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Dirt Bike Magazine - Best selling off road motorcycle magazine

T he Beta 350RR is a bike that’s easy to overlook and hard to understand. It gets lost in a myriad of models that seem almost identical. First of all, it looks like any one of Beta’s four dual-sport bikes. It’s not the same. It also looks like the 390RR, 430RR and 480RR. It’s not the same as those, either. And, it’s not the same as Beta’s 4 four-stroke Race Editions. The 2023 350RR is its own entity unlike anything else that the company makes. For that matter, it’s not like any other bike from anyone else.

First of all, it’s important to understand what the 350RR is and isn’t. This is a dedicated off-road bike sold under the tag that bureaucrats call a closed-course competition bike. That means it has no dual-sport equipment, no emissions hardware and doesn’t officially meet any federal sound standard. It’s a trail bike, not a motocrosser and not even a cross-country bike. The reason for all the confusion is Beta’s philosophy of getting the most out of its designs. All of its four-stroke motors use the same external architecture, meaning there are 12 models that appear to have the same exact motor. They aren’t the same, though. Each is tailored to a very specific purpose. The displacement, state of tune and equipment vary for different applications. As the smallest in the family, the 350 is designed for the tightest trails and the most technical riding. It’s also important to understand that the 350RR was never designed as direct competition for any of Austria’s 350s. The KTM, Husqvarna and GasGas 350s are all either hard-core race bikes or dual-sport bikes. None of them fall into exactly the same category as this particular Beta.

It’s fairly impressive that the Beta motor is so well designed that it can be the platform for so many different models. This is a double-overhead-cam motor with dual-injector fuel injection and electric start. It still has a place to install a back-up kick-start lever, but we have never known anyone who actually did that. The starter is reliable, the lithium battery has good capacity, and even if you show up with a dead battery and use jumper cables, it charges up on its own in a very short period.

The clutch uses a diaphragm spring and hydraulic actuation through Brembo master and slave cylinders. The brakes, on the other hand, are Nissin. The most unusual components that Beta uses are the fork and shock, which are supplied by Sachs. The fork is an open-cartridge design with split functions for compression and rebound, as well as spring preload. Sachs is actually a very large manufacturer of suspension components, and yes, it is the same company that once made complete motorcycles.

For 2023, the 350RR is technically a new model, although it’s very similar to the 350RR-S dual-sport bike from last year. One feature that’s new for Beta across the four-stroke line is traction control. It’s activated by a little switch in front of the fuel filler. Two maps are also available on that same switch. The aggressive map is indicated by a little sun icon and the mild map has a rain cloud. The bike has a few remnants from its dual-sport heritage. There are nonfunctional switches for a horn, blinkers and a high/low beam. The components themselves have been stripped off to save weight, although it still has a non-DOT approved taillight and headlight. The muffler still is stamped with the same official verbiage as the street-legal version. Clearly, Beta can supply its customers with all the DOT equipment to license the bike in many states. We weighed the bike in stock configuration; it’s 245 pounds without fuel.

When you ride the 350RR, it’s quite clear what Beta has in mind for this bike. It’s a true trail bike. The power is smooth and linear, and it can carry each gear for a long time by pulling cleanly from the bottom all the way up to well over 10,000 rpm. There’s no hit anywhere along the way; just smooth, steady power. In terms of outright acceleration, the 350 is nothing special. Most 250F off-road race bikes will outrun it easily. What the Beta offers is smooth low-end power and ease of use. The powerband is so wide that you can pick any gear and stay there for long sections of trail. It’s only when you switch your head into race mode that you have to scream the bike. To ride the 350 aggressively, you have to rev it like you’re trying to punish it. It’s okay; the motor can take it, and the 6-speed gearbox actually has tightly spaced ratios that allow you to shift without dropping the R’s too far. Even when you’re in the rev limiter’s playground, the 350 will still struggle to keep up with more aggressive off-road bikes. Its roots from the dual-sport are easy to see. Traction control and the rain-cloud map aren’t that useful unless you’re dealing with truly atrocious conditions. In the standard map, the 350 already hooks up and finds good traction.

The bike’s trail orientation is also clear from the suspension setup. The Beta is soft and plush. It’s perfect for rocks and tight trail riding. When you have to deal with whoops or higher speeds, the stock settings are much too soft for riders of average weight, say over 150 pounds. We definitely like having so much suspension adjustability. The right fork leg has a preload clicker that can give you a measure of flexibility. That leg also has the compression adjuster, while the rebound is on the left. If you ride hard and incrementally increase all the clickers, though, you’ll run out of adjustment long before you make the Beta into a race bike.

If you stay within the 350RR’s comfort zone, everyone is happier. The bike purrs without pops, glitches or hiccups. It’s also wonderfully quiet. The brakes are strong, the clutch pull is light and we’re big fans of all of Beta’s standard features, like its push-button seat removal and side-access airbox. There are only a few things that most trail riders would still want. One is a softer seat. Another is a radiator fan. This isn’t an inexpensive bike, and you shouldn’t need to stock up with aftermarket items when you leave the dealer.

Beta has made a name for itself by carving out new market segments where none existed previously. That’s clearly why the 350RR is offered. It overlaps the 350RR-S dual-sport bike somewhat but sells for $1000 less at $10,499. The real reason that Beta offers so many models is because they want to match up the right rider with exactly the right bike. Figuring out whether or not you’re that rider is most of the battle. 

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