In our experience, the GasGas...
In our experience, the GasGas line of two-strokes is built to take a beating.
The GasGas is a capable machine and the riders racing them in the World Enduros have proved this. But here in the US, we just don't see them as a strong competitor for KTM, since KTM has become so big off-road. But all the time, GasGas has been developing their two-strokes, maybe a step behind in the chassis side if anything.
With only a very short time to prep the fresh 2009 bike before the test, a good portion of the time was spent dialing in the suspension. And when riders are not 100% comfortable on an unfamiliar bike, it detracts even from the stellar features of a bike. On the GasGas that would be the tight and technical trail ability of the bike.
All of the riders who hopped on the bike were a little put off by the setup which seemed to be for a slightly taller rider, and our group was all under 6-feet tall. And we thought we took the time for each to ride it enough to get used to the setup, a lot of time was spent getting used to the bike and not exploiting its finer points. For sure the bike could have worked better at the high-speed stuff and it was clearly out of place on the motocross track. There it vibrated and the aggressive power setting was a little much, the mellow setting a little soft. And it felt like the bike also used too much of its stroke in the MX bumps and here it wallowed, where on the trails this translated into plushness.
Providing an alternative to the Orange and Blue two-strokes out there, the GasGas has a place and I see that with riders who like gnarly technical trail riding. I know this first hand since I chose to race a stock GasGas 250 two times to finish the Erzbreg Hare Scrambles. The same bike both times! The bikes are built tough and this bike was set up to last through an off-road war. The motor's power has a tractability that must be derived through the company's trials heritage and it gets traction when other bikes fail. The clutch has a very light pull and offers a lot of control. And the six-speed gear box let the bike have some real legs, too bad it isn't the happiest in the upper three gears. But most of all it takes a little time in the saddle, and making sure you have the right bike for the rider to fit a GasGas into your program.
-Jimmy Lewis
This was a fun bike to ride. The second you sit on it, it feels horrible. Feels like a really old bike. Once you fire it up and start to ride, it is actually starts to work pretty well. In the motocross section and higher speed it is bad, really bad. Once you get to the tight trail section the bike is really good. Here it turns better than most of these other bikes. Suspension on low speed tight trails was also good. After riding the GasGas 300 back-to-back with the Suzuki, KTM and Yamaha, I really keep thinking this was the best motor. Not the fastest, but the best all around. The motor is really quiet and lots of torque from bottom to top. This bike has almost as much traction as a four stroke. It is just a great climber. If we can just get this motor on a more modern feeling chassis and setup!
-Alfredo Macklis
Motor was very snappy (The bike was set on the aggressive map. Ed.) / would have liked a little smoother power delivery for the rocks and tight stuff / don't usually like aftermarket seats, but this taller seat with step worked surprisingly well.
-Chris Barrett, on Extreme Test
Great bike for the slow gnarly trail the motor has super good low rpm power probably the best out of all the bikes. The suspension also works well in the slow gnarly stuff. This bikes is a mess when you get out onto faster trails or a moto track, it is twitchy with no straight line ability. I thought it was real unnerving and that hurt it for me.
-Dave Donatoni
I did not like this bike at all on the motocross track as the suspension felt stiff and awkward and the engine felt horrible. On the trails I liked the engine much better. It had good low end torque which was able to pull me through the tight twisty stuff well, however the suspension still did not impress me on the trails. I put this on the bottom of my list of five two-stroke bikes.
-Sean Crowley
If only I could put this motor in another chassis. The GG made great trail power, not much hit to speak of, but nice smooth strong power. Maybe I've been spoiled by my KTM, but the controls on the GasGas felt dated, the hydraulic clutch was decent, but it's no Brembo. The brakes worked, but they were not as strong as I would have liked. My biggest complaint was getting my foot stuck UNDER the rear brake pedal on a regular basis, I don't know if maybe someone who rode it before me bent it out but that thing was everywhere except where I wanted it to be. I did not feel comfortable trying to go fast on the GasGas
-Scott Denison