BETA 300RR OFF-ROAD PROJECT BY MIKE WEBB: 2-STROKE TUESDAY

A Beta 300RR built by Mike Webb and Slavens Racing is the main focus on this week’s 2-Stroke Tuesday. Webb tells us all about the building and initial testing of his personal machine in his own words below. If you want to see more Beta 300cc two-strokes in action check out the video at the bottom of this post of the all new Beta 300 MX model.

 

It’s getting to be a stacked class in the world of purpose built off-road 300cc two strokes. Once dominated by the all-conquering Austrian smokers, today there are legit players from Italy, France and Spain. We’ve spent this last year learning the ins and outs of Italy’s Beta 300 RR. In stock dress it’s an effective off-road trail machine, an ample, smooth, low vibration power delivery mated to a steel chassis with off-road spec Sachs suspension that delivers a surprisingly good (albeit soft) ride. Electric start, excellent stock jetting, hydraulic clutch and top-notch components sum up the Italian beauty.

However, our western venues into the wilderness require more than just an adequate power or pedestrian chassis performance. We need a motor that can chug at zero RPM’s and still rip like a Tomahawk missile on the mega sand hill climbs that dot our landscape. Our chassis required the needed plushness for the technical nasties but also absorb the big G outs and rollers.

A full feature article is coming on our Project Beta but here’s a snapshot of our motor and chassis updates, as well as our preferred bolt on accessories.

Motor
We went to our ‘go to’ off-road specialist Slavens Racing for their performance up grades. Here’s the skinny on the power plant:

-Slavens high compression head
-Billetron carburetor
-FMF Fatty pipe
-FMF 2.1 Power Core silencer
-13/51 gearing

For our suspension goals we again turned to Slavens Racing and MX Tech. Both the fork mods and the new shock are pricey additions, but all suspension valving jobs tax the wallet, and our history with Slavens input has always rated a ‘worth the price of admission’.

Fork
Up front we installed the MX Tech Slavens Mule Lucky Fork cartridge system

Shock
MX Tech Slavens Mule National Shock

Bits and pieces
We love the Enduro Engineering hand guards, the ultra-trick Fastway foot pegs, the Seat Concepts saddle, Acerbis frame guards

 

 

Initial testing has been positive, we have realized a good power gain, more flexibility in the engine mapping and have given the smooth engine character a more substantial bite. We’re still learning with the Billetron carburetor, which offers easy adjustability but requires some inherent knowledge on how and when to makes jetting changes. The same goes for the suspension, both ends target an ‘attack it’ mode, and we’re in testing stages with fork preload, damping settings and the super adjustability of the National shock and have made huge strides in maintaining initial plushness that mates to appetite for gnarlier and faster hits.