Beta 1989 – 2019
Where does 30 years of your life go? Just ask John Lampkin, the official importer of the Italian Beta trials motorcycles. During this time, he has witnessed the evolution of the company and its machines that has produced so many great models along this exciting journey. Times were changing in the world of motorcycle trials in 1989, as the air-cooled world of a generation of models was wiped out overnight with the arrival of the water-cooled era that evolved into the present-day machines. How much have the machines really changed, we ask, as we delve ‘back to the future’. One of the first riders to sample the delights of the Italian motorcycles in the late 80s was Wayne Braybrook. We invited him along to sample both the 1989 and 2019 Betas to see what had changed in 30 years of development in the trials world. Before we sample the machines, we take a ‘Quick Spin’ through the archives to look at the arrival in the trials world of the Beta trials motorcycles.
John Lampkin: Beta Importer
The adventure for John Lampkin and the Beta connection goes back to April 1987, when he imported the first ten new 260cc TR34 models. The son of the off-road legend, Arthur Lampkin, John had a very successful trials career riding supported machines from Bultaco, SWM, Armstrong/CCM and Fantic, which included a World round win in America and a fifth place overall in the world riding Fantic machines in 1984. A regular National trials winner, he was the runner-up to Steve Saunders in the British Championship, pushing him all the way on many occasions and losing out a few times by only a few points.
Financial problems at Fantic gave him a change of direction back to Armstrong in 1985, before he moved to Fantic once again for the 1986 season. Having just won the Jack Wood British Championship Trial and finished fourth in his last World Championship trial in Italy, a road traffic accident forced him to quit his championship ambitions forever due to the nature of the injuries.
A change of direction was required and, Needing a full year off his machine, he became the Beta UK importer for the Italian machines while still recovering from his injuries.
The introduction to Beta was made when he travelled to the opening World Championship events in early 1987, held in Spain and Belgium with his good friend Steve Saunders. Henry Keppell was John’s former team manager at Fantic before a move to Beta. He had started to make a big push into the trials market with Spaniard Jordi Tarres and the new TR33 model.
A factory visit in Italy endorsed his decision. Such was the enthusiasm of the management and workforce, there was no hesitation to become the new official UK importer. He negotiated the deal with Giuseppe Bianchi at Beta before terminating his Fantic contract with the UK importer Roy Carey, who fully supported his decision.
A winning start
He put together a small team of riders and headed off to the SSDT in May 1987 with his brother David, Steven Hole, and Mark Jackson on UK-supported machinery. They all finished
the tough event reporting no problems with the new Beta TR34 model. John knew he was on to something good when Jordi Tarres won the event!
The buying public liked the look of the new Beta. The success at the Scottish Six Days Trial added the much-appreciated publicity. As June arrived, he had 40 of the machines on UK shores.
The pin that was inserted into his thigh after the accident restricted his movement. It was removed in June which then reopened the door to competitive trials. On the 5th August 1987, John celebrated his return with a win at a local centre trial on the Beta. Working hard to return to full fitness he was rewarded by winning the White Rose national trial, his second event back after his accident. By December he had imported 100 of the TR34 model machines – the road to success had begun. So how did we arrive at the Beta TR34? Here we take a quick look at the road to success for Beta as a trials manufacturer.
Beta Trials 1979–1989
Beta looked towards Spain to employ their specialised workers from the trials industry. In 1980 and 1981 Spain’s Pedro Olle scored points on a Montesa in the World Trials Championship. Through their connections with the suspension supplier Betor, they made contact with him. He was offered an exciting opportunity to move to the Italian Beta brand to help develop a production trials motorcycle to compete for world championship success. He took the gamble. Also employed to develop the new trials models was Fabrizio Guidotti and Arrigo Tosi, two highly experienced workers. The manufacture of motorcycles in Spain was going through a difficult financial period, and in the trials world we had seen both Fantic and SWM enjoy success, so why not Beta? They were well established in the Enduro and Moto-Cross world and the large-volume production of smallcapacity machines and mopeds before the move to trials models.
1979: The first trials model produced into the Beta family was the 50 TR, which was presented at the Milan Show at the end of 1979. It used an engine from the enduro model.
1980: At the Italian Bologna Motor Show the 125 TR was also introduced.
1981–1982: With some interest in the TR trials models and the arrival of Pedro Olle as a development rider, the decision was made in 1982 to increase the engine capacity from 125cc to 240cc.
1983: In 1983 production of the motocross models ceased, and the focus was moved across to the trials market. Pedro Olle scored the first Beta FIM world points in Great Britain, finishing 13th, but behind closed doors, work had started on a new mono-shock trials model. Towards the end of 1983, a new young rider was starting to impress on the TR32 125cc: that rider was Spain’s Jordi Tarres.
1984: The TR32 and TR33 mono-shock prototype models were now under development in the capable hands of Pedro Olle, Pascal Couturier and Jordi Tarres.
1985: It was now very much a case of developing the new-generation models around the exciting riding style of Tarres, as he took his first FIM World Championship points on the TR32 at the beginning of the year in Spain, finishing 13th. He ended the year in 11th overall, with the best result in Czechoslovakia at the year’s end being a superb fifth position. The ongoing work on his machine included the fitting of disc brakes at the front and rear. Located on the top of the aluminium swinging arm the rear brake calliper was, in particular, very effective. In the engine department it was now rumoured to have the engine capacity increased from 240cc to 260cc, and to further increase power delivery Reed Valve Induction was used. The final prototype of the TR33, which was a direct development of the TR32, was displayed at the Milan Show in Italy at the end of the year. 1986: As February arrived so did the new Beta TR33 at the importer Jim Sandiford Motorcycles, priced at £1,575.00 including VAT. The 240cc engine capacity was retained but, in a production first for a trials motorcycle, it came with front and rear disc brakes. Attracting much attention, the rider and machine combination of Jordi Tarres and the Beta became the ones to beat at the out-of-season indoor trials. The Spanish rider was making heads turn in the FIM World Championship. He was quite rightly rewarded with his first World round win in the USA, and on his way to fourth overall at the close of the season in the championship standings.
1987: This would be the year when Beta made its mark in the world of motorcycle trials. Riding the new Beta TR34, Tarres stopped the French World Champion, Thierry Michaud on the Fantic, from taking his third consecutive world title. Riding in a two-man team with Italian Renato Chiaberto on this new model it was a fantastic year. The TR34 they rode featured the cylinder capacity increase to 260cc, dual-stage Reed Valve Induction and electronic ignition. It had a new design tubular steel frame with an easily detachable aluminium rear sub-frame to help with access for maintenance to the new air-filter box. The front suspension was the latest from Marzocchi, with nylon bushes to reduce friction. At the rear, a new single shock absorber was introduced to lower the centre of gravity with remote damper adjustment. As with the other manufacturers, the tubeless tyres started to appear with the approved Michelin X1 model. In the UK the Beta TR34 was priced at £2,199.00
1988: Launched at a two-day stadium trial in Japan in late 1987, the new 1988 TR34 ‘Replica’ model sported a gold anodised engine and wheel hubs. In the UK a young a Wayne Braybrook ‘debuted’ the machine at the Northern Experts in the December of 1987. It was a case of implementing small improvements to the machine, which included the latest Marzocchi front forks and stainless steel disc rotors. To once again give a better and increased power delivery, an oval-shaped Dellorto carburettor was fitted to minimise frictional loss of fuel delivery. A close, intense fight for the world title was played out between the defending champion Jordi Tarres (BetaESP) and Thierry Michaud (Fantic-FRA) which at the final round went in Michaud’s favour by just five points.
1989: Beta wanted the world title back. They put the new model higher specification Beta 260cc TR34 Campionato into production, and it looked and was a winner. Nicknamed the ‘Stripy’ with its vibrant colour scheme, both the engine and suspension had been further improved. A new crankshaft was fitted to eliminate vibration, and the whole engine was two inches narrower. It was achieved by fitting a thinner flywheel with a larger diameter, weighted on its circumference for sharper response. The clutch diameter had also been increased to give a lighter, sharper feel and the cover was now easily detachable.
Further improvements were also made to the oval Dellorto carburettor. Marzocchi M1 forks were fitted at the front, and, at the rear, the suspension was looked after by a Corte Cosso fully adjustable rear shock. Other changes included the move to fully floating front and rear discs, a new rear wheel hub and a stronger and lighter rear aluminium subframe. Beta had a five-man team on this new model in the FIM World Championships who would all finish in the top 15. The team was made up of Jordi Tarres (ITA) who won, Phillipe Berlatier (FRA) 7th, Peter Jahn (SWE) 9th, Thierry Girard (FRA) 12th and Renato Chiaberto (ITA) 13th. As we know, Jordi Tarres tasted defeat at the two opening world rounds of the 1989 series in Great Britain and Ireland before Beta rolled out its revolutionary water-cooled aluminium-framed prototype Zero at the Scottish Six Days Trial in the May. While the rest of the team remained with the TR34, this innovative new machine carried Tarres to the world title as he was not defeated all season, and the face of motorcycle trials changed forever.
1989–2019: what’s new? Now that’s a fair question. You may well ask what has actually changed at Beta in recent years. The most significant change for their trials machines was the one from a tubular steel frame to an aluminium frame in 1990, which has been evolved into what it is today. Housing a compact two-stroke, single-cylinder, water-cooled engine, but with the advance of materials and electronics, we arrive at a machine that is physically smaller and with a weight loss of close on 10kg.
The engine performance has increased with the development of closer tolerances offering less friction combined with very modern lubricants and coolants. In turn, it stabilises the engine temperature to a level where it can always perform at its optimum. Old cable-operated controls have been replaced with hydraulic hoses, once again offering more reliability. Refined production methods have made for a betterquality product as quality control can be more sustained.
The development in electronics offering variable power curves has been a bonus in the constant quest for the change from aggressive to linear power delivery. Closer operating tolerances in suspension components have allowed them to operate more smoothly and become more adjustable. The quality of components has also made them more reliable. Despite the compact size of the modern two-stroke, ease of everyday maintenance has made them more reliable.
The Beta 300cc Evo MY 2019
First and foremost, it comes with a good solid reputation for build quality and reliability. John Lampkin boasts, quite rightly, in his adverts that in the 2018 Scottish Six Days Trial, he had 98 Betas in the trial with only three retirements! The liquid-cooled, single-cylinder two-stroke has a cylinder with new exhaust port geometry for 2019 and new timing curves, designed to improve engine control at small throttle openings right at the ‘bottom end’ and to help stabilise power delivery.
A new CDI control unit helps rider performance even
further, with dedicated mapping fitted. In the engine, the new gear selector cam has been fitted, which was designed and used in the earlier ‘Factory’ models to provide a more positive feel and cleaner gear selection.
The evolution of the models has moved from wanting outright power over the years to learning how to make this performance more suited to the rider, and this also includes the suspension setup.
This 2019 model uses new rear shock absorber port geometry which is now higher and more progressive; in turn, gives increased suspension sensitivity and progression feedback to the rider. The new piston generates decidedly more grip, making it more forgiving in the event of rider error. A new pump on the mechanical side of the front fork ensures more progressive impact absorption. Attention to detail includes the aluminium swingingarm where a new chain tensioner offers a better adjustment range while making adjustments easier. The red and black graphics finish off the package, giving it a very modern aesthetic appearance.
JOHN LAMPKIN 1989–2019: “By the time we arrived at 1989, I was back riding regularly in trials, and the Beta brand in the UK was well established and, most importantly, growing!”
WAYNE BRAYBROOK 1989–2019: “Off the back of a successful schoolboy career, I had moved into the adult world on a mono-shock Yamaha.”