2017 BETA 390 RR-S
FULL TEST
P94
in hard terrain, through rocks and
in perfect loamy dirt. They suffer
when the dirt is loose or sandy—the
knobs are just too short and too
far spaced, especially on the rear,
for these situations. The first thing
we do with any long-term off-road
test bike is to ditch the stock inner
tubes and replace them with super
heavy-duty tubes. This allows
us to run lower air pressure and
maximize traction. We ran the stock
tires until they were worn out and
went with bigger knobs to help in
the sandier dirt.
Again, the combo of the engine,
suspension and chassis makes
the Beta 390 RR-S incredibly easy
and comfortable to ride. The Nissin
brakes are incredible on the Betas,
so strong, in fact, that a few testers
complained that the front bordered
on too grabby when navigating
steep and technical down hills.
Those complaints we'll blame on
operator error. The rear brake pads
are nearly gone after 500 miles so
we'll be changing those shortly.
Dual-Sport Heaven
We've put the 390 RR-S through
some serious off-road romping dur-
ing the past few months, including
big hillclimbs at wide open throttle
for nearly a minute and a time and it
didn't complain. The auxiliary cool-
ing fan helps keep engine temps
from getting out of control, helping
to increase the life of the engine.
We had a hot day of slow riding that
even the fan couldn't keep up and
the Beta boiled some fluid out of
the radiators, requiring some ad-
ditional coolant, but other bikes on
If 390cc isn't
enough for
you, Beta
offers a 430
and 500.
