Gap Filler ?

Anyone who is into enduro bikes and has teenage kids know there’s a hole is market for “that bike”
It’s about the same time they start to eat you out of house & home when you discover there’s no bike on offer that fits their skill level, height & strength, obviously there’s exceptions for the naturally gifted or those lucky enough to score a bike not long after they could walk.

A TTR 125, spent many hours in the bush with us and provided a good amount of confidence for my son, it was easy to start, easy to pick up, easy to put both feet on the ground and bloody reliable, his skills grew and the bike seemed to shrink, this is where we were left considering what bike to move onto from here.
Taking into consideration Hard Enduro was our preference and passion, we weren’t riding flowing single track or fire-trail

Low end torque, not too heavy, not too powerful and trusty enough to take on remote tracks and all day excursions.

With the TTR put into retirement and limited choice of what was available & suitable for our purpose, there was a forced hiatus while he grew and worked long hours flipping burgers after school to help buy the new stead, ultimately a YZ 125 made it’s way into our garage.

We set it as best we could for Hard Enduro, gearing, flywheel weight and bash plate, there really wasn’t much more we could do.
The gangly 11 year old was confident while in motion on his new whip and the bike definitely taught him how to ride, the major lack of low end torque and the need for nearly maximum revs and bulk wheel spin in situations the little TTR would purr up made the YZ completely impracticable in comparison.

Interestingly the TTR would carry a full size adult up hills the YZ couldn’t.

A fantastic bike the little YZ, but it was just out of it’s depth

Fast forward a bunch of years and there’s now a bike available to fill that gap, low end torque, smooth power, doesn’t require 13,000 rpm and the associated noise & wheelspin.
What I would have given to get our hands on the Beta 125 four stroke back in the day, it would have been the perfect stepping stone from the TTR to the KTM 200 our son eventually ended up buying.

With 125cc of tractable linear power, a seat height of just 920mm could this be the perfect gap filler?

This little weapon has spiked my interest.
With the growth of Hard Enduro in Australia over the recent years, I’d love to see the Beta importer bring this to our shores, not only for Hard Enduro, it would make fantastic sedate single track bike and would be smooth enough to soak up the transport sections between the fun bits, aside from being suited to young adults who refuse to stop growing, this bike could cater to smaller ladies and gents who are not interested in riding an over powered animal.
Having said that, I’d suggest 90% of riders would struggle to put a big gap on this little powder puff in the right hands railing through some tight single on a Sunday afternoon.

More often than not, less is more!

Would you like to see this bike imported in Australia?
Leave your comments below.

For more information & technical data hit this LINK