• Hi everyone,

    As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.

    When he passed, I worked with his kids to gather the necessary credentials to keep this site running. Since then (and for however long they worked with Coffee), Woodschick and Dirtdame have been maintaining the site and covering the costs. Without their hard work and financial support, CafeHusky would have been lost.

    Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working to migrate the site to a free cloud compute instance so that Woodschick and Dirtdame no longer have to fund it. At the same time, I’ve updated the site to a current version of XenForo (the discussion software it runs on). The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.

    Unfortunately, the new software version doesn’t support importing the old site’s styles, so for now, you’ll see the XenForo default style. This may change over time.

    Coffee didn’t document the work he did on the site, so I’ve been digging through the old setup to understand how everything was running. There may still be things I’ve missed. One known issue is that email functionality is not yet working on the new site, but I hope to resolve this over time.

    Thanks for your patience and support!

'17 300 potential problem

A potential maintenance problem (Maintainers beware) not an engineering issue. I always layout my screws in order. also a good method is to use the parts sheet for the area you are working and verify the parts you are putting on. P/Ns for screws mostly have numerical indicators to the length in the P/N.
In this case no worry 3 different P/Ns with the odd long 1 and the other 2 longer ones then the short ones, fool proof.
 
OK other potential KTM issues are super thin chassis/frames and clutch cases to save weight that bend, break or crack way too easily. With KTM of today you are buying a bike that has been developed without sufficient capacity to take hits that can occur on the trail without a real potential for major or structural damage.
I see this all too often in the mountains where I live. This is why my big bike is now a Beta 480. My 310's are pre KTM and are bullet proof and great single track bikes. Both the Husky and Beta are more durable imho.
 
The 2018 Beta RR-S models look interesting. I'm having a tough time choosing between 350, 390, 430 and 480 to compliment my 310.
 
I love the Betas but I wish they would come out with full size versions soon. The crf 230 sized bikes don't fit me. But I digress
 
If you have a 310 then opt for a 430 or 480. The 430 is more revvy and racey the 480 more torquey and imho the easier to ride.
 
Ive ridden a bunch of betas 2T and 4T they really don't feel any or much smaller than the other brands.....the Xtrainer yes of course, but I mean if you read the specs the heights are simply on the low side of seat height but not drastic.
Our height challenged 300RR rider crew member (the French guy) has his seat shaved to aid in dabbing , but he is still challenged as far as that goes 5'-6" ft expert level amateur rider/racer. So do the measurements by the factory spec all the full sized bikes are very close in range in all the measurments.
 
Quick view
TX300 wheelbase 1485mm/58.5"
Seat 960mm/37.8"
300RR wheelbase 58.3"
Seat 36.6"

1 inch lower seat height at best....but that doesnt take into account of seat width either, which can throw off the dab-abilty as well, which I have no idea what that may be. without getting the tape measure out and comparing shape and width.
 
One inch is a substantial difference imho. It can be the difference between balls of feet touch down and or a full foot plant.. I too ride other bikes. The Beta is materially lower than my Husky 310's, my mates 2016 500exc my brothers 2016 Sherco 450 and my sons 2016 WR 450. It also feel lighter and more flickable. Just saying.
 
I vaguely recall reading that KTM lowered their enduro bikes somehwere around 3/4 to 1 inch in 2016 or 2017. My TX300 with factory low seat is way easier to get a foot down with than my WR300 was. The WR300 also had an upwards slant from front to back, the back being much higher than the middle of the seat. Whereas both the new KTM/Husky and Beta are much more level. So, getting over the back of the bike, for instance, and doing small pivot turns is so easy now. I couldn't even touch the ground on my WR in that scenario - even after I shaved a healthy amount of foam off my seat.

I spent some time in the beta dealer standing and sitting on the 300 RR and XTrainer. Neither of them were as short as the specs make them sound. The ergos on the stock betas were good, but, for me @ 6'1" tall with a 31" (short) inseam, the ergos on the TX300 were better. And the better suspension on the TX clinched it for me.
 
ghte said:
OK other potential KTM issues are super thin chassis/frames and clutch cases to save weight that bend, break or crack way too easily. With KTM of today you are buying a bike that has been developed without sufficient capacity to take hits that can occur on the trail without a real potential for major or structural damage.
I see this all too often in the mountains where I live. This is why my big bike is now a Beta 480. My 310's are pre KTM and are bullet proof and great single track bikes. Both the Husky and Beta are more durable imho.
Click to expand...
I disagree...say what you want. The KTM/husky of today is a refined masterpiece... And super light... A game changer and sets the standards for all other bikes to follow...talk to a good husky shop that sold red bikes and the new ones they will tell you the new one are superior and better then the old ones.. While I loved my 09-14 red 125s and 144s and xlite chassis I have moved on...had a beta. Not a bad bike at all...just kind of heavy.. All the euro specific crap on the bike adds weight...and yes with the husky being lighter you will ride faster and crash less I assure you....17s seat probably 1/2 to 3/4 lower then my 15...bike is a winner...ride a two stroke 250 then jump on a vibrating beta 250....no thanks!
 
Look at the reviews /comparisons between the Husky 501 and Beta 500. Great video with strong support for both bikes with the Beta just shaving it. Please note I still have Huskies and have had so since the 90's. I ride a lot of mates KTM's and in my humble opinion they are over priced and somewhat fragile. Anyhow different opinions are a good and healthy thing.
 
I had a 16 rr250 beta and a 17 husky 250...together...beta absolutely no smaller at all... With the factory low seat on a husky at 5' 7" bike feels fine ...the old red huskys were stupid tall... For no reason..and Italians are kind of short..
 
Looks as though Beta is using cable clutches for the 2018s. Today doing the Alpine Loop passes my bike was boiling all fluids. No fails except for clutch going away and needing 60 seconds shut down time. In the case of the Xlite 310 with the lack of tank clearance, heat is affecting things... All fluids. The Beta cable clutch solves that one issue. If the tank clearances and hose routing better, might just be a good option. Nice we have options.

RR-S%20RH%20front-LR.jpg
 
I have 99.9999999% thought that there is no way The Second premier Euro bike builder Beta- is going to cable clutches on the comp models.

As for the red head Italian Huskys, under tank insulation tape (CV4 or other) is a good start to aid in heat insulation, tank spacers (ZTR or simply a stack of washers epoxied together or other spacers that fit and work) help as well, also insulation wrap around fuel lines and exhaust header and pipes help too. I had vapor lock issues on mine and found using high quality fuel along with any and all insulation ideas helped, Evans non aqueous coolant and a robust cooling system helped as well. Just looked at the Beta 18 model sheets all are Hydro clutches, the Euros are not going back to cables you can bank on that.
A manual fan switch is not a bad idea either, or a lower temp fan thermo switch can be a good thing as well.
also for the TE models ...they are very lean in oem form if tuned fatter they run alittle cooler as well.
 
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