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First ride on ‘18 fugly


dan williams
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Thanks to Heather for naming my new bike. Alrighty then. First impression from a section scouting ride not much section riding. It feels a lot like my 2013 300 EVO. Clutch is surprisingly progressive with no stick but pull is harder. Not surprising as the stock spacers have yet to be replaced. Handling and suspension seem very close to the ‘13. Tough to tell though as both ends are just starting to loosen up. The new rear master cylinder makes the rear brake a little more sensitive. Front brake is the same. Engine is still breaking in so it feels a little flat on top and bottom. I can feel a real difference not having the carbon reeds as I stalled quite a few times when the going got tricky where the ‘13 with the VForce carbon reeds would have just grunted and pulled me through.

The real shocker is how this bike shifts. The ‘13 has always shifted, well, like a Beta. Notchy, clunky and with a tendancy to drop out of second into neutral if I wasn’t careful to make sure I felt every bit of the shift mechanism clack into place before proceeding. The first crash I had on the ‘13 was from it popping out of second on a climb so it wasn’t just wear. The ‘13 has actually gotten better over time but it’s still clunky. The 2018 snicks into gear like a Japanese street bike. Just a short tap and it’s in a new gear. Downright freaky for a Beta rider.

The ignition coil is on the other side of the bike and the CDI seems very exposed dangling down from the right side of the frame. This makes the choke on the Keihin, once difficult to access, now impossible to access. The fuel shutoff is also now much more difficult to get at. The voltage regulator is mounted behind the headlight and is larger with a heatsink. The new stock footpegs are quite nice. The fuel filler neck has a vent tube along with the vent tube on the new gas cap. Brought to you by the Department of Redundency Department. The suspicion is things are being moved around to make way for a future fuel injection system. The larger regulator would certainly lean that way. 

So that’s about it from day 1. Still feels like the bikes I know and love. Now to start fettling to make it my bike.

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1 hour ago, dan williams said:

Thanks to Heather for naming my new bike. Alrighty then. First impression from a section scouting ride not much section riding. It feels a lot like my 2013 300 EVO. Clutch is surprisingly progressive with no stick but pull is harder. Not surprising as the stock spacers have yet to be replaced. Handling and suspension seem very close to the ‘13. Tough to tell though as both ends are just starting to loosen up. The new rear master cylinder makes the rear brake a little more sensitive. Front brake is the same. Engine is still breaking in so it feels a little flat on top and bottom. I can feel a real difference not having the carbon reeds as I stalled quite a few times when the going got tricky where the ‘13 with the VForce carbon reeds would have just grunted and pulled me through.

The real shocker is how this bike shifts. The ‘13 has always shifted, well, like a Beta. Notchy, clunky and with a tendancy to drop out of second into neutral if I wasn’t careful to make sure I felt every bit of the shift mechanism clack into place before proceeding. The first crash I had on the ‘13 was from it popping out of second on a climb so it wasn’t just wear. The ‘13 has actually gotten better over time but it’s still clunky. The 2018 snicks into gear like a Japanese street bike. Just a short tap and it’s in a new gear. Downright freaky for a Beta rider.

The ignition coil is on the other side of the bike and the CDI seems very exposed dangling down from the right side of the frame. This makes the choke on the Keihin, once difficult to access, now impossible to access. The fuel shutoff is also now much more difficult to get at. The voltage regulator is mounted behind the headlight and is larger with a heatsink. The new stock footpegs are quite nice. The fuel filler neck has a vent tube along with the vent tube on the new gas cap. Brought to you by the Department of Redundency Department. The suspicion is things are being moved around to make way for a future fuel injection system. The larger regulator would certainly lean that way. 

So that’s about it from day 1. Still feels like the bikes I know and love. Now to start fettling to make it my bike.

have you gone for a 300 again? I fancy a new one next year although I like the look of the new ones a lot.

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So my current 17 GG has umpteen hours on it. When I got my 18, the first thing I noticed was how much stronger the 17 was on the bottom. It's just wildly more powerful. They apparently loosen up a whole lot more than I'd have expected with some hours. 

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55 minutes ago, dan williams said:

My wife walked out of the garage today and said, “Did you buy a new bike?” She’s been walking between the new and old bike for a week. The cat’s out of the bag.

I'm getting an '18 Scorpa and figured it will pretty much look like the old one and fly under the radar, until I found out only Factory 125's are available..... Wife will definitely notice black frame and orange wheels!

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10 hours ago, dan williams said:

In the, “Are Beta getting ready for fuel injection?”  category, I notice there’s now a bolt on top of the head that doesn’t do anything. Head temperature? Knock sensor? Hmmmm.

Sure it's not just a bleed screw for the cooling system?

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