FULL TEST: BETA 450RC CROSS-COUNTRY RACER

Beta proved something to the world last year. The tiny Italian company took on the giants of Supercross. They built a motocross bike, assembled a pro racing team and scored points with a budget that was a fraction of what anyone else spends. They haven’t yet sacked the city, but they’re at the front gate making noise and causing a commotion.

The Beta Liqui Moly Pro Supercross team is still making progress, but the company is careful not to forget the riders who got them to this point. Beta’s base is in the off-road world—enduro, trials, trail riding and cross-country racing. Accordingly, the company has added a new bike to the lineup for 2025. The 450RC falls into the closed-course cross-country category, which includes bikes like the KTM 450XC-F, the Honda CRF450RX, the Yamaha YZ450FX and the Kawasaki KX450X. Each manufacturer changes the formula slightly, but all are closely related to motocross bikes from the same maker. The idea is to serve off-road racers who might otherwise be forced into a full-blooded motocross bike in events like WORCS and the National Grand Prix Championship.

 

SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE

The core of the 450RC is the new Beta 450RX MX bike. Of all the manufacturers offering these hybrid MX/off-road bikes, Beta makes the fewest changes between moto and off-road. That makes sense when you consider that the company already has off-road four-strokes coming out of its ears. The 480RR and 430RR Race Editions are very off-road-oriented, so the RC offers some true separation. It’s easy to be overwhelmed with the array of similar bikes offered by Beta.

There are only a few significant differences between the motocross model and the new RC. The fuel capacity is greater; the new bike uses the 2.4-gallon tank from the RR line instead of the 1.8-gallon MX tank. It also has an 18-inch rear wheel with a 140/80-17 Maxxis MaxxEnduro tire. Hand guards come as standard equipment and that’s about all. The engine mapping and suspension valving are straight out of the motocross bike, which has been updated for 2025. So is the five-speed gearbox. There’s no kickstand, and the price is exactly the same as that of the MX bike—$10,999. Zane Roberts is the current National Hare & Hound champion and he rides a Beta. As of right now, he’s riding a modified 480RR, but that’s mostly because race teams are reluctant to change when something works. His bike is already something of an RR/RC hybrid.

When the motocross 450 arrived last year, it was mostly a new bike. The 480RR off-road bike was clearly a starting point, but it had more compact engine cases and a beefier frame. Now, all of Beta’s four-strokes have the new engine cases and many of the other features that we first saw on the MX bike. Still, the RX and now the RC are in a much spicier state of tune than any of the off-road bikes. The exhaust is louder, the compression ratio is higher, the valves are larger and the throttle body is 46mm instead of 42mm. For 2025, both the RX and the RC have larger rear axles, lower final gearing and a larger battery. The 450RC has many of the components that we are used to seeing on Beta competition bikes, like Nissin brakes and KYB suspension.

 

TWIN BROTHERS

Not surprisingly, the new RC reminds us of the 450RX. That’s a bike that we really enjoyed when we tested it last year. To provide a quick review, it had great overall handling for motocross, the steering was quick, and it was surprisingly stable. The suspension was good but oriented towards the novice/beginner end of the sale. The power was smooth, but it needed more low-end and less glitchy mapping. It was a very large motorcycle, and that intimidated some riders. 

You would think most of those attributes would make for a great off-road bike. For the most part, that’s correct. Handling-wise, it’s perfect. It’s a lighter bike than the 480RR by around 8 pounds, and that certainly doesn’t hurt. The big question that anyone will have to answer is, “How off-road does it have to be?” Several races in the NGPC series have extended motocross tracks, and some have real singletrack. By using the same suspension as the motocross version, the RC is perfect for the more MX-oriented courses. The bike is soft compared to most full-fledged motocross bikes, and that works decently at places like Blythe and Delono, where the speeds are fairly high and the whoops can be enormous. At Glen Helen, on the other hand, the bike is too stiff for the rocky trails that make up the back sections. This is a problem that off-road riders are very familiar with. It’s impossible for Beta to know which kind of track you prefer, so they simply backed away to allow the end user to set up the bike as needed. 

In outright power, the Beta will crush almost any off-road bike. It has more sheer output than a Yamaha 450FX or a Honda CRF450R—by quite a margin. The only bikes in this class that can outperform the RC are the ones with KTM-based motors. KTM, Husky and GasGas use full-blooded MX engine tuning and mapping, and those bikes are at the top of the 450 class right now. In Beta’s case, the MX-style mapping does have its drawbacks. On a motocross course, most riders don’t dip into low-speed range below 10 mph very often, so you might not notice that the 450 has a tendency to flame out. In extended low-speed off-road sections, the 450RC can stall without warning, and that can be frustrating. The traction control or mild map don’t seem to help. If you ride at slow speeds, it also can overheat quickly, although that issue can be handled with the optional radiator fan from the Beta accessory department. 

 

Compared to the off-road four-strokes, the RC has bigger valves, a bigger throttle body and bigger output numbers.

THE WISH LIST

Last year we did an all-Beta comparison between the 350RR, 390RR, 430RR and the 480RR off-road bikes to help provide insight on why the company offered so many similar motorcycles. In that story, we actually wished for one more model: this one. Thank you, but it’s our nature to always want more. Right now there’s a vast difference between the RC and the RR lines. In order to really fill the gap, the RC needs to calm down just a little. We would gladly sacrifice some of that top-end power for smoother throttle response down low and less stalling. The six-speed gearbox from the RR line would help, but it’s not mandatory. A radiator fan would be a nice touch.

If all that’s asking too much, then we can make do with just one item. Please give us a kickstand.