Beta Riders Club Discussion Forum

What are you guys doing to the drain tube in the air box? Mine keeps clogging up. Today i found a rock inside the tube, how heck does a rock get in the airbox. Dont know if i should just remove it or cut the bottom off.

If he size of the rock you found can fit inside your hand, then you should consider that somebody is trying to sabotage your ride
If it was as big as nail, then it can happen.
However, don't cut or remove your drain tube. This is almost like an 1-way valve. It lets water to come out of the airbox (considerably faster when you squeeze it form the outside) but doesn't really let it in. It needs periodic cleaning on the inside from the small stones. leaves, etc. that are finding their way in.
If you do, then more water and debris will find its way into the airbox

I have to disagree, as I've personally seen the same small drain valve used on GasGas clog and cause a flooded motor. Get rid of it. If you ford deep water your in for trouble anyway as the Beta airbox like a KTM with the side access is not very waterproof. Leave the drain hole open and put a piece of old filter foam in the well over it. This will allow draining through the foam but will not allow dirt back up. I did this for years on older GGs that had a simple baffle in the bottom, like Kawasaki KX250s.

I'm always finding 1/2" sized rocks and leaves etc. in my airbox. I left mine in but cut the tip off to allow for a bigger hole. I'm thinking the debri possibly enters thru the grab handle openings?

In my experience the duck-bill valve is either too stiff or not big enough. Honda used to have them in XRs but they never had these issues as they were longer and the rubber was softer. There is not enough weight of water in the valve to open it up and let it out. I have trimmed about 1/8 inch off the bottom of the valve and that has definately helped. We had a very wet winter last year with deep standing water puddles all over. After about 2 hours riding the float bowl was getting full of water and I could feel the motor running rough.

I also get rocks, leaves and grass in my airbox every ride.

Some of the Japaneese bikes had a much larger, softer (silicone rubber) checkvalve that worked OK. On the Beta its pointless though, so why bother attempting to stop water from comming in with that silly check valve thats close to the same level as the bottom of the airbox side cover? All it does is trap normal levels of splash water making it a big problem. Washing the bike with it in is even worse and asking for a crankcase full of water.

If your getting water in your carb you need to split the vent lines and run the pair from the vertical fittings up high. This way the carb can vent through that pair when the other pair is submerged rather than suck water. I learned this years ago after a long water crossing on a KTM300 caused sandy water to be drawn in and actually jammed the needle in the carb nozzle, sticking the throttle. Not fun on a 300. On the Beta its easy, run the upper pair over the front of the subframe and tuck them down through the holes in the side rails, behind the side panels.

I have already done the breather pipe mod and did so on previous KTMs after seeing this article about how David Knight's factory machines were prepped.

http://www.ktmforum.co.uk/off-road-enduro/27007-preparing-08-450r-like-knighters.html

For me the biggest issue is the airbox construction of overlapping panels rather than a solid airbox and the downside of convenient side access to the air filter. Not quite the KTM seive but pretty close. Given the quick release seat, I would swap the side panel for a one peice airbox with some better chance of keeping the water out. I would also like a deeper gap between the carb mouth and the base of the airbox. As Glenn says, it's only a matter of time before you get a crankcase full of water.

I used to do a long local ride that included fording a small river, about 2-2.5 feet deep with a rocky bottom. Older GGs, Huskys, Hondas, bikes with a one piece airbox never a problem. I would hesitate doing that on the Beta, unless it was specially modded and prepped.

Anyone got photos of the carb brether pipe mod ?

This is what I did

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=112&start=20#p741