Recently sold my 2013 HONDA CRF250L and purchased a 2021 Beta Xtrainer 2-Stroke. While the CRF250L served me well, it was a bit on the porky side at 315 pounds and I was rarely doing any street riding with it. Loading and unloading into the back of my F350 was a chore that we never looked forward too. For a bike you ride to the trails, its great especially after some of the upgrades we did to it including Pirelli MT21 tires, rear shock re-valved by Pro Tech in Utah, and Racetech secondary fork spring. My last ride with it was some pretty rocky trails near Ruidoso, New Mexico and it handled it really well. If I had room for 2 bikes I would have kept it, but we are full-time RVing so only room for 1 bike!
Enter the Beta Xtrainer! The Xtrainer frame is about 90% smaller than most full-size trail bikes. This is ideal for someone like me who is 5′ 7 with a shorter inseam. It has a seat height of 35.8” vs 36.6” for Beta’s other 2T models.
2021 Beta Xtrainer Chassis Specs
Frame: Molybdenum steel/Parameter-Style w/quick air filter access
Wheelbase: 57.8
Seat Height: 35.8”
Ground Clearance: 12.6”
Footrest Height: 15.4
Dry Weight: 218 lbs. (wet weight, no fuel)
Fuel Tank Capacity: 2.25 US gallons
Front Suspension: 43 mm Inverted with rebound, & spring preload adjustment
Rear Suspension: Steel body shock with adjustable rebound and compression
Front Wheel Travel: 10.6”
Rear Wheel Travel: 10.6”
Front Brake: 260mm floating rotor
Rear Brake: 240mm rotor
Front/Rear Rim: 21” (Front) 18” (Rear)
This is my first 2-stroke and I think the Xtrainer is a great transition bike for people like me. It is tuned down a bit in the mid to upper range but has gobs of torque on the low end making it very luggable. I’m a lazy shifter and like to lug. There are a few easy ways you can “wake” this bike up a bit my removing the plastic air-box cover, putting on a different pipe and removing the power valve spacer.
At 218 pounds, the Xtrainer is about 100 pounds lighter than my previous CRF250L. This make such a massive difference on the trails and doesn’t beat my body up as much(I am 50 year young.) This also make loading and unloading the bike almost as easy as my son’s Honda CRF150RB which is only about 189 pounds.
I’ve only had about 3 rides on the Xtrainer and like everything about it except for the front suspension. There is way too much brake dive and too much deflection. I had this issue with the CRF250L and solved it by installing the Racetech secondary fork spring (CRF250Ls also only come with 1 fork spring). I am looking at different options to upgrade the front forks(such as the MXT Lucky Cartridge) and will also install some less grabby EBC Carbon Front Brake pads. At the moment I don’t have any issues with the rear shock, but that could change once I get the front forks sorted.
The other “issue” I had was the rear brake pedal placement. It is much more inboard than my CRF250L and I kept missing it! I will hopefully solve this issue with a clever stepped brake pedal from Clean Speed. It has a step for two braking surfaces, one for sitting and one for standing.
I also removed the stock air-box restrictor and will be installing a JD Jet kit. We’ll be at 0 to 1500 ft of elevation in Texas for the next 2 months and will see if we need to change the jetting accordingly when we travel to the Sedona, Arizona area where will be riding at 3000 – 4000ft.
