VOL. 54 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 22, 2017 P83
terrain. The oil-injection system puts out a lot
less tail pipe smoke and uses only as much
premix oil as needed. To help keep the system
rider friendly, two warning lights for oil level are
built into the digital odometer.
Last year we were a bit wary of the oil-injec-
tion, but after spending a lot of time with it, we
absolutely love it! Under normal off-road riding
we got at least three tanks of gas for every full
tank of premix oil. Under fast and aggressive
riding, you'll get a little less, but we rode the
250 RR and 300 RR in a lot of single track
and technical riding where engine rpm and
loads weren't too gnarly. Having the oil-injec-
tion system also makes it easy to borrow gas,
or just obtain gas, on a long ride. The RR tank
is 2.5 gallons, and again, the terrain and ride
style are big factors in mileage. We felt fairly
safe on 50-mile rides with 2.5 gallons.
Modern gas, even if you buy 91 octane,
doesn't sit well in carburetor for longer than a
week or two before it begins to clog up pilot
jets. In the past, we never really worried about
leaving a little bit of premix gas in the carbure-
tors float bowl on a two-stroke because the
oil in the gas helps keep gas from clogging
the jets. Well, with the oil-injected Betas, the
fuel in the float bowl is straight gas, the two-
stroke oil is injected between the carb and the
cylinder. We learned this when the pilot jet on
the 250 RR clogged after just two weeks of
leaving gas in the float bowl. Lesson learned,
drain the float bowls after every ride.
Out In The Elements
Again, the only difference between these two
bikes is just over 44cc of displacement, which
makes it hard to believe that they feel so differ-
ent out on the trail. They both are light, narrow
and nimble, but the 250 RR feels quite a bit
more agile. The 250 RR likes to be ridden
more aggressively and happily rips through the
