ADB's Stephen Tuff gives us an update on where he's at with the Beta 390 Racing after three months swinging off it.
I picked up where I left off last month and found the time to give the 390 Racing an oil change and air-filter service. Neither are difficult to perform and it’s reassuring knowing you have fresh oil and clean air in your bike.
I am using the Liqui Moly 4T Synth 10W-50 that is recommended by Beta and I see no reason to use anything else. The Liqui Moly Foam Filter Oil is easy to massage into the air-filter and washes out with ease when it is time to perform that job. Although, cleaning air-filters is something I am going to have to start teaching my boy to do because it is one of my least favorite bike maintenance jobs.
I managed two rides this month, both back out at PBI Ride Farm. Like a lot of riders I am much more comfortable with eft-hand turns than I am with right-hand. I was concentrating on brushing up my skills rather than pounding laps as fast as I can, and the time at PBI allows me to focus on the little things. I don’t ride often enough to make many if any, improvements in my riding technique, but it doesn’t stop me from thinking about it and practicing some drills.
The other thing I got to concentrate on was how the 390 was behaving in corners. I followed a mate and found he was riding through the turns with more ease than I was, so I whipped out the screwdriver and backed off the rebound on the fork by one click and backed off the rebound and low-speed compression on the shock by two clicks. What I got was a noticeable change. The Beta seems to corner better and soak up small bumps without unsettling things and this has improved my confidence.
I feel more planted and can feed in more throttle and I just love how sensitive this KYB fork and shock combination is on this bike. I really feel I have a great setup now and although a tad soft for the motocross tracks I think it will be great on the trails. I now need to find a day to test this out. I am itching to get out in the bush follow a network of trails and just ride.
What has failed on this bike? Nothing at all. However, a mate parked my bike for me and without realizing the side-stand rubber was attached, he stamped his big hoof down to put the stand on the ground and snapped the rubber. Bloody boof-headed bastard.It’s not a big deal but I do like securing the side-stand in the up-position when I am riding, especially on rough and jumpy terrain like a motocross track.
After 12-hours of ride time all of the high-wear parts like chain and sprockets and the brake pads are all in really good condition. A super-muddy day on the trails might make an impact on these parts but so far, so good. The hand grips still have plenty of meat on them and remain where they should so no complaints there either.
Hopefully next issue I have a good trail riding story for you all.