Advice On A Beta 200

[pistonbroke]

I am thinking about trading in my 2002 250 Sherco. I am 52 years old, the wrong side of 13 stone and to be honest it's getting a bit heavy to be haulin' out of the mud. so i've narrowed it down to possibly trading it in for a 200 Beta. Has anybody done this ?

Does anybody know if these are underpowered in any way ( I don't want to have to ride it like a teenager on a 125 , wind it on , drop the clutch and hang on !) Would it be a lot lighter than the Sherco and easier to ride ?

Any advice would be of use so if anybody about the same age has done anything like this please let me know of your opinion . By the way, I only really ride the easy course . I've never been able to do that hopping and bopping , so I leave that to my son !!!

Regards

Phil

[pete_scorpa3]

My lad had a Rev3 200 back in 2004 and it was a super clubman machine, I rode it many times and never found it lacking in the power department and was brilliant in very wet going.

The only thing I would add, although the smaller engine capacity gives the 200 the impression that it is lighter when riding, it is the same weight as the 250 when you have to pick it up.

I hope this helps.

Pete

[feetupfun]

A 200 Beta is probably the same weight or even slightly heavier than your Sherco.

A Beta 200 is not a zappy bike and would haul you fine, as mine did and I am 51 years old and well over 13 stone.

[chewy]

I'm 58 and have now bought 4 beta 200 's easy to ride 95 times out of 100 you have enough power and what you do have is nice and smooth, they are easy to use easy to sell first rate service from John Lampkin and I mean second to none. I will probably buy same again next year unless one of the new models (ossa) is sufficiently tempting.

[rev3]

Get one, you will not regret it.

I am almost 16 stone and it goes up anything i throw it at, when i doesn't thats down to me, a beta 200 is a great bike.

At a really wet trial i was sitting in the queue, the section was a tight turn and an S type turn up a steep bank of approx 30 ft, both the 290 Sherco and the Mont in front of me failed to get up, my little 200 climbed out with ease.

One thing i have found is that they do not rev as hard as Sherco or Gas Gas

[outlaw dave]

In my opinion the Evo 200 is the best bike for 60% of riders - As the other guy said - they will go up anything

usually in 3rd and have great torque for a small bore machine.

Trouble is every time I get one to ride myself somebody takes a ride and buys it !!

(I'm a dealer in Canada)

[joekarter]

I've been riding one for the last three years and I agree with everyone else up to a point. I think you need to take a good look at how the club you ride with lays out sections at your level. If the sections are designed where you have a reasonable run at the bigger ups, then by in large you'll love the bike. On the other hand, if you have to attack steps with little to no run or they design sections with multiple steps one after another, it can make life "interesting". The Beta 200 is not nearly as "rev sensitive" as a 125, but with a bigger guy you do have to be really spot on with the clutch on short approaches. Another downside comes with altitude. We have trials ranging from about 3000 ft all the way to over 7000, and at the higher elevations the extra grunt of a big bike would really come in handy (I weigh a bit over 200lbs).

Not trying to turn you away from one as I've loved my owning my bike and it's been great to ride. I just wanted to point out a couple of other things to consider.

Joe

[pistonbroke]

Thanks for your input guys, on the face of it , it seems to be a good idea to change to a beta 200. The 3 local clubs that I ride with tend to set sections out fairly easy on the basis that if you want to do a harder section , just go up to a harder course ( normally 4 courses ) and I don't get many problems with altitude where I live in Gods little acre of Lancashire !!

Regards and thanks for your time

Phil