I realize my last post mentioned the Beta 200RR which I picked up at the end of 2021, but no mention of of what I have been riding for the past year. The Beta was a good bike in 2022. It was mostly reliable except for an annoying starting issue where the starter solenoid will click but the starter doesn’t spin at all. I also had some frustration with getting it to shift at times. Sometimes I was unable to downshift (until I stopped the bike) and sometimes I frequently had issues getting it into 4th and 5th gear. Last winter I tore the bike completely down to the frame, both to investigate these issues and to give it a deep cleaning.
I ended up taking the motor to Race Ready to look at the transmission and clutch. They tore it al the way down to the crank and replaced the main bearings while they were in there. I also had the top end done with a replacement Wossner piston. Unfortunately no smoking gun was found with the shifting issues. There was quite a bit of sludge so I will be changing the gearbox oil more frequently and am using Klotz Flex Drive 30 Synthetic Transmission Lubricant which was recommended.
As for the starting issues, I cleaned up the connections to the starter and also bench tested it numerous times. The starter itself performed flawlessly so I am left to assume the issue is an electrical connection issue. I do plan to replace the solid wire cable the connects the solenoid to the starter with a thicker stranded wire cable. Edit: Unfortunately, as of the last two times out riding, there must be a drain on the battery as the battery is dead after sitting for a few weeks and it also died halfway through the hard enduro.
I also ground down a tab on the exhaust which kept the boot connecting the header pipe to the exhaust from fully sealing, which caused a lot of oil to spray all over the the top of the motor, carb and shock. That small modification has worked wonders; no more mess to clean up after every ride.
So what have I been riding most of the year? In the spring, purchased a 2023Husqvarna FC350 from Rodney at Beaver Creek Cycle. This is their motocross version of the 350. My plan was to make some tweaks to it to make it
more woods friendly. More on that in another post. Suffice it to say, the experience on this 350 4 stroke is night and day from the Beta. Having all of that extra low end power at your disposal is so nice, but it is heaver and not quite as easy flick around like the Beta. Also, the tune on this 350 being the MX bike is quite aggressive, even with the easy map enabled. I’ve never felt a need for the more aggressive map except the few times I took it on a MX course. Everyone that has ridden this thing this year has said the power is a lot to handle. I’ve found it to be easier to ride than the 2-stroke but has required me to get in better shape so it manhandling it doesn’t wear me out. In the next post, I’ll discuss some of the challenges of getting the FC350 woods ready and some of my experiences with it in 2023.