08 ec300. First impressions.
 

Well i finally got my new leftover 08 bike and installed all the goodies, set up the suspension and preload, heat cycled the engine around the house,(field next door) and went for a breakin ride. It was a hoot, rained all day on Sat and again all day Sunday while riding. We did a mix of tight trails and open trails mixed in with some very rocky jeep trail connectors and rutted, muddy or should i say sloppy washed out trails up and down the mountains in S.W Idaho. I can say the suspension took to 3 to4 hours to stop rattling my teeth out, but after that whet a great chasis, let me say this again. "WHAT A GREAT CHASIS'. I believe this is the best handling off road bike i've riden. Glenn said when i decided to purchase this bike i'd be blown away by the handling compaired to my 05. I thought at the time that was unlikely as the handling is the best feathure of the 05 GG, but he was spot on.This bike fits my riding style to a tee, direction change is almost a direct connection with your brain, any imput to the bars or pegs and it just flicks back and forth at will, GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I agree with others that the Sachs shock is as good or better than the Ohlins, I can't believe i said that, i've always spent big bucks to install Ohlins froks and shocks on my sport bikes!!

The engine i still don't have an opinion as it was too slick for power and i was taking it easy during breakin. I do think it'll need a head mod and carb mod for low end but other than that i feel it's all good. The dual map switch seems to make a bigger difference on the 300 than on my 250. The 250 you can hrdly tell you flipped it but the 300 i can feel it, not a lot but noticable.

The seat!!! I had to look and make sure i was not on a KTM, come on GG give our back sides a break!!! I'm a stand up rider but when i drop on the seat i hit it hard and that seat sucks. I do like the shape as it's very easy to move around on. But that's is my only bitch is the seat so i guess that speaks to the great design of the bike. My only bad case of monkey butt came on a KTM. It was a very slow tech ride for 60 miles with lot's of seat time, i could hardly sit down for a week.

I also hear that loud noise from the power valve, my 05 does not make this noise nor did the 03 i owned briefly. It's very loud almost shocking. My noise seems most noticable at low rpm just when you start to accel or coasting at low rpm. It slaps like a very loose chain. I'll see how it develops as the engine breaks in.

All in all. great job GG.

Excellent feed back.I am still considering moving off my 02 ec300 to an 08/09,but keep thinking-how much better can it be!Obviously alot!Especially going from an Ohlins shock/revalved WP fork setup.I keep having these visions of buying one & then being disappointed.Mine has a 3k ignition,apparently makes some difference,what has your got?
I definetly don't have noisey pv's?

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GG3.
Both bikes have the small ignition. I thought i wanted the larger but i think i have gotten so used to the k2 i like it better, other than lack of output. I don't do a lot of night riding anyways. I think you would be pleased with and 08/09 bike, i did not believe it could be better but it is. Going riding this weekend in normal conditions on trails i ride alot so i can get a better feel for the engine and overall bike. Stay tuned!!!

Well i finally got to ride this bike in normal "none slop fest" conditions. The ride was 50 miles of mixture between open raced 18" wide wooped out trails, mostly on the course of the Idaho City 100 iSDE qualifier run a month ago. But we did 20 miles of fresh non raced trails as well.

The suspension is breaking in nicely, the forks are as good as my 05 and work flawlessly, the shock is still a little stiff but is coming around, i like it.
Overall i like the units on this bike as well as the Ohlins/zokes on the 05. They seem to ride up in the travel a bit better to be honest. The 05 always seemed just a bit soft for my taste but not enough to drop a lot of money in mods so i just rode around the issues as they were minor.

The chasis on this bike after proper setup is FREAKIN AMAZING!!!!!! Best enduro i've ridden. It responds to minor imputs at the pegs and bars like a well setup race bike, i can't get over how easy it is to manuver around this bike, you can flik it with ease to avoid trail obsticles and such, it's like riding air. The extra 50cc does play a part in the handling, you can feel the extra inertia, hard to believe but it wants to stay in the direction of motion mor than the 250 does. I've already altered my riding slightly to compensate for this (more clutch use) also the extra torque at low reves will require some attention at first, little throttle imput equal allot more output on this bike, i find the map switch make a lot bigger difference on the 330 over the 250, more low end pop in the rain position less top end rush. Shifts good, gear spacing works better on the 300, had to change sprokets on the 250. It's real nice to have the extra grunt for the tech uphills.

The brakes are good as usual, top notch components through out. The seat still sucks, think KTM. another bitch is the placement of the grab holes and that the frame you have to grab is not well thought out, too high, i'm 6'2".

Gets great fuel economy, runs cool, just a great bike. I'd recommend this to any hard core trail rider or racer.

Sounds awesome!Spoke to a guy with a 09 KTM 300,amazing bike but the front end was twitchy in corners & tended to push through.How does the gasser front feel in corners?
Can you post some pix?
I am now convinced I won't miss my Ohlin/WP setup.

GG3. sorry it took so long, been super busy. F.E. hooks great, even with that shitty Mich enduro comp tire. Just mounted up some Bridgestones (my fav tire) we'll go tear it up this weeked and see. I set the bike up as Glenn recommended and it works flawless. Gives good feedback and give you good confidence. I ride the fe on both dirt and street bikes hard so front tire grip is very important to me. On KTM i always went with 18mm offset in the triple clamps, this makes them turn much better. Buy one you'll love it. I'll post pics someday when i get time.