Quick Spin On Beta's 520 RS Dual Sport

You can be rest assured that the 2012 Beta 520 RS dual sport is more sport than dual. Sure, the 520 RS can be ridden both on and off the road legally, but it's all about the dirt with this bike. You can tell right away with its billet hubs, Brembo disc brakes, 45mm Marzocchi fork and fully adjustable Sachs shock that this bike wasn't meant to be ridden on the pavement, unless, of course, that pavement was taking you to the dirt.

The Beta 520 RR dual sport is a looker.

For all intents and purposes, the 520 RS is a 520 RR - Beta's full-race off-road bike - with mirrors, turn indicators and a license-plate holder hanging off the rear fender. The RS is powered by essentially the same 497cc, DOHC, four-valve, four-stroke motor that powers the RR, which is carried in the same molybdenum steel, split double-cradle frame as the RR.

The Sachs shock and Marzocchi forks are also identical to the previous '11 RR's, but the fork has been revalved slightly to provide a bit more cush in the initial part of the travel.

Our first ride on the new 520 RR simply left us wanting more - not necessarily more power, or anything like that, but more time to play with it. That's because the 520 RS is quite fun to ride. Even though it's a rather large dirt bike, it just doesn't feel that way when you're on it. At a claimed 249 pounds dry, but adding roughly 12 more pounds worth of fuel from the 2.1-gallon gas tank, the Beta is hauling around well over 260 pounds in weight, probably closer to 270 in reality, but it feels much lighter than that. For a rather big bike, the Beta is remarkably agile and eager to respond to your every input. We spent a good part of our first ride on the Beta on some pretty tight and technical trails, and we were impressed by how well it performed. It just didn't feel like a big ol' 520. A somewhat narrow profile, firm seat and an extremely flat platform made moving around on the bike and putting it where you want a breeze.

You won't have to worry about the "hard ways" on the Beta.

A light pull and smooth-working clutch helped out as well, as did the torquey motor. However, lower gearing would've made things even better. The stock 14T front and 45T rear gearing was more suited for the open roads.

We also noticed the Beta's spacious 12.6 inches of ground clearance, which we came to appreciate in one extremely rocky section.