…then I went out solo for a day of off-road riding in November and the bike stranded me. It started the day with a dead battery which I charged up. Then the clutch feel was gone and I came back to the house an hour later and topped off the DOT 4 fluid and headed back out. The clutch feel disintegrated again and then the bike wouldn’t re-start.
Beta USA replaced the wiring harness for free and the battery even though the bike was out of warranty citing this as a known issue that the wiring harnesses were faulty in this model year. Then, we took off the clutch slave cylinder and noticed the Rekluse gasket had failed so that was replaced as well along with a new horn.
The service was completed alongside me having the bike up for sale on ADVRider. I listed it for $7,000 offers, received over 30 private messages about it and finally, a user from Utah committed to buying it after he discussed the bike’s history with my dealer.
I spent $6,900 on the bike originally, put about $1200 in service into it and another $3500 in modifications and I sold it for $7,000 just under 3 years later. No, I didn’t break even but the next user is getting a truly amazing bike.
Part of the sale comes down to the emotional break that happens when a bike strands me, another part comes down to my riding style and the Beta being too much bike for me. I can’t ride it to the fullest capabilities and I want to do longer trip and the Beta is more at home on day trips.
The next owner is getting one Hell of a bike and it won’t depreciate much at this point if well taken care of. It may need a top end at 300-400 hours if he doesn’t race it but the clutch is in great shape and the drive is all brand new, new exhaust, tires and tubes.
If I had the space for it to just sit, I’d keep it but I don’t so off it goes. I will own another Beta motorcycle some day, probably an X-Trainer or 2-Stroke but until then, this bike has a lot of memories and I’m going to miss it.