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The Torture Test – GoFasters.com GasGas EC300R – Dirt Rider Magazine

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Monday, April 20, 2009

The GasGas 300 is a world-championship bike. In the U.S. their numbers are small compared to the other brands but being the odd-man in tough terrain is a blessing./></a> <p class="wp-caption-text">The GasGas 300 is a world-championship bike. In the U.S. their numbers are small compared to the other brands but being the odd-man in tough terrain is a blessing.</p> </div> <p><strong>Editor’s Note</strong><br /><i>This year’s Dirt Rider Torture Test was set it up like a screening for a reality TV show: Bring what you have and prepare for whatever happens. The idea was to show up at the Torture Test with the best all-around, one-bike-does-it-all off-road dirt bike, with no guidelines or requirements from our side. It was wide open, but everyone knew going in that it would be tough to make the cut to get into the final group of bikes you see in the magazine. Of course, they didn’t all make it to the pages of Dirt Rider. Some missed out ever so slightly, some by a longer ways. This is a full test of one of the bikes that missed the final cut. The competition was tough but lurking in this field of bikes you can likely find an example of the perfect bike that fits your needs, or learn what other riders or people in the industry think is the best bike in the whole world. For the people and companies that built each of these bikes, it was the best bike they could deliver.-Jimmy Lewis, Editor Dirt Rider Magazine</i><strong>About the bike: </strong><br />The GasGas EC300R by GoFasters.com is a US version of the latest generation of GasGas factory enduro racing bikes that has a long history of European off-road championships and podium finishes.GoFasters.com got their start with GasGas enduro motorcycles back in 2002 when the company was founded and began specializing in selling GasGas OEM and aftermarket performance parts online.By 2006 their involvement with the Spanish off-road motorcycle brand got them recruited to help support the GasGas factory World Enduro Championship team whenthey traveled to the US and Canada for the first time in WEC history. That opportunity repeated itself again in 2007 when the WEC returned to North America and Gofasters.com got the call to help support the GasGas factory team again.This EC300R is the results of that relationship.According to GoFasters.com co-owner Steve Berkner the EC300 starts life stock sans headlight and taillight, which is stock on the European models, which have to be eliminated for the bike to be legally imported into the US as a”competition only” off-road motorcycle.Berkner said, “Back in 2007 the ECs were imported into the US with the quicker revving lighter motocross ignition, which is the standard when the bike is exported without lights. But today the ECs are imported with the lazier(actually 12.5 ounces heavier) enduro(EC) ignition that is stock in Europe where it has to power headlights, taillights, turn signals, horn and brake lights found on the road legal EC enduro bike version.”When we first got involved with the factory racing bikes the first thing we noticed was they were all using the heavier enduro ignitions. That’s completely opposite of what most of the EC models imported into the US weregetting back then as the motocross ignition was standard and in our opinion the ECs suffered when the bikes power delivery was compared to the smoother four-stroke power delivery of other enduro bikes.”GasGas motorcycles excel when conditions call for a smooth power delivery. You know the stuff that kicks your butt when you’re looking for traction on a slippery grass track, trying to climb up a rocky hillside or just tackling milesof muddy single track.”Losing that advantage, so the motor can hit a little harder when conditions are perfect, is a waste of the Gasser’s potential. The heavier ignition lets the motor deliver power to the rear wheel more like a four-stroke but the lighter rotating mass of the bike’s two-stroke crank lets the bike quickly change directions without much effort: something a four-stroke has trouble doing.”While we give up some hit with the heavier flywheel effect of the bigger ignition we have a chance to get some of that hit back with just a flick of the stock handle bar mounted “Hi-Lo” (dual mapped) ignition switch which is found on all GasGas enduro and motocross bikes.”We actually jet the bike to run just this side of lean on the Hi setting for that extra boost of power if conditions call for it otherwise we stress that the bike be left in the “Lo” map setting for most riding conditions.”Berkner said, “Another thing we learned from working with the factory bikes was to pay attention to the engines deck height, or the distance between the top of the piston and the bottom of the cylinder head.”Ideally the race mechanics target 1.5mm of “squish band when they build a race bike. We rely on RB Designs for that modification ($75). The main objective is not to raise compression so much but to increase the efficiency of combustion which gives more useable power throughout all RPM ranges.”Berkner added “We also use RB Designs to do some carb modifications ($165) where they modify the stock 38mm Keihn for more over rev and smoother power delivery.”For carb mods RB Designs cuts the #7 slide slightly, over bores the diameter to 39mm (to allow more over rev), installs a motor side divider plate for better low end throttle control and installs their own needle and appropriate jetting. <div><a href=Everyone agrees the tougher the terrain, the better the GasGas performs. The suspension setup of the Gofasters.com bike was plush off-road but began to eat up the stroke and wallow in faster sections and in the MX Test./></a> <p class="wp-caption-text">Everyone agrees the tougher the terrain, the better the GasGas performs. The suspension setup of the Gofasters.com bike was plush off-road but began to eat up the stroke and wallow in faster sections and in the MX Test.</p> </div> <p>Berkner said, “Once again RB Designs has made a name for themselves doing these kind of modifications and that upgrade finishes out the motor upgrades save the pipe which is actually a newly designed FMF Fatty pipe.” Here thefactory modification has already been done as the current US version actually comes stock with a GasGas factory replica race pipe.Berkner explains, “In 2007 GasGas changed their bikes design with a new subframe that required a new US aftermarket pipe design so we approached FMF to build a factory bike replica pipe which allows for more overrev than stock so we had them copy one of the WEC bikes’ pipes and they obliged. To round out the exhaust system FMF also provides a US Forestry approved spark arrestor for allUS EC models.”As far as suspension work goes,” said Berkner. “We feel it’s pretty close for most trail riding conditions where proper sag (110mm to 115mm) and a few clicker adjustments are more than adequate to dial in the suspension. Butfor the aggressive rider we go with Powerband Racing suspension mods ($175 front and $175 rear plus parts) where they concentrate mostly on modifying the forks mid-valve to better handle big hits when the stock valving would just blow by.”GoFasters.com also tosses both stock rim locks as they have always been the Achilles heal for GasGas bikes and replaces them with Motion Pro ones ($18) to finish the package.GoFasters.com also upgrades the stock brake pad / rotor combination of the motorcycle with Galfer brake pads ($70) and wave rotors ($260) and changes the final gearing to 13/49 (from 13/48) via Renthal chain wheels ($89 a set.)Berkner said, “We feel the Galfer braking products give the brakes a little better feel over stock and the slightly taller rear gearing gives the bike a little better throttle control in the tight stuff where the overrev capabilitiesof the modified motor and carb modsBerkner concluded, “The rest of the bike is pretty much stock other than we bolt on a few aftermarket products that are similar to what the factory team uses. Presently we market a rear brake master cylinder cooling reservoir extender ($51), higher volume power valve cover ($90), in-line radiator hose inter-coolers ($51), high efficient water pump impeller ($90), a front fender brace ($30) and a lower radiator hose protector shield ($20) that each adds additional performance and / or protection to the EC300R for not a lot of money.The GoFasters.com GasGas EC300R s is a factory replica racer which can be built for under $1400 in mods, just under $1900 with a GPR under bar mounted steering damper.<strong>Parts and modifications: </strong><strong>GoFasters.com: <a href="" onclick="javascript:window.open(www.GoFasters.com; 320-839-7143
Nissan Rear Brake Reservoir cooler/ extender: $51
Power Valve Cover: $90
Water pump impeller: $90
Front Fender Brace: $30
In-line radiator coolers: $50
Lower radiator hose shield: $20
Powerband Racing: www.powerbandracing.com; 763 263 8829
Suspension work: $350 + parts
FMF: www.FMFracing.com; 310-631-4363
Stealth Spark Arrestor: stock
Fatty Pipe: Stock
Galfer Braking Products: www.galferusa.com; 805-988-2900
Front rotor: $130
Rear rotor: $130
Front brake pads: $35
Rear brake pads: $35
RB Designs: www.rb-designs.com; 503-645-2607
Carb Modification: $165
Head Modification: $75
Renthal: www.renthal.com
13 tooth countershaft sprocket: $26
49 tooth rear sprocket: $65
Motion Pro: www.motionpro.com; 650-594-9600
1.85 front rim locks: $8
2.15 rear rim lock: $9
GPR Stabilizers: www.gprstabilizer.com; 619-661-0101
Version4 Under Bar Stabilizer w/Fat Bar Kit: $495.00Dirt Rider Post Torture Evaluation: The best all-around bike because:
You want to stand out from the crowd in the kind of bike you ride and the kind of riding you do. You are a Hard Extreme Enduro RiderNot the best all-around bike because:
This GasGas is not the most versatile machine and there isn’t a GasGas dealer on every corner. Aftermarket support is limited and finding solutions to your GasGas problems might not be as easy if were another more mainstream brand.
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