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#dirtbike #offroad #sports #motorcycle Rodney Smith personally delivered our 2024 Beta 500RS a couple of weeks ago. You gotta love it when a five-time GNCC champion drops by, hands you the keys to one of the greatest dual-sport bikes on earth and just says “Have fun.”We’ve been doing our best. The Beta is an incredible bike. It’s the least bottled up of the fully certified 500cc dual-sports–even the KTM and Husky 500s can’t keep up. Two years ago, Tom Webb loved the bike so much that he purchased one for himself and he still prefers riding it over the many test bikes he has available. This year, there aren’t many changes for the Beta dual-sport line. The most noticeable one is a change in the name. It’s now called the 500RS rather than the 500RR. For 2024, the “RR” suffix refers to the dirt-only four-stroke models in Beta’s line up. Those haven’t been available for a few years, and that takes a little pressure off the street-legal models. It doesn’t have to serve two different masters. It does, however, make it difficult for Beta dealers to keep all the models on the showroom floor. As in the past, there are four dual-sport bikes that look virtually identical. The 500 shares its chassis and most of its motor with a 430, a 390 and a 350. When you ask Beta officials why they don’t thin down the herd, they say it’s like trying to decide which of your children you love the more mechanically oriented changes for 2024 include formed radiators to increase the turning sweep from lock to lock, a softer seat, a new front brake hose, new fork settings, new graphics and a redesigned taillight/license-plate holder. The 500RS has a double overhead cam motor with a six-speed gearbox. The suspension is by Sachs, the brakes are Nissin and the tires on our test bike are Maxxis. All RS models include the Trail Tech Voyager GPS unit with the ability to upload and download riding routes. Other features include a trip meter, a speedo, a tach, engine temp, outside temp and a voltmeter. This is one of the very few dual-sport bikes that doesn’t need anything. Most owners of Austrian dual-sport bikes eventually go looking for more power, and that can be difficult. It’s not like you can just install a pipe and go racing. The mapping on all the street legal bikes is very lean and the CPU is supposed to be tamper-proof. We know lots of riders who have managed to jail break their ignition systems, but the point is that you don’t have to do that with the Beta. Apparently, Beta is willing to fly closer to the sun with the stock emission settings. The bike is also a little louder than other dual-sport bikes, but still very quiet by dirt bike it is just like riding a real dirt bike. It’s reasonably light (255 pounds without fuel on our scale) and reasonably powerful. You still have to understand that this is a trail bike not a 450 race bike. You can go hill-climbing with the boys and not be shamed, but if you think you’re going to visit a motocross track, you will run out of steam quickly. Likewise, the suspension is very trail oriented. It’s great for rocky trails but is very soft and will wallow and bottom if you get carried away. The brakes are excellent and it has a super light clutch pull. We also love all the detailing. The mirrors fold out of your way, it has decent handguards and the new license plate bracket still hasn’t gotten sucked into the rear you’re one of those guys who has to modify everything he owns, suspension should be the first item on the list. Put motor work in third or fourth place. We will have the Beta side by side with the new KTM 500EXC very soon and that should be a very interesting comparison. The full test will appear in the March, Buyer’s Guide print edition of Dirt Bike. Subscribe to Dirtbike Magazine: FREE APP DOWNLOAD Apple: Android: = Amazon/kindle: Follow Dirtbike Magazine: Dirtbike Magazine Website: Dirtbike Magazine Facebook: Dirtbike Magazine Twitter: Dirtbike Magazine Instagram:
