Moto Beta Buys American
Moto Beta Buys American
‘Maverick’ Frames from Kansas
CYCLE WORLD staffmen recently were privileged to preview, not a new 1969 model, but what must surely be the first of the new bikes of the 1970s! The machine is a new lightweight dirt bike from Moto Beta. And, while it will enter production stages during the latter part of this year, it will officially be termed a 1970 model.
This new Moto Beta makes more than welcome news for U.S. motorcyclists, for it reverses a trend that in recent years has become more and more exaggerated. American enthusiasts are accustomed to the idea of buying not only complete motorcycles, but specialized parts and competition equipment from abroad—from England, the Continent, and Japan.
Now, a foreign manufacturer—Moto Beta—is buying from an American. To be more precise, the Italian factory is enlisting the aid of Kansan Bill Grapevine, veteran constructor of one-off specials for off-road competition. It seems that Moto Beta’s men in America examined some of Grapevine’s work, and decided that his frames were the very items needed to revitalize the company’s lightweight off-road range.
The new Moto Betas will arrive in both 100and 125-cc versions, and will add still greater stimulus to two already highly competitive displacement classes. The bikes will employ Moto Beta’s single-cylinder two-stroke powerplants. Apart from different bore sizes, the 100and 125-cc engines will be virtually identical.
The prototype that Grapevine showed to CW staffers featured the smaller engine. Though it was not possible to test ride the bike, its frame appeared to incorporate a high degree of craftsmanship, finish, and strength. The frame seems almost too bulky for the little machine, but Grapevine has aimed at durable construction, at the expense of extreme weight-saving measures. “When I designed it, I didn’t care if I added 10 lb. to the unit, as long as it could withstand prolonged rough treatment in the dirt,” said Grapevine. Moto Beta will undertake manufacture of his frame.
Total weight of the frame and swinging arm assembly is 22 lb. A single toptube, and duplex engine cradle tubes are used, with a triangulated rear subframe. The backbone tube measures 1.5 in. in diameter, with a wall thickness of 0.065 in. All other frame tubing is of 1.125 in. diameter, and of 0.049 in. wall thickness. The rear swinging arm members are fabricated of massive rectangular section tubing, 1.3 in. in width, and also of 0.065 in. wall thickness. Grapevine reports that the rear end geometry of his design closely resembles that of a 250-cc CZ motocross bike, including a rear fork length of 18 in.
He predicts that 1970 Moto Betas will feature a 4-in. longer wheelbase, at 52.5 in., and will be 1 lb. lighter, at 154
lb., than the company’s current 100-cc production dirt bike. Other expected specifications of the 1970 models include a 21-in. front wheel, Ceriani suspension front and rear, 22-mm Dellorto carburetor and Dellorto air cleaner, spring-loaded folding footpegs (the prototype is fitted with solidly mounted footpegs), and steel wheel rims. The prototype pictured also is equipped with a CZ seat, which will not appear on production versions.
Meanwhile, until the new Moto Betas arrive in the U.S., Grapevine offers the frame as a kit, for approximately $300. Named the “Maverick,” the frame will accept any small displacement engine. In his personal Maverick-framed trials bike, Grapevine uses a 115-cc Kawasaki disc-valve engine. Riding this bike, he won a national trials championship in Sedan, Kan., in 1967, and, with a Hodaka engine in the same frame, won two rounds of the 1966 Pan-American Trials Championship.
Grapevine, who has spent 15 of his 36 years building frames, motorcycles, and specialized motorcycle components, also offers a single-loop speedway frame, featuring coil spring front suspension and a 52-in. wheelbase, for approximately $200.
His efforts are aided by several aircraft companies based in his hometown area. “Their engineers help me, and I can get hold of all kinds of exotic materials and tubings,” said Grapevine,
who is based at 5326 E. Harry, Wichita, KS 67218.
The Moto Beta-Maverick project has made a fine start, but the final trial will come when early production versions are made available for track test. CYCLE WORLD anticipates this with more than a little interest.
