’26 RR250 X-PRO – BETA’S BEST TWO-STROKE?

Has Beta’s new-gen RR250 X-Pro taken over from its 300cc sibling as the most versatile two-stroke enduro bike in the range? According to Geoff Ballard – who’s been living with, riding and racing the 2026 RR250 X-Pro for several months – the answer to that question is an unequivocal YES!

“Why would you buy a 250 two-stroke enduro bike when you’ve got the option of a torquier 300cc big brother?”

For years, that ‘rationale’ seems to have been conventional wisdom; in Australia, and in many other markets around the world. And no matter the manufacturer, that thinking has translated into 300cc two-strokes outselling their 250cc siblings by a ratio of more than two-to-one – in spite of the fact 300s are near-identical machines, except for a larger-diameter bore/piston … and a price tag that’s anywhere up to $1200 more expensive!

But does that bigger-capacity-is-better philosophy still stand to reason with modern-day two-stroke enduro machines? Have 250cc two-strokes been underrated? And more specifically, has Beta’s RR250 X-Pro – which got an all-new short-stroke engine configuration for 2026, and headlined the upgrades to Beta’s 2026 RR range – closed the gap on its big-selling RR300 X-Pro bro?

Well, according to Aussie enduro icon, Geoff Ballard, Beta’s 2026 RR250 X-Pro goes one better and actually upstages its 300cc stablemate. After back-to-backing the different capacities at Beta’s Australian media launch for its 2026 models late last year, Ballard clearly succumbed to the new 250’s charms. But having taken a 2026 RR250 X-Pro home and lived with, trail-ridden and raced the thing ever since, does GB still think it’s the best and most versatile two-stroke enduro bike in Beta’s range?

We caught up with GB after he got back from a long, muddy, snotty ride in his beloved Blue Mountains backyard trails, and asked him exactly that question…