New Guy, gonna buy a Beta

[dANbOT]

Back home from work, and I've banged out a couple more good rides on the Beta. Sure loving it! As soon as I get a rain day, or something I have a few recently arrived parts to install:
-Front and rear Tubliss kits
-AXP full coverage skid plate
-Kick start kit
The suspension has loosened up a little and feels pretty good now, and I'm starting to feel "at home" on the bike. It's nice to hit that point where you trust how the bike will react to obstacles and inputs. It really is a confidence inspiring machine. My poor butt is taking a beating from the seat though lol. Seat Concepts says my Comfort seat will be a few more weeks before it ships, can't happen soon enough!
A couple times I thought I heard my bike boiling at the start of a break... but it was the gas cap slowly venting. I popped the green valve device out of the gas cap, but then I was obviously splashing lots of fuel out of the vent hose and fuming myself out lol. Gonna look at the green valve and see if i can mod it until I get my hands on an inline check valve.

[dANbOT]

It snowed last night, and looks like biking will be shut down for a couple days, so into the shop she goes.

-I'll install the AXP full coverage skid plate.
-Tubliss kits going in both front and rear tires.
-Install Suzuki needle in carb. I have NECJ, NEDJ, NECW, and NEDW. I think I've decided to start tuning with the NECW.
-I have my kick start kit, but I'm probably saving that project for when I'm bored at work.

In other news, I had just bought and started using a new Gopro 9black... and just discovering that my computer may not have the HEVC to be able to edit the clips as I did with older Gopro's. The clips do play fine in VLC player though

[dANbOT]

Started tuning with my Suzuki needles yesterday, went well.

Installed the NECW as my best guess of the 4 needles I have. Set at clip #2 it was a little flat and lean (probably good for hot summer temps down the road?) So I dropped the clip to #3... almost perfect!
So... now I have that ultra smooth NExx needle feeling! So smooth! It's not new to me, I have run Suzuki needles on my last few bikes. It's for sure a more "boring" needle than the Beta unit, but it puts the power down so predictably!

My settings if anyone is interested:
NECW #3
165 main
38 pilot
AS 1-1/8 out
Exhaust valve - flush

yesterdays riding spot:
2500 - 4000 feet
10-15C

The full coverage AXP skid is awesome! Slides over logs so easy.
Out of curiosity, my buddy and I were comparing roughly taken measurements between my 300RR and his 2014 KTM 300XC. With similar seat and bar heights... The Beta has much more ground clearance, and it's foot pegs are higher up. Makes it feel like a smaller bike while on the pegs. In comparing the two, it was obvious how great of a job Beta did getting the exhaust, and shock linkage tucked up high out of the way.
I'm feeling more at home on her every ride, starting to charge right into obstacles with confidence.

[dANbOT]

Did some more needle tweaking.
I switched from NECW #3 to NEDW #3 (half clip richer) and I seem to have gained a slight bit more low rpm torque. Since it was such a small almost imperceptible change, I believe I'm in the sweet spot with these needles for my current conditions. I'm done messing with carb settings until the temps change to full summer, and we start riding the higher elevation areas.
I feel like I'm nearly talking to myself here lol, hopefully someone is entertained by my posts Here's some recent pics

[dANbOT]

Been banging off the singletrack miles, still rockin' the NEDW. Seat Concepts low comfort arrive the other day, very different but I think I like it. Certainly more comfortable, but I''l have to get used to the slight low spot at the front. Getting WAY back on the rear fender for super steep downhills isn't an issue at all (this was my only concern with the width of the comfort seat). Mine fits very well, with no gaps like some of the internet pics I've seen some complain about. Perhaps SC has improved on their QC.

Every hour I spend on the Beta feels more at home, I'm charging into obstacles with at least the same confidence I did with my Gasgas now, some places more. One negative difference: With the weight of my EE chainsaw mount and saw on the front fender, the Sachs forks can deflect worse than the Marzocchi on my Gasser ever did...... no big deal, the Sachs outperform the Zokes everywhere else. Loving every ride on my Beta

[Dr Z]

I love my Beta more and more as I get the suspension tuned. I changed the needle for cooler temps and we hit the trails first time for the year. I was anxious to see how the rebound separator nut would perform in the rear shock. Definitely well worth it. It took a few adjustments to the forks during the day but finally I got it dialed in really nice now! I was so in the flow on the way back I hopped a little hump in the trail and suddenly found my head and right shoulder hitting the ground. Oops! Lucky no serious injury, maybe a bruise or stretched tendon? Definitely not rotator cuff.

I went to change the needle back and the cable holder nut in the slide decided it wanted to stay put. It took needle nose pliers clamped with vice grip pliers and a little heat to get it to budge. Whew! Found the part online and I'm going to ad a dab of anti-seize on the threads this time.

I also had a major pipe rattle at the head. I knew the pipe was not lining up perfect due to previous owner abuse. I took almost 2 hours to manipulate the pipe back into perfect alignment with the muffler and head. A tweak one way would throw it out of alignment a different way. Ugh! Now I'm waiting on the new O-ring/springs to arrive as one O-ring was broken.

On a good note, I noticed the larger IMS tank price went up a lot this year. 2 dealers told me I could only order the more expensive new part number. The beta parts site had both the new and old part number tanks listed on the site. I took a chance and ordered the old part number and they actually shipped it. I believe it to be the new part. Saved me $72! Yea!

[dANbOT]

Yeah them needle holders can be frustrating to get out if they were put in tight! I tend to leave mine just snug.

I wonder if the "new part number" IMS tank is the one that's vaguely listed as for kick start bikes? I may eventually get an oversize tank one day.

[dANbOT]

So far it's been a bit of a quiet start to the season, usually I have more riding buddies. At the end of yesterday's ride I had 289KM / 16.9Hours. This is a poor representation of my time spent out on my bike, when I don't have a riding buddy I tend to throw the chainsaw on and go trail cleaning / building.

Any trail builders in here? Have you ever tried a top handle arborist saw? What a world of difference for ease of use (one handed) and this Husky T540XPII I picked up this spring is about as compact and light as a power saw can get. I'm running a 16" chain on it, plenty of power.