Personally, I'm not sold on the 250F. I was stoked on it, but GasGas Pacific lent me one for a couple weeks to try out and afterwards I wasn't impressed. The chassis is flat stunning (though the suspension could use a revalve). It feels light and will carve a line under anything. The problem is the motor. In two weeks, I could not get it jetted right. It constantly had a bog off idle that killed it in the tight woods. I ride really technical singletrack and could not come to grips with the bike. It needs a drastic dose of low end power. Any sort of obstacle directly out of a corner was brutal on the little bike.
I've ridden a few other 250Fs and been impressed. If I was in the market for a 250F, I'd get a KTM. Any small bore will handle well (it's hard not to) and the KTM engine flat rips. The price of the GasGas is high (though it is dropping) and for the price, it's old-school with no real advantage.
All that said, it would be a wicked project to put a 290 big bore in the little Gasser and try to get the engine to work as well as a KTM. As it is, I stuck with my EC250, but just recently bought a Husaberg FE390.
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