First look: 2018 Beta Evo
By John Dickinson on 13th Sep 17
THE 2018 Beta Evo trials range has just been launched and the name of the game from the popular Italian brand, handled in Britain by John Lampkin Imports, is evolution not revolution as the factory concentrates on further refinement of its two-stroke and four-stroke models.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it is the mantra and Beta's engineers have been hard at work on the fine details, resulting in bikes sporting new levels of technical refinement, performance and reliability.
Beta has long prided itself on providing bikes suitable for all standards or rider, not just the pros, with the two stroke range offering 125, 200, 250 and 300 models - the 200 being unique among the manufacturers and developed specially for the British market - while the four-stroke features a user-friendly 300cc power unit as an alternative to the two-strokes.
The 2018 bikes will be unveiled at the Trial World Championship event in Italy this weekend.
Evo 2T: All the two-stroke versions have the following new features, designed to give the bikes a more technically polished feel. Engines boast new low-friction main bearings that reduce energy loss and thus improve low-rev performance.
Both rear shock and front fork have been calibrated to provide greater progression, absorbing and dampening major impacts with greater efficiency. Both front fork legs now use the same amount of oil to help simplify servicing.
The wheel hubs that have been reinforced in the disc and sprocket attachment areas to boost impact-resistant reliability.
The tried and tested design has also been overhauled, with new graphics and colours on the anodised aluminum frame and sport black wheels with white/red decals.
Evo 4T: The 300 4T (four-stroke) engine has undergone further development and now boasts a new twin-spark control unit - this ensures improved combustion to boost performance and throttle response together with a spark plug featuring a new electrode, which now protrudes further into the combustion chamber.
This gives more immediate, precise ignition, ensuring cleaner carburetion.
A larger oil pump is claimed to reduce engine braking significantly and completely eliminating the on-off effect at low revs. Moreover, the internal exhaust layout has been revised for an overall linear improvement in performance.
The suspension/ hubs cycle parts/ graphics etc have been upgraded as per the 2T as both machines feature the same basic tried and tested single backbone aluminium chassis.
Prices and availability info will be announced end of September or early October.
