Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

and new pa rts tog ethe r. Sta rti ng with the eng ine, th e Alp feat u res a u niq ue motor that in corpora tes the 250cc ai rcoo le d mod el TR34 head and barre l mat ed to th e bottom end from the liquid-cooled Zero motor of 1993. The e ngin e itself is crad led in a chro me-moly s teel, backbo ne- type frame with a detachable steel subframe which for all intents and purposes is just like the one used on the World Cha mpionship-win ning TR34C of 1989. In the bra ke and sus pe nsion departments, the Alp ben efits from the latest in tr ia ls m ot o r cycl e technol o g y . Tri ck Gri m eca binders abo und fore and aft, and the bike features the industry standard Bo g e s hock to co ntrol the rear w hile a pa ir of Paioli forks handle the steering and damping chores up fron t. The suspens io n p ieces are virtually identical to those found on Beta's flagship Tec hno, but the Italian firm did elect to leave off th e adjusters in the interest of cost savings. The little de tails that abound on the Alp make it hard for the initiated to mistake the machine as something other than a Beta. A grease fitting on the rear suspens ion linkage, Domino co ntrols, Michelin X-ll tri als competition tires, and a nifty crossbar pad are all nice touches. How did this blend of old and new stack u p on the loop? Well, that's a subjective ques ti on . Membership has its privileges, an d as edi tors of Cycle News we have had the privilege of riding an d testing all of the newest trials competition scoots. Riding these trick plonkers hasn' t ma de us expe rts or world class riders, but it has spoiled us in to thinking that we are, and tha t we therefo re need the to p level performance available from the latest Techno, rr, Section or Cota . For this reason, our initia l ride on the Alp, whi ch also hap pen ed to be on the Sp ortsman line of the 25t h an nual El Trial de Espaiia in San Diego, California, left us a bit fla t. The biggest p roblem tha t we had was wi th th e Al p's aircooled motor, whi ch p roduced a sort of soggy, sl uggis h bo t to m- e nd power before waking up with a smooth but heal thy midrange burst whic h flattened out on top. We had no problem with the . bike w he n tackling any of the sections that required some speed to negotiate in the rocky, Southern California terrain, but the mo tor's lack of response com- : bi ne d with the bike's somewhat "weighty" feel turned out to be a liabili ty in ' the tighter sections that called for an instantaneous burst of power for the sake of maneuverability. Simply put, the bike's more forgiving power was actually less fo rgiving w hen ou r tes ter was going too slow. We soon learned to keep the motor revved up an d slip the clutch to negotiate t he sectio ns with more momentum. This technique met with mixed results which probably had more to do with th e ri de r than t h e bike, though part of the problem that we had with the d u m p-and -run routine was that the cable-actuated clutch which was smoo th but didn't engage until the lever was pretty far away from the bar . We'd love the opportunity to play with the Alp and see if we couldn' t find tha t mi ssing grun t via a little tu ning and tweaking , The bike is, after all, a 250. It has got to be there somewhere. On the flip side, the Alp's suspension and brakes were not surprisingly fan tastic. The up-to-date Paioli legs and Boge sh ock were unflappab le, allowing for plenty of control regardless of the situation. On the loop or in the sections, the Alp provid ed a very smooth, very p redicta ble rid e even wh en our tester bottomed th em ou t with some overzea lous (Above) Rear Grlmeca binder is strong, but could do with a bit more feel . Despite the high -speed pounding tha t we gave it on the tra il , the Alp 's brakes never faded . . . (Below) Bulky-looking tank belles a surprisingly narrow layout. Controls are easy to reach. (Above) Non-adjustable PaioU forks share the latest damping technology available to the trials crowd but lack adjustability of the top-li ne Paiolls found on the Techno. Grimeca front brake is strong and progressive . rid ing on the trai l. The front bind er was pl en ty strong and had a very p rogressive feel, and th e rear disc, while runnin g a bit on th e touchy side , matched the front all the way. The Alp's handling was a by-prod uct of motor performance in that we were able to extract fro m the bike exactly what we put into it. The Alp felt a bit top heavy, forcing us to keep mov ing, and turning proved to be another area where it suffered in comparison to the top-level equipment that we'd ridd en in the pas t. The Alp steers well in m ost ins tances, but we we re forced to dab in the tig h ter, sandy sections when th e front end pushed in the comers. Again, if we weren ' t so fearful of falling off the pi pe, we probably could have slowed down and been more effective. And of course the wacky trials master who laid out the El Trial sections had an affinity for throwing nasty little rocks or harsh climbs right behind such turns to keep our attention. What a sense of humor. Rrrr...where is that guy? We'd lik e to give him a big hug. We had no problem whatsoever on therocks as the Michelin tires d id their usu al fine job of getting grip a nd he lp in g u s to point t h e machine, even when we were pointing it ou t of boun ds . By now yo u might be thinking that we d idn't like the Alp - and in certain places, we didn't - bu t overall we'd be hard pressed to find a more fun motorcycle. Come again, you say? You see, what the Alp lacks in Championship-class performance, it more th a n m a kes up for in versatility. We may ha v e had a few rocky (no pun in tend ed ) experiences in . the sections, but the Alp was an absolute blast on the trai l. Once we could rev it up and use th e power in the upper gears, the bike shed its low-speed girthy feel and provid ed us with nothing but giggles as we rip ped around the single-track, which was littered with wh oops, ju mps - even berms. The six-speed transmission shifted bu ttery smooth, th e brakes nev er faded, and th e silky suspension never gav e us a moment's troubl e as it soaked up every hard hi t that we met w ith admirable poise. O n the second loop, our tester was having so mu ch fun tha t he com ple tely blew by one of the sectio ns an d ha d to turn around a nd go back to it so as not to card a five for riding sections out of orde r. No matter - the return trip was just as fun. We knew we'd get there too. While mo dern liq uid -cooled tri als bi kes are designed to be as reliable as possible, we 've seen little things go wrong with them on the loop . Sometimes, fans will stop running and cause overheating, or wa ter lines can be da maged in a cras h, ruining an otherwise pe rfect day. But you'll be hard-pressed to find a more trustworthy bike than the Alp. With its air-coo led powerplant, we can ho nestly say that we never had one fan or water line problem all day. Go figure . Seriously, even though the engine is air cooled, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the little vibration we encou ntered was completely tolerable. Furthermore, extended trail sess ions which are unfeasible on a modem trialer - due to the fact tha t the hard-core bikes only carry about one gallo n of premix are easily accommodated by the Alp, which gets bet ter fuel economy by virtu e of its lower co mpression even though the fuel tank measu res in at a slightly larger 1.2 gallons. The Alp also offers even grea ter exte nded range via optional fuel bearing nurnberpla tes - the small er of w hich tops out at an addition. al half gallon while the larger plate can carry a nother 1.3 ga llons. More fuel capacity equals more practice and more fun . Other long range options include a more comfortable padded seat, a luggage rack, and passenger peg bracke ts. When all is said and done, the Beta Alp is a study in compromises. Its combination of new and old com po nentry sacrifices supreme competitive pe rforma nce in favor of user-friend liness and all-around fun. One thing that the Alp doesn't sacrifice however, is cost effectiveness. For $3990, the firs t-timer will get a brand new trials bike that is more tha n adequa te for th e N o v ice and Sportsman lines at most club-level trials and grea t for explo ring his or her local trails on any other day. An d if a bould er, log or loose gn arly uphill sho ul d get in the way, so much the better. The Beta Alp is perfec t for the beginner, fun and affordable. Come to think of it, tha t makes th e Alp exactly w ha t the folks at Beta were trying to build in th e firs t pl ace. Mo lto bene, Bet a. Mo lto bene. Beta mo torcycles are im ported int o the U.S. exclusively by Cosmopolitan Motors, 301 Jacksonvi lle Rd ., Ha tboro, PA 19040, 800/523-2522. fN While Cycl News believesthe foregoing test relie able, it is the opinion of the reviewer only and s should not be relied upon in determining the performance or safety of the oehiclets), The reader shouldmakehis or herown investigation.

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