Gas Gas 125 Trail Tricks/ RB Designs - Ride Report
 

Hey guys,

I have been riding my 2009 125 Gas Gas quite a bit lately and I thought I would give you an update. The only modifications I have done to it are a FMF pipe and Turbine Core, Renthal Twin Walls, RB Carb, hand guards, and Trail Tick Suspension. Quick overview of the bike: Handles awsome, has almost zero bottom end, but runs hard in mid and signs off early for a 125. When I got the bike the suspension was way off. Gas Gas sends out the 125s with the same suspension settings as the bigger bikes. I raced it once and had to do something about it. I had very little traction at both ends. The front tire would not stick in rough choppy corners and the rear would hop and skip all over the place. Combine this with a light switch of a motor that was impossible to jet correctly and it was a hard to ride machine. After my first race, I talked to Javier, and he agreed to do some work on it. He said he could make it work very well. I have ridden quite a few modified Gas Gas's and have never been blown away with any perticular traits, (some were plush but didn't handle well or handled well but were too rigid) I pulled my suspension and sent it off. I had to wait a few weeks to get it back (remember this is in the middle of the season - not the best time to be sending stuff off.) At the same time I had Ron from RB Designs work on my carb. Once I got my suspension and carb back I bolted everything up, adjusted the air screw and idle, took it for a rip. Within 150 yards I knew this bike was not the same bike I rode only a few weeks before. The suspension is now unbelievable! It soaked up the roots and logs with so much ease. I have a couple of boulder sections and large log crossings on my course along with some choppy braking bumps and it absolutley ate everything up. The best part was it was not too soft. It didn't dive or wollow when I grabbed the brakes and it stayed very controlled throughout the travel. The carb mod was a big diffrence maker as well. The jetting that Ron put in it seems pretty close to perfect (this was his first GG 125 mod) The bike was now much criper throughout the rev range and pulled harder and signed off later up top. This was a much needed mod for my 125. It just made the bike easier to ride. That week I raced the Millville D23 Harescramble in the mud and loved every minute of it. I was a little nervous going into the race because of my limited experience on a little bike (I race 300s for the last three seasons). I was worried about the rocky, slippery hills beyond the moto track in the woods. I ended up getting a horrible jump off the line (dead last) but by the end of the moto track I had passed all the 250 and 200A guys but one. I took care of him on the grass track. All in all the race went we, I made two costly mistakes and bent my shifter in half, but I couldn't have been happier with my bike. The slippery up hills I was worried about were a non factor with the suspension. The 125 tracked so well in the slippy rocks it was unbelievable! And the carb mod helped me eliminate shifting midway up a few of the more technical climbs. I would have to rate the suspension and carb mod a honest 10 of 10. I have never ridden a bike that is so plush yet so controlled and now it finally runs like it a good 125 should. If you guys ride Gas Gas's and want soemthing done I would highly recomend these guys.

Brian
130

Never heard of Trail Tick where are they located?

Your 125 does sound good! But I bet my custom made shorty silencer would be the finishing touches your looking for. haha You know you want one! :D

He is located in Frazier Park CA http://www.trailtricks.com/

If you own a KTM or follow KTM Talk you will know who he is (I have a KTM so I'm over there allot). At the moment he is kind of the KTM suspension GOD for many. People just love his suspension work from pretty much all over. IMO he really seems to have a great understanding of suspension. He has tuned on the world GP circuit and loves tight, gnarly, rocky, rooty conditions (GG terrain). He seems to be able to get exactly what Brian mentioned with suspension. Firm yet plush. Very difficult combo. He like to keep suspension up in the stroke and will run quite a bit less sag in a Gasser rear suspension than you will see typically posted on the forum. Best of all even though he's really big into KTM's one of his personal bikes is a GG 200 which he really likes and is currently riding. Having that should help allot in bettering his understanding of the GG bikes. He's very involved and does lots of riding and testing himself. He also travels around a bit to do suspension work and is setting up some kind of suspension camp where you can go and get your suspension tuned. Just another option to consider for your suspension work.

I thought those guys also did the suspension on the DirtRider test mule, which might be the same bike JW20 is riding.

No, I didn't end up getting that bike. But im not sure if thats the Trail trick suspension on that bike or not. I've been doing lots of testing with Drew Smith at WER, and I feel like he has a very good setup for me.