Is 350 the perfect two-stroke size? | Beta 350 RX Test

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:18]Welcome everyone to Vital MX. I'm Steven Takarski, product editor at large here.

[00:00:23]And today we have a first impression on the brand new 2026 Beta 350 two-stroke motocross model. Now they've had the 300cc for a couple years now and now they've revamped that and brought it into kind of replacing that with the 350cc two-stroke machine. We spent some time on the 300. Did a first impression video on that. We also did a uh a comparison of the KTM verse the uh Beta 300 machine. So now we have a good feeling of those machines and now they've come out with this brand new machine and we got to spend some laps today and see what does this do we need more power from this machine? Is 300 enough? Do is 350 perfect? Is it too much? Is it too little? still where does this thing fit into the category of bigger bore two-stroke machines and I think uh it's very interesting how they went about this they helped they had development on the 450 beta motocross machine took that chassis and then built this around that some differences from the 300 to the 350 are obviously engine cases bore and stroke are a little different from uh increased bor and stroke 78 mm bore 76 6 73.6 stroke. A dual spark plug system on this to uh help with combustion and power feeling. Ken carb, gallon and a half tank. I really like the clear tank since I could see the gas. Electric start, Brembo hydro clutch, aluminum subframe.

[00:02:02]This thing weighs 220 lbs with no fuel.

[00:02:05]So lightweight machine and just uh we're trying to figure out at what level do we need more power and is it enough? Where are we getting this at? So a complaint of mine with a 300 versus the KTM 300 was a little bit of engine power. It was a little flat up top, not as exciting down uh mid to low to mid verse the KTM.

[00:02:31]So, one of the biggest complaints and something I wanted more out of that Beta 300 was some power. So, Beta like that snapped their fingers few months later and now we have a 350cc bike here. So, what is it like to ride this 350cc machine on the track?

[00:02:52]We find out today here at Fox Raceway.

[00:02:55]Great day for testing. Good conditions.

[00:02:58]um middle of the winter, so can't believe it's 80° out here. You got to love California. Um can't beat the weather. So, overall, I was really impressed with this machine. Kind of had some expectations going in versus riding the 300's back a few months ago, and I spent a little more time on them. So, had some come uh some good time on the machines getting into this. And I was really impressed with the engine power increase that I get mostly in the mid RPM range. I feel like uh the 300 had good low to mid power, but was really flat on top. This seems to be like they took a little bit of where that all that mid power was and stretched it out a little bit. Um, it feels a lot better up top. That was my number one complaint.

[00:03:49]The 300. Very flat up top. Had to short shift this machine a lot. Feels a little uh more linear at high RPMs on this machine. I can rev it out a little farther. I don't have to grab a gear at a lower RPMs now. Very easy to control the RPMs. I have great low RPM torque feeling and response. Um, I can come into corners and third gear, roll third gear, lug third gear in some of these corners and be very lazy with my shifting and my RPM controls with the power and torque that comes on this.

[00:04:24]Very clean running overall. Um, jetting car, you have a key carburetor, so I appreciate that you can do adjustments if you need it, unlike the EFI KTM. But overall, very smooth power. I'd say strong but smooth and linear. Um, I wish I had a little more as good as the low RPM torque and power are. I feel like I lost a little bit of that first touch response and power feeling that the 300 has. Um, now it's moved a little farther up. So, not a big negative, but I would enjoy a little more low RPM power. But I did gain more top power and more overrev feeling. So, it's a give and take with that. I did notice it was easier to ride because it had a little more mid power feeling. It was a little more exciting.

[00:05:20]Um, but with it being more exciting and more linear, it it's very close in power pull feeling verse the 300 for me. Um, my main only really negative of the engine for me is I had a little bit of carbburation hesitation when I like impact hesitation. If I landed off a jump, high RPM on throttle, there would be just a quick little boop, just a little boop. And that happened more when the bike was uh the machine had gotten hot.

[00:05:54]>> So, when I'd first go out, I wouldn't feel as much. But when I'd start to ride it more, get the heat up in the machine, uh, these sensations would happen a little more often. So, not a big deal, not a deal breaker, but did make me ride with a little bit of hesitation in some of these Gout out sections because of the little bit of carbburation hesitation. Now, maybe if we had um some jets, some old school jets, you know, we could have done some jetting, but we were stuck with what we had today.

[00:06:26]It was almost to the point where I wanted to mess with it, but it wasn't that big of a deal. So, it was okay to ride with. But just a little little comment for me on what uh was the only negative for the engine. Suspension comes with the KYB 48mm closed cartridge fork, 50 mm KYB shock body. Now, I've spent a ton of time on KYB stuff developing Yamaha stuff for eight years, and I know how good they get match their comfort and performance. So, I expected high things of the suspension today. And uh I was pretty satisfied overall. They did a great job of having great beginning stroke comfort and small bump absorption. Um very pretty good level ride attitude. felt like I had great comfort and performance on the front fork and shock beginning to mid-stroke.

[00:07:22]Um, it did feel a little front high at the beginning, rear low feeling exiting corners on throttle. So, I did adjust the forks. We went 2 mm down or higher in the forks. Raised the forks too just to get a little more level ride attitude. A little easier for me to corner area three. And then that just made the rear feel a little more balanced because uh at the beginning I felt like rear shock was slightly overpowering the front. The front felt a little soft and the rear shock felt like a little stiffer versus the fork. So I did do some adjustments. Made the front fork three clicks softer on compression and three slower. kind of just get a little more hold up and a little calmer feeling mid to endstroke. Because of that, I um had a little empty damping feeling endstroke on this front fork. It was easy to blow through the stroke and bottom this thing. So, a couple clickers really helped that, but then I felt like I needed a little adjustment to the shock as well as the shock was feeling a little soft after that. So, I went two clicks stiffer on low speed compression.

[00:08:35]I went a quarter turn in on high speed and then went two clicks slower on rebound just to kind of get a little more calm feeling mid to end stroke, a little more highload bump absorption.

[00:08:48]And these changes really made this machine feel a lot better, a little more stable in the bumps, better high load bump absorption, uh, stability, and just a calmer character from this machine.

[00:09:00]while still having good beginning stroke light load comfort. So, I was really happy with suspension overall. They did a good job of just making a a wellbalanced machine that I feel like could suit a wide range of riders just going off a couple clicker changes.

[00:09:19]Chassis on this machine, we have a chromali steel chassis with an aluminum subframe.

[00:09:25]I have had some negativity versus the steel chassis in the past. And then even riding this chassis versus the KTM 300 chassis, feel like I still had a little more uh busy feeling, a little more uh just the in the bumps it moves a little more and just not as stable and calm.

[00:09:47]With the 350, I still feel like I I could get a little more comfort out of this chassis high load situation, but I was impressed with uh small to medium bumps. It felt really good, very stable, accepted bumps well. Um I just feel like I could use a little more of that stability at high load situations.

[00:10:09]Machine weighs in 220 lbs of no feel. It feels super lightweight on the track. um has a lot. It has no engine braking. I had to get used to that. I've been riding four strokes for a bit lately.

[00:10:21]This thing has zero engine braking, which I really like. Makes it really easy to carry your momentum through the corners. There's some deep ruts that just makes it a little easier to roll your momentum through. So, lightweight chassis feeling.

[00:10:35]Um this thing does come stock with Maxis tires, but we have been blessed with some Bridgestones on this instead. So that was one of my main main gripes is the Maxis are for me very difficult to get a good contact feel and I can lose traction easily on that machine. These Bridgestone tires have improved that. So I have a little more stability in the dry flatter sections, a little more uh contact patch at lean angle and just a little easier to ride for me. Gives me a little more confidence. hydro clutch on this, the Brembo hydro clutch feels very good. I had to adjust it out pretty far.

[00:11:17]Uh the lever, which is very super easy to adjust, but with it adjusted in the middle, I I felt like I was pulling it in and still had a little bit of creek feeling. So, just move your lever out a little farther and that'll give your window of disengagement to engagement a little farther out. A little easier to control the RPMs. Not that you need it much with this machine though because it is very easy to ride. Lug ability. Um, controllability, RPM controllability is very good on this machine. I feel like there's a wide range of riders, vet riders, pro riders, lower skilled riders that will enjoy this two-stroke. If you're looking for a if you want to get back to that nostalgia of motocross, which is the two-stroke engine, the premix fuel, but you enjoy that 450 lazy, easy to ride character, this is going to be a great machine for you to try out just because of a it doesn't have that difficult RPM controllability that some two-strokes have where the the power band kicks up really quick during the mid RPM. It's a very linear feel that's easy to ride and makes it very enjoyable for someone that's uh not trying to struggle with those RPMs as much. And just a couple of few other things that stood out to me on this machine. You can't beat the looks of this Beta. You know, it looks amazing.

[00:12:40]The red, white, and blue, it stands out in the crowd. There's always people coming up to you asking you what it's like. Looks really good. So kudos to Beta doing something a little different than all the other manufacturers out there. I still question the orange frame guard though.

[00:12:59]It's red and orange. I don't It kind of makes it pop more, but I just It doesn't match. It's a weird thing that bugs me, my OCD. But uh it is cool to see the frame guards easily easily replaceable so your frames don't get messed up.

[00:13:14]Um, the handlebars for me, they are a little wide and and straight. These are probably the widest handlebars of any bars on the market right now. Especially going back to back when we did the 300 KTM versus Beta. You have you could clearly notice how much shorter they are. And it gave me a little arm pump and just felt like a wide feel to me.

[00:13:37]So, I would enjoy maybe cutting down my bars or getting a little more narrow bars. Um, the grips, they feel good on your when you're holding them, but as you can see, I got a little, as we call yama thumb, but I don't know what we call it for the beta, but a little bit of rubbing on the the inner rubber piece that just gives me a little bit of blisters, but nothing too bad. So, yeah, we spent the day on this thing. only rode this today. We want to get the 250. They have a allne 250cc beta. We want to grab that machine, compare it to this machine, and also I want to get the YZ 250 and maybe KTM 300 250 and put these all together and see backto back what bike is the best out there right now for big board two-stroke. Uh tough to say exactly is this better, worse than the 300. I think it's a little better. It's tough for me to give you a confident answer on that because I haven't rode them back to back on the same track same day, but just my recent memory of the 300. This machine has better power, more linear, easier to ride, um, better suspension settings, and just a well-rounded package that Beta has come out with. And it's a very fun, exciting bike to ride and gives you that great nostalgia that the old two-strokes do. So, if you have any questions, comments on this machine, want to see us test it against something else, want to throw some aftermarket parts on it, please throw that in the comment section below. And always like, subscribe, and we'll see you on the next one.