gasgas sherco demo rides

[canamfan]

I haven't posted much on here, because I don't own a gasgas. However I am interested in buying one. I saw where there was going to be a demo ride near gravette AR. about 150 miles away so I went last thursday. They had the 2014 sherco 300 and 290 xride 4 strokes and the sherco 250 2 stroke. gasgas was represented with the 2013 300 and 200 2 stroke models.
I'll give a little info on my background, I'm 55 and rode a little mx in the late 70's and 80's I started riding vintage on a can-am in the late 90's I rode vintage for a few years, then kind of took a break and rode my first hare-scramble in 2011 on a 83 can-am ase, soon after I bought a 200 kdx, and thought what a great machine this is. I rode the kdx in 2012, then picked up a ktm 300 exc I thought again what a great machine this is, quite a jump from the kdx. That brings me to the demo ride. I am just an average rider, ability wise, the wildcat ranch where the demo took place is typical south mo. nw ar terrrain. Some average sized hills, and the ground littered with baseball size rocks and tree roots. They had a 0ne mile loop setup. I jumped on the 200 gasgas first as I've always wanted to try one out. I really liked it, a lot of torque for a 200 with a much stronger mid-range hit then the kdx has, i don't know what the suspension settings were but it felt good to me. i know there's been some bad press on the 2013's but i liked it, a lot! Next up was the 300 gasgas, it felt alot like the 200 handling wise, noticeably heavier though, great torque, lots of power, similar to the ktm 300. I think it had a little more torque then the ktm 300 i have. overall a nice bike. I didn't care for the kickstands auto retract feature, and the electric starter on the 300 looks like an afterthought, although I was told it would be incorporated into the bottom of the engine cases for 2014. Now onto the shercos, first up was the 300 4 stroke. My first impression when i swung my leg over was wow this thing is tall.The videos I have seen of the frenchman riding that sherco up the rock ledges made it look small, so he must be a big guy. I'm 5' 10" and it seemed really tall to me. To be honest this is the first modern 4 stroke i've ridden, my only experience is with an old honda xr. The first thing I noticed was how quick the steering feels, kinda skatey feeling like it's gonna knife under on you. However it didn't. Then i realized when you left off the throttle, you get engine braking a lot more then the two stroke. It had good power but not what I'm used to. I didn't really like the motor, not knocking the sherco i'm just a 2 stroke guy. So i hopped on the 250 2 stroke sherco. It was tall like the other, from what I was told they share the same chassis, the 2 and 4 stroke bikes. It felt totally different nice power, took the rocks well, just an overall nice bike. I also rode the x-ride 290 which was a hoot, 34" seat height, conventional forks, trials type power and gearing. You can start out in 3rd or 4th. A fun bike to trail ride on, I purposely stopped at the bottom of the hills and it just climbed like a goat in 3rd gear.
Overall it was a great day, got to meet Clay, Fred the land owner, and Mark from gofasters. There all great guys and you can tell there interested in taking care of there customers.
It seems like the emphasis was on showcasing the shercos but for me the gasgas really shined. I can't wait to see what 2014 brings as I'm not quite ready to buy.

[Rick]

Nice report....sounds like you had a great time and was able to get a good handle on the bikes.
Welcome to the forum.

[forgiven]

Does the 2014 x ride have electric start?

Could be the perfect bike for my wife.

[Fred1956]

Originally Posted by canamfan

I haven't posted much on here, because I don't own a gasgas. However I am interested in buying one. I saw where there was going to be a demo ride near gravette AR. about 150 miles away so I went last thursday. They had the 2014 sherco 300 and 290 xride 4 strokes and the sherco 250 2 stroke. gasgas was represented with the 2013 300 and 200 2 stroke models.
I'll give a little info on my background, I'm 55 and rode a little mx in the late 70's and 80's I started riding vintage on a can-am in the late 90's I rode vintage for a few years, then kind of took a break and rode my first hare-scramble in 2011 on a 83 can-am ase, soon after I bought a 200 kdx, and thought what a great machine this is. I rode the kdx in 2012, then picked up a ktm 300 exc I thought again what a great machine this is, quite a jump from the kdx. That brings me to the demo ride. I am just an average rider, ability wise, the wildcat ranch where the demo took place is typical south mo. nw ar terrrain. Some average sized hills, and the ground littered with baseball size rocks and tree roots. They had a 0ne mile loop setup. I jumped on the 200 gasgas first as I've always wanted to try one out. I really liked it, a lot of torque for a 200 with a much stronger mid-range hit then the kdx has, i don't know what the suspension settings were but it felt good to me. i know there's been some bad press on the 2013's but i liked it, a lot! Next up was the 300 gasgas, it felt alot like the 200 handling wise, noticeably heavier though, great torque, lots of power, similar to the ktm 300. I think it had a little more torque then the ktm 300 i have. overall a nice bike. I didn't care for the kickstands auto retract feature, and the electric starter on the 300 looks like an afterthought, although I was told it would be incorporated into the bottom of the engine cases for 2014. Now onto the shercos, first up was the 300 4 stroke. My first impression when i swung my leg over was wow this thing is tall.The videos I have seen of the frenchman riding that sherco up the rock ledges made it look small, so he must be a big guy. I'm 5' 10" and it seemed really tall to me. To be honest this is the first modern 4 stroke i've ridden, my only experience is with an old honda xr. The first thing I noticed was how quick the steering feels, kinda skatey feeling like it's gonna knife under on you. However it didn't. Then i realized when you left off the throttle, you get engine braking a lot more then the two stroke. It had good power but not what I'm used to. I didn't really like the motor, not knocking the sherco i'm just a 2 stroke guy. So i hopped on the 250 2 stroke sherco. It was tall like the other, from what I was told they share the same chassis, the 2 and 4 stroke bikes. It felt totally different nice power, took the rocks well, just an overall nice bike. I also rode the x-ride 290 which was a hoot, 34" seat height, conventional forks, trials type power and gearing. You can start out in 3rd or 4th. A fun bike to trail ride on, I purposely stopped at the bottom of the hills and it just climbed like a goat in 3rd gear.
Overall it was a great day, got to meet Clay, Fred the land owner, and Mark from gofasters. There all great guys and you can tell there interested in taking care of there customers.
It seems like the emphasis was on showcasing the shercos but for me the gasgas really shined. I can't wait to see what 2014 brings as I'm not quite ready to buy.

It was nice to meet you as well and we appreciate you driving as far as you did. Let me clear a little confusion....GG's e-start is similar to the orange brands, in that they took a kickstart bike and converted it to e-start, therefore the 'afterthought' appearance. Sherco has already incorporated the starter under the bike for weight placement & function. The 2014 Gassers will NOT have the under mounted starters, BUT while not official and you can classify this as a 'leak' I hear they are working on the under mounted starter for the 2015 models.

The auto retract kickstand is a GG trait, long story there but it is easily corrected with a 520 or 530 master link plate

As far as the 'showcasing the Shercos' it may have seemed that way because there were 3 Sherco models and they were the 2014 models and the only 2 Gassers we had available were the 2013 models + GasGas has made several changes to the 2014's that can't be experienced on the 2013 bikes. I really wish the 14's GG had made it off the boat for this demo trip
Thanks again for coming and also for sharing your thoughts FWIW we had another guy drive 6 hours from western Arkansas to ride the Gassers and he liked the 200 as well, had another group of 4 drive the 3.5 hours from Kansas City to try out the bikes.

[wallybean]

Will the '14 gassers be on a bit of a diet? What will the '14 200 weigh ready to ride?

[Fred1956]

Originally Posted by forgiven

Does the 2014 x ride have electric start?

Could be the perfect bike for my wife.

X-Ride is kick start only, it is basically a full on trials motor in a trail bike frame. Very fun to ride but very capable as well, Clay rode it in the Tennessee Knockout and qualified for the final round on it

[Fred1956]

Originally Posted by wallybean

Will the '14 gassers be on a bit of a diet? What will the '14 200 weigh ready to ride?

The GG for 2014 has been put on a diet, I've heard anywhere from 9-14 lbs depending on who you're talking to. I haven't personally seen the specs on the 200 though
A write up from our area 'reporter' on the demo days at Wildcat Ranch last week
http://www.gunpowderracing.com/2013/10/19/shercogasgas/