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Old 12-22-2017, 01:41 PM
Motosportz Motosportz is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 107
Default My 2018 GasGas 300 review

I've been riding a new 2018 GasGas 300 the last few rides. It's a demo bike. I have 3 solid rides in very different areas on it now. For reference I rode a KTM300w in 2016, a 2017 TE250 in 2017 and building a 2018 TE250i (EFI 2 stroke) right now.

BTW I have zero fight in the game, don't own a GG, don't have any real involvement.

Here is my assessment...

1st ride - Bend Oregon at the husky demo, short ride in more open high dez.

I liked the bike immediately. It fits me near perfect (bars need to be a bit higher for standing) and was really easy for me to get on and feel at home. The motor is nice,. pulls hard like a 300 should and has a nice long usable powerband. It's quite a bit different then the more middle feeling older motors. It's like the old motor with more snap and power. The old motor was very good, this one is even better. One of the first things I notice was how well it seemed to handle. Very neutral, very planted,does what you ask of it, nothing more nothing less. Then I noticed the suspesnion, semi firm but not harsh and feels really good for stock components. Everything else about the bike worked great and everything seems well designed and works for you when under way.

I was really looking forward to trying it in deep woods where I usually ride.

Ride 2 - Tillamook state forest (Deep slick woods)

Now we are in my main riding type. Deep, mossy, slick, clay, steep, technical woods. I was riding with 3 other guys, all very competent and fast. I felt really good on the bike. It freaking handles fantastic, I love the way it turns. I would rate the handling above the husky / KTM and Beta platforms. It's that good. I ride a ton of different bikes and this one is my all time favorite handling bike. So neutral and always working for you. The suspension also impresses and a few clickers clicked and wow, great stock suspension. One glaring issue I did not notice at the much higher elevation Bend ride was not as near sea level the bike pings and knocks really bad under load. This was disapointing as I freaking loved the rest of the bike. Was still very good and the guy were complementing my on my speed and fluid line choices.

Ride 3 - Hood River / Mt Hood area. Good variety of terrain but mostly woods.

Before this ride I thought I would ritchen the needle to see if I could eliminate the pinging. The needle was all the way lean and after talking to the rep it was because they were testing it in Idaho at elevation before i got it. I put it to the middle position and headed out. WOW, OK the motor works now. Crazy good power everywhere. No map switch or adjustable powervalve needed, this motor is the shit. Short shift and lug it like crazy or let it get into the mid rang and hold the F on. It does sign off slightly earlier that I had expected but I NEVER wised for more or better power. So now we ahve a bike that flat rips, handles fantastic, has great stock suspension, feels wonderful and seems super willing to help you do what you are trying to do. Everything from this point is nit picking and even then its hard to finds something to complain about.

Ups:

handling is fantastic
Suspoesnion is VERY good
Motor is excellent
Bike build quality looks just as good as anything and it has been super simple to work on.
The way it tracks on slick grooved out technical challenging down hills is next level. Never have I ridden a bike that you don't have to fight in those conditions. This bike tracks so well it makes hard things easier. this bike works for/with you so much it makes you feel like a better rider.

downs:

Bars are a little low for me
Starter is a "restarter" and does not work well when in gear.
Rear tire is kinda crappy
The motor while pretty smooth is not as smooth as the counterbalanced KTM/Husky.

Summation:

I have ridden several last generation GG's and honestly kinda hated them. My friend has one and has issue after issue with it and is not in love. I honestly was not expecting this much improvement and be such a good bike. This bike seriously feels like it has had years of refinement. I never thought I would say this but this bike pretty much nails it for me. I like the new husky/KTMs, I like the Betas maybe slightly more and I like this one the best of all of them. Its that good, for me.

Right now I am decking out and building the most amazing 2018 TE250i (EFI 2 stroke). This bike is going to have everything and be about as good as this platform can be. It will be interesting to see how it stacks up as the GG is now my new bench mark for off road 2 strokes.



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