see a lo t of attention to detail on this bike. I like the way that water pump was tucked up on top of the engine, away from possible damage. That was im pressive. "The bike felt super ligh t, but was by no mea ns u nstable. Betas always had a good ba la nce of stability and agility. T hey haven 't lost any of that at all ." Mark Manniko jo ined the 1991 team after a long run on Fantics, He did ride a Beta for awhile, when they were first imported seven years ago. The Colorado rider at fir st had doubts about riding a black bike. He changed his mind. " Isn ' t it beautiful? When I heard I was going to ride a black bike, I thought, 'Oh, no .' But the aluminum sets it off. I really like it." After seven years on another brand, what did Manniko expect with his new bike? " I anticipated a nice, smooth, more controllable engine and that was definitely true. I a lso anticipated the frame geometry would be better for big steps. It is. "One thing I didn 't anticipate, but I noticed it right away , was the rigidity of the frame. That design, with thos e big chunks of aluminum, really works. The Fantic always felt solid to me, bu t when I got on the Beta it felt like the fra me had no flex whatsoever. "I've ridden Betas enough over the years to track the development. This is the best Beta. It does n 't have the same up per end punch the earlier Betas had , but its refinem ent a nd usability are m uch better than they have been in the past. Now it 's a chugger. T he engine makes it easy to ride . You don't have to work the throttle and clutch as much." Speaking of his familiar Fantic a nd new Beta: 'I li ked the Fantic, the way it handled. I was well suited to it. The riding styles are real similar between the two as far as riding position and co nfiguration of the suspension. "The Fa ntic's engine is completely opposite. it has more power toward the top and less at the bottom. The Beta is more of a bottom and mid-range bike which makes it much nicer to use most of the time. What I do mi ss is the Fantic's upper end punch that let you use first gear. Now I have to use second or third. It 's just a different engine style. " T he adjustablility of th e front suspension, both rebound and compression, is really ni ce, especially for me riding where it 's colder. Generally, the problem " 't the rear suspension isn because that heats up around the exhaust. The prob lem is the isolated front suspension. The new forks let you tu ne in for the terrain and the temperature. "The Beta's rear suspension is more progressive and has more travel. T he Fa ntic, you ru n the sack height q ui te a bit lower, which makes big steps tougher. You h av e to us e more technique. " T he thing that will take me th e most time to get used to is th e tra ction. It's slightly more diffi cult than it was on the Fantic. That's because there's more weight bias toward th e front on the Beta. I like the weight con figuration o n the Beta with the rear end being lighter. It'll just tak e time to adjust, You have to use more throttle control. " Having the back end lighter, in 90- The heart of the Beta Zero Black Magic tri als bik e is a liquid-cooled 260cc engine thaI one rider said produces strong bottom and mid-range power, percent of the situations, makes the Beta mor e manueverable. The Beta goes up big steps better. You can move the rear wheel better. The Beta does kick turn s m uch better. You "can hop the back tire. As we're getting better at moving the bike around, we tend to hop the back tire more than the front. And we tend to use more kick turns because you can accomplish in one tum what it takes 10 hopping moves to do." So, a satisfied owner , a sa tisfied former champion, and a satisfied Beta newcomer and championship hopeful. Hill, Head a nd Manniko's comments reflect the thinki ng of the other riders who tried the lastest Beta. The color change is startling, the ref ineme nts impressive. An d th e weight keeps disa ppearing. Beta continues to de monstrate, irregardless of their rider roster, the abi lity to twea k and tu ne and continue an enviab le record of development improvements. Considering the comments, calling this bike a Zero seems a flagrant contradiction. Black Magic does make more sense. It's definitely magical, regardless of the color. .,.

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