I have spent the last four years on a Beta Xtrainer, so I feel semi-qualified to offer
a long term review. Some say it's the perfect beginners dirt bike. Others say it's the lightest
300 two stroke you can buy, and perfect for slow gnarly terrain. Lets find out.
Many place the Xtrainer in the hybrid category, somewhere between a proper enduro bike and a
trials bike. It's close to being a proper enduro bike. But it's a bit lower, shorter wheelbase,
and slightly less suspension travel. It also has a cheaper trials oriented suspension package and
a detuned engine. How detuned? This dyno chart shows you have all the same grunt at low and
midrange revs, but they have knocked that crazy top end power off to make it much more linear.
Here are the main changes that put the Xtrainer into this hybrid category.
Lets look at the main known issues. Since 2018, there has been a small but
significant number of main bearing failures in Beta's 250 and 300 two stroke engines,
often in the first 10 hours. The failure rate appeared to reduce in 2020 models,
and we are hoping it's fixed for 2021 models. Just keep this in mind if buying an older model.
Beta electrics are not brilliant, especially the speedos. Dealers usually have a stockpile of these
to hand out for warranty claims. My speedo stopped working just out of warranty, doh.
The moment you have electrical issues, see your dealer if within warranty. Sometimes
they have to replace the entire wiring loom, as happened with one of my riding buddies.
If you are buying a new model, there are some electric start issues on brand new bikes
due to lack of proper heat treatment on the ring gear for the starter.
It's a known issue and will be fixed under warranty, don't keep trying to start the
bike! There are other small issues as with any model, see our Beta known issues vids.
Is it the perfect beginners bike? It depends on your skill level. If you are brand new to riding,
it's still quite powerful even with that detuned engine. However, if you are a road rider getting
into dirt riding, it could suit you. One thing to keep in mind, there's also a 250 Xtrainer. And you
can put the power valve and mapping settings into the softest position to make the bike quite tame.
Is it the lightest 300 two stroke you can buy? Only just. Beta claim a dry weight
of 99kg or 218 pounds. But ready to ride with an empty tank it's around 102.5 kg,
only a fraction lighter than say a KTM TPI.
Is it perfect for slow gnarly terrain? Yes, for most riders. That soft bouncy suspension is great
for weighting and deweighting over obstacles if you aren't too heavy. The power delivery,
light weight, low seat height and tight turning circle are brilliant. So why aren't we seeing the
Xtrainer in hard enduros? Experienced riders are going to need good suspension,
the Xtrainer's cheap basic setup simply won't cut it for a good rider.
They will also want that missing top end power. Finally there are plenty of fast sections in hard
enduros. While the Xtrainer can be amazing in the slow stuff, once you hit third gear the bike
becomes very skittish at speed and doesn't have that inline stability of full sized enduro bikes.
I have fitted a Goldentyre fatty front tyre and the high profile helps,
but the Xtrainer simply isn't set up for faster riding. A skilled rider can do it
of course, as Trevor Campbell demonstrates here. But the Xtrainer simply ain't a serious race bike.
And trying to turn it into one will simply make it weigh as much as standard enduro bike.
We tried to sum it up in this graph when comparing the Xtrainer with a standard enduro two stroke,
in this case the Beta RR300. You can see there's a lot of cross over between the
two. The good news is it means you are unlikely to make a mistake in buying a
Xtrainer. And there are plenty of suspension and engine mods you can try
as your skills improve. See our Xtrainer suspension mods for the main options.
Engine mods? All the relevant Xtrainer and RR300 parts are interchangeable so can turn
the engine into a beast if you want. Just get some life insurance though.
As always, this is only one opinion. And the ideal solution
is to get a test ride to see if a Xtrainer will suit you.
Have you considered it? Or ridden one? I'm keen to hear your thoughts, let us know in the comments.