Trying To Make A Choice

[blok]

I,ve just bought a 10 month old 07 sy off me mate, feels bombproof after txt i had. He had it from new and never a prob,tank and seat come off in a jiffy to get to internal bits. I,ve looped it a couple of times , plstic bolts just ping off thus saving rear mudguard. now me other mates got a brand shiny 08 rev 3, clutch very on/off. e can,t get used to left kick, and if you damage the tank you,ve had it, avin said that the motors v reliable. Oh and you know what they say italians and electrics! good luck cheers blok

[frontroomautos]

Cheers blok, (stupid Italian electrics, theyre great on styling though)

[frontroomautos]

or adapt to the new technique???

[scorpa3]

After years of owning Betas, I never did get the hang of starting the bike with my left foot.. it always felt wrong for some reason.

The second time my Rev3 Stator went, I couldn't believe the bike had let me down twice in five trials with the same fault so I kicked and kicked and kicked until I broke a bone in my foot.

And yes, it was the stator.... again!

[frontroomautos]

I want to like & own the Beta but there is allot of evidence that points towards it as being a peice of crap really, In the back of my mind I'm frightened to take a chance on such a hit & miss product. At least you know Jap built stuff is quality, it would be dumb to buy something on the basis of styling alone, especially with the evidence of dissatisfaction from owners being stacked up against them. I cant beleive it, I'm still hearing bad reports on carb probs on 08 Betas, its quite unbeleivable & very dissaponting indeed.

[betabonkers]

I want to like & own the Beta but there is allot of evidence that points towards it as being a peice of crap really, In the back of my mind I'm frightened to take a chance on such a hit & miss product. At least you know Jap built stuff is quality, it would be dumb to buy something on the basis of styling alone, especially with the evidence of dissatisfaction from owners being stacked up against them. I cant beleive it, I'm still hearing bad reports on carb probs on 08 Betas, its quite unbeleivable & very dissaponting indeed.

The 08 carbs run ace, you cant get them off as easy as the old ones thats all.

[smalley250]

If you buy a bike and any bike, by the very nature of the bike manufactor it will have issues, flaws. KTM what a S*@t as an enduro but its the best to ride. Ducati aaaaaaaaaa . Buy a race horse and win for a day, thats what i think if you look at it in realialty.

Gas Gas is great to ride but is high maintenance.

Beta for chris sake just silicone the fly wheel case up once a month and i never had an issue in 7 years.

Trials bike on the whole require little work compared to other motor sports. An Enduro race would set you back near on

Edited December 7, 2007 by smalley250

[scorpa3]

I agree. Trials is as close to a 'no maintenace' motorsport as you are ever going to get.

I've had my current bike well over two years, competed on it maybe 30+ times a year and it is still on the same front tyre, the second spark plug and only the third rear tyre.

Try getting away with road racing or MX with a spares budget like that!

Gas Gas might be high maint compared to other trials bikes, but not compared to any other motorsport.

[dgshannon]

In general, a bike is only as good as it's owner. If you treat you bike like crap, you will have a piece of crap bike. If instead, you take care of it, wash it, maintain it, etc. it will tend to payback. If you hand wash and detail your bike, after every ride (or at least every other ride) you will see the little things on the bike that need attention. A bolt that is loose, a spoke that needs tightening, an engine case, or seal, etc. that appears to be leaking. Change the oil, clean the filter, etc. you will find that a trials bike is a low cost toy, compared to other forms of motorsports.

Most of the guys you hear complaining on here probably put their bike away filthy, and then pull it out just like that, for the next ride. Can't tell you how many broken bikes I have seen on the loop, with the guy ranting and raving about what a piece of junk it is, and you can just look at the bike an tell that this is probably the first time the guy has stopped to look close at the bike, since the last time it broke.

[hop blip and a jump]

If i do a trial it usually costs me about

Edited December 8, 2007 by hop blip and a jump

[frontroomautos]

No one can argue with any of those comments, absolutely right. Ive had Enduro bikes though did much more green lane use & adventure type stuff in Spain than enduro races, though had done the occassional track. I suppose I am being a bit over concerned, mainly due to a trials bike (well the one I have in mind) will be the first 2T bike I would have owned (that counts). I do have a Honda TLR200 but I suppose I am just trying to find out more about the 2T as I have very little experience of them & even less as 2T trials bikes go; but as has been pointed out I think perhaps I am expecting too much as far as a faultless bike goes; but if there is one then that is the one I am seeking out. I know the Mont 4RT is excelent quality but I thought the 2T bikes would be cheaper to live with when it came to top end engine work? Any thoughts on that?

[betabonkers]

No one can argue with any of those comments, absolutely right. Ive had Enduro bikes though did much more green lane use & adventure type stuff in Spain than enduro races, though had done the occassional track. I suppose I am being a bit over concerned, mainly due to a trials bike (well the one I have in mind) will be the first 2T bike I would have owned (that counts). I do have a Honda TLR200 but I suppose I am just trying to find out more about the 2T as I have very little experience of them & even less as 2T trials bikes go; but as has been pointed out I think perhaps I am expecting too much as far as a faultless bike goes; but if there is one then that is the one I am seeking out. I know the Mont 4RT is excelent quality but I thought the 2T bikes would be cheaper to live with when it came to top end engine work? Any thoughts on that?

Ive had seven beta"s and never taken the top end off, if you had to though its only a couple of hundred quid at the most,

the mont would be a lot more.

[frontroomautos]

Thanks betabonkas that was the logic behind my idea of going with a 2 stroke

[ridgrunr]

A few weeks ago I was in almost exactly the same delima that you are in. I sold my GAS GAS 321 a few months ago and was trying to decide which new bike to order for next summer, the Beta Rev-3, Sherco 290 or Scorpy SY250. I finally decided on the Scorpa.

The reasons why were pretty much as stated here. All of the machines are great machines, but the Yamaha engine, linkless rear suspension, right side kick, left side sprockets and steel instead of aluminum frame made the decision for me.

The Beta has a linkless rear suspension too, but I decided against the Beta Rev-3 because two of them in our club have had transmissions that grenaded in the middle of a meet. I know because I was riding with them in both meets when they went south. That scared me away from the Beta. I personally don't really care for aluminum frames either..or left side kicks.

I had an 85 Yamaha TY350, 92 Fantic 309, a 94 Fantic KRoo, and a 94 GAS GAS 250 which all had plastic tanks and I never had a problem with any of them, so I wouldn't be afraid of that. We had leaks in both of aluminum tanked TXT GG's I had and we ended up getting both of them welded.

I like the way the Scorpa looks too. At first I thought the cutouts in the fuel tank looked sort of funky till I discovered that they were there to allow better air flow through the radiator, then suddenly they made sense and I looked at them with new eyes. I started looking at the whole bike closer then, and decided that I liked what I saw. Lots of neat detail stuff like the rear subframe that comes off completely with just a couple of screws. The Scorpa plastic seems really resiliant too which is important to me as I don't like buying new rear fenders every meet.

I'm hoping the Scorpa will be like my Yamaha TY350, bullet proof. I hope so. Time will tell.

The Sherco is a great machine too, and I was wavering between the Sherco and the Scorpa but in the end it came down to the Yamaha engine in the Scorpa, so I called my dealer about an SY250 for next summer. Good luck on what you decide.

Edited December 10, 2007 by Ridgrunr

[nif40]

As others have stated, I was in your boat recently.

My decision between a Scorpa Sy250 and Beta (coming off a GasGas 05 300 Pro).

I did the research and read all the reviews and came away thinking that the Scorpa was the bike for me. Basically it came down to the same reasons most people think of when selecting a new bike.

1) How reliable is the bike going to be?

2) What do people complain about?

3) What is most common items that are breaking?

4) Is the engine and tranny reliable?

5) How does it handle?

6) How does component cost compare to others (levers, plastic, etc)

7) Etc......

I am a believer that ALL of the trials bikes today are generally very good bikes and will far exceed the limits of most trials riders. In this case, again it comes down to reliability and function. I had the opportunity to ride (3) bikes All 07 models.

a) 07 Montesa (I rode this bike over a 3 day period total of about 16 hrs on this bike) (2) days were trials events and (1) day was practice prior to the events.

07 Sy250 Scorpa (I rode this bike about 2 hrs (this is because I could not come to terms with the bike)

c) 07 Beta 270 Rev (I rode this bike (1) day for 6 hrs ride time in a trials event).

Before I say anything else, if you make your decision solely on what you read or hear you will never know which brand is the best FOR YOU. In order to make the best decision for yourself you MUST ride the bikes. Even if this is difficult for you to do and you have to travel. I would recommend taking the effort to ride each bike you are considering.

Montesa

The craftsmanship on this bike (IMO) is the best of the bikes out today, and with the EFI it is technologically advanced. The motor is like a sewing machine and is the perfect combination of power and revs. This is a one kick bike no matter what the situation (even when the bike has been lying on its side....oops). I also don't think there is another bike out that has better suspension than the Montesa. If you doubt what I say, then I challenge you to take your bike (brand X) and drop off a 4~5 foot ledge and do the same with the montesa.....you will then begin understand what I am talking about. The suspension is superb and holds a line thru any situation. I think the most fun I had on this bike however, was bombing thru the woods at enduro speeds (on the loop). Again, the suspension soaked up the rocks, roots and logs like a full size enduro bike and the 4 stroke motor was happy at sustained rpms. My only complaint about this bike is its weight, as you do feel it in sections. With a bit of time on the bike that feeling goes away, but swap back to a 2-stroke and you will immediately realize how heavy the Montesa really is. This was the turn off for me. Although I spent the most time on this bike I could not get over the weight issue. One other point, at the end of the last day of riding we were "Free Riding" sections for fun and I ended up going over the handlebars. In the process, I manage to break off the rear fender. As always when riding someone else