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 Post subject: BETA ALP 4.0 - a trailbike
PostPosted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 12:11 am 
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400 cc

Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:50 pm
Posts: 1122
Location: Yorkshire
Hugh Cleary asked me to pen my thoughts, so here's a few of my views

Latterly I've had a load of XR250's and 400's since 1994, I'm basically a Honda man, but I've had the odd foray with a Serow, a KTM125 EXC and 5 years with a BMW 650 XChallenge.

But really i'm a trailbike trail rider and wanting another trailbike or enduro - I'd had ideas of WR250 F and R's, TTR250 or even a CRFX or a KTM300/400 if I wanted to go racy or back to another XR - I really had an open mind

A few weeks ago..............this popped up, a Beta Alp 350cc

Heard lots about them, but never had much to do with them

They had a reputation for great trail bikes and awesome for LDT's

Beta are more famed for producing their fabulous range of competition Trials bikes - British champion won on one, this year and at most trials they are one of the most popular bikes out every weekend

It was mint with only 1100 pure road miles, over the last 10 years

Went over to see it and fell for it

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It's got a Suzuki DR350 motor, with electric and kick with the Suzook carb and airbox, all wrapped in an Italian chassis

I last had a DR350 20 years ago and forget how good the motor is

The Alp has a 6 speed box and on 15/48 gearing will happily cruise at 65mph and spin up to 75-80 when asked

On the road the bike doesn't feel too small and handles well with great suspension/brakes

On the trails, it's not great for high speed - but sub 30 the suspension is great and it will literally climb anything. Very sure footed and nimble

I'm 6'1 and weigh 17st and it felt fine to ride, not too small

Makes me wonder why we fall for taller enduro and trail bikes, for trailriding

Nice thing is the 350cc engine has plenty of grunt, in this package

Needs a bashplate, but apart from that it's good to go, out of the box

I think I'll like this bike

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2003 Honda XR400R3
1996 Suzuki DR350SE


Last edited by johnnyboxer on Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:47 pm, edited 5 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: BETA ALP 4.0 - my trailbike
PostPosted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 12:18 am 
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400 cc

Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:50 pm
Posts: 1122
Location: Yorkshire
Time for some fettling

Now, one thing about an offroad bike, it needs some protection and the rear master cylinder on the Alp is a little too exposed for my liking


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So I had an idea of how to protect it better............I needed a nice little cover to rest the heel of my boots on and protect the various bits of the master cylinder, if I dropped the bike, when trailriding

Voila.....


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It's a rear master cylinder cover from an early BMW 1200GS and fits perfectly with no modifications and looks like it should have been fitted from new by BETA

Cost.......only £10.67, New from a local BMW main dealer

Who says BMW stuff is all crap

Part of the fun is modifying your bike to your needs :mrgreen:

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2003 Honda XR400R3
1996 Suzuki DR350SE


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 Post subject: Re: BETA ALP 4.0 - my trailbike
PostPosted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 12:29 am 
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400 cc

Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:50 pm
Posts: 1122
Location: Yorkshire
More farkling............

The bike desperately needs a decent bashplate and so I set about sourcing one, there were 2 options from Italy, neither of which I was 100% happy with, so another Google search, yielded this - a CrossPro one

http://www.crosspro.pt/index.php?lingua=en&proprios=0



Made in Portugal, Cross Pro and sourced via German ebay for a very reasonable £82 shipped

to me (the 2 Italian bashplates were over £140, without the cost of shipping)

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All fittings were included and a nice touch was the strip of closed cell foam to attach to the inside, to aid sound deadening and protect the frame rail paint (thumbs)

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Fitting was relatively straightforward, but fiddly and the use of a scissor lift was needed to force the bashplate against the engine frame rails.

I also used some longer M6 allen bolts to locate the threads and then removed, one by one with the supplied M6 flanged bolts in the fitting kit

Pleased with the results and fit is superb and it covers all the vulnerable areas and looks good too

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2003 Honda XR400R3
1996 Suzuki DR350SE


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 Post subject: BETA ALP 4.0 - my trailbike
PostPosted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:05 am 
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400 cc

Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:50 pm
Posts: 1122
Location: Yorkshire
Any other Beta owners, chip in with your thoughts, as I'm just getting to know it

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1996 Suzuki DR350SE


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 Post subject: Re: BETA ALP 4.0 - my trailbike
PostPosted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:51 am 
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650 cc Monster
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Location: East Sussex
Nice bike 8-) 8-)

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 Post subject: Re: BETA ALP 4.0 - a trailbike
PostPosted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 10:17 am 
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650 cc Monster
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Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2012 2:22 pm
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Location: Romiley
Johnny,

Thanks for that, great looking bike and I think even more now that I might like one as a step up from my Serow, simply for longer run outs in to say Wales or across Yorkshire.

The Suzuki engine/transmission have always been a favourite drawing me towards a Suzuki DR400 or similar, the height and weight have been the concerns putting me off. I do so like my little Serow though as it seems to want to go anywhere, even without me sometimes :roll:

If anybody out there has either one for sale then please let me know (but not the wife :lol: ).

TTFN

Hugh.

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Please note that I am not a National TRF Officer, any views expressed are my own and may not be in accordance with any official policy.


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 Post subject: Re: BETA ALP 4.0 - a trailbike
PostPosted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 3:01 pm 
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400 cc

Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:50 pm
Posts: 1122
Location: Yorkshire
Hugh Cleary wrote:
Johnny,

Thanks for that, great looking bike and I think even more now that I might like one as a step up from my Serow, simply for longer run outs in to say Wales or across Yorkshire.

The Suzuki engine/transmission have always been a favourite drawing me towards a Suzuki DR400 or similar, the height and weight have been the concerns putting me off. I do so like my little Serow though as it seems to want to go anywhere, even without me sometimes :roll:

If anybody out there has either one for sale then please let me know (but not the wife :lol: ).

TTFN

Hugh.


Hugh,

The weight on paper is about 130kgs, which sounds a lot

However in reality it carries it so low down so it isn't really noticeable to me and doesn't feel any heavier on the trail than the XR's

The bike finds traction well, like a Serow (had one of those too)

I find it like an 'old school' trailbike of yesteryear, with 8-9" of suspension travel and a low centre of gravity that seems to work - compared to modern enduro bikes with 12" of suspension, which are lofty and that makes them a bit unwieldy in tight, nadgery going or rock steps, when you need a 'dab'

Seat height was exactly the same as my BMW XCountry or the HD MT350 I was out with on Sunday, around 33-34" at rest, before sitting on it

It will happily sit at 65-70mph on A roads and there's even a bit spare for a well planned overtake, unlike the Serow, which gasps above 60mph on the road

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1996 Suzuki DR350SE


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 Post subject: Re: BETA ALP 4.0 - a trailbike
PostPosted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 11:21 am 
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80 cc

Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2014 9:34 am
Posts: 23
Coming back to trail riding after a long time away I looked at lots of bikes and thought the Beta looked perfect, that was until I tried to lift it, I couldn't lift the rear off the ground. That was in a nice dry showroom not knackered out on a trail somewhere. They give the weight as 133kg dry but it seemed a lot heavier than my old CRM250 which are around 127Kg. I think it is the 200 Beta Alp that is popular with the LDT crowd.


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 Post subject: Re: BETA ALP 4.0 - a trailbike
PostPosted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 12:11 pm 
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Joined: Sun Oct 20, 2013 5:07 pm
Posts: 390
The Alp 4.0 has a dry weight of 133kgs

Add 10 kgs of fuel, then oil and coolant and it pretty much weights the same as a crf250l which I know is a heavy unit!


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 Post subject: Re: BETA ALP 4.0 - a trailbike
PostPosted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 8:49 pm 
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400 cc

Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:50 pm
Posts: 1122
Location: Yorkshire
Kevin Coates wrote:
The Alp 4.0 has a dry weight of 133kgs

Add 10 kgs of fuel, then oil and coolant and it pretty much weights the same as a crf250l which I know is a heavy unit!



It's aircooled :lol:

I agree on paper, it seems to weigh a lot, but in reality I don't find it that heavy

Perhaps I'm used to heavier bikes, I've had the last 7 years on a 650cc trail/enduro bike

I managed to lift it up ok, but I know they're not for everyone

Not everybody's cup of tea, for sure

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1996 Suzuki DR350SE


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