Considering a 2010 GG EC300

[Bailey28]

Hey guys,

I got back from a dealer demo ride on a '10 GG EC300. I like the bike and was instantly comfortable on it. The dealer had it set up with Ohlins front and rear so I didn't get to try the Sachs stuff.

Coming off of an '06 KTM 450XC, I am a little concerned about the bottom end response of the 300. The dealer had it set up stock, with the GG pipe and FMF Turbine core II on it. No one there knew exactly what jetting was in it but said it was "stock".

The motor was smooth, but I thought lacked a little bit until it got up closer to the "powerband" When the motor hit it went faster, but wasn't on fire or anything. The low end almost felt like a KDX or something similar. I felt that I would not be able to clear a small table top if it were not in the powerband. I also heard that the 300's had no "hit".

I will primarily use this bike for light MX work, woods, hare scrambles, single track trails, rock gardens, sand track, whoops, and very limited street use, only to pop from trail to trail.

I like a very smooth power delivery, the more seamless and electric in style the better. My 450 is electric to me. I can't stand a MX style 2T delivery, the hit slows me down if that makes any sense. Defining seamlessly electric: moped style delivery.

Did I ride a dud? Truly how electric are the 300 motors? Can I jet or pipe the bike to where I would notice no hit at all? I read that the CCK needle taper does smooth things even more and I even have one sitting around from an old KDX200 project I was working on.

Again, I loved the bike, but wanted to ask here to get a better understanding of what "Low end" meant to you guys. As well, I thought all EC models came with a tail light/brake light/license plate combo. None of the bikes had it and the guy wants extra for it. They had headlights though. I'm sure they were not the DC models.


Any input would be great, I am going Monday to look at getting the bike again.

[john01]

Bailey our 2010 EC300 jetting was a little off when we got it. It made it a little slow to respond in the low-mid ranges. We have re-jetted it and haven't even tried the CCK most are running. I can tell you no KDX220 will even come close to running with it. My son is 30 and a pretty fast MX rider and has a ball with it. Several club members have tried it and turn faster laps on it than they do with their own 450F MX bikes. The balance, turning, handling, and power make it pure pleasure on the MX track, in the woods, trails, or just putting around on. Ours has some hit now but it's still very smooth when compaired to our riding buddies 250 2-stroke MX bikes. We did change to 13/50 gearing which feels about perfect to us. I say take the plunge, get yourself a GG 300 and let the fun begin. Good luck and let me know how the second test goes. BTW don't let the smooth power fool you into thinking you're going slow. I almost went over a huge berm at our MX track after jumping off a Husky TC 250 and onto the GG300 LOL! I guess I'm getting old and can't tell just how fast I'm going anymore.

[Krieg]

The stock jetting on my '11 XC 300 was way off. I'll bet that's what the issue was with the one you rode.

[2whlrcr]

I've got a 2010 300 and a 450 KTM. If you want the same low end torque as the 450, you will be dissapointed.

That said the stock jetting is horrible and you need to rejet for your conditions. Plus I think the jetting is very finicky to get perfect and is more susceptible to atmospheric changes than other two strokes I've had. But I like the soft bottom end. It is much easier to ride on tight technical rocky and rooty trails. And a big plus if it's muddy or I'm tired. But it's just not gonna have the lunge off the bottom that a 450 has. But overall I'm satisfied with performance and it's definitely lighter riding than the 450.

Lots of info here on carb and head mods that are supposed to wake up the performance. Give more power on the bottom through top and conjunction of smoothing the delivery out. I have been tempted, but don't want to spend the extra money. Mine works as it is.

[Bailey28]

Great, thanks guys.

So in a bigger nutshell, if you were to compare the low end power of a properly running and jetted 300 with that of other bikes listed here where would you slide it in at?

Ill start the list, feel free to add to it or move the GG around within it:

From weakest to strongest:

1) Honda XR 250 air cooled

2) Yamaha WR 250f

3) KDX200, KDX 220

4) Suzuki RMZ 250f (motocross)

5) Kawaski KLX300 four stroke

5) Suzuki DRZ 400

6) KTM 400 four stroke

7) KTM 450 XC

8) All other 450CC motocross bikes, which would kill my 450XC on low end anyway.

The 450XC is a mid-top motor anyway, however I am never up there. I love to short shift, lug the bike, ride a gear higher, chug and float over obstacles. That is the main reason I was looking at the GG 300 because so many of you all said that this is how you ride a 300. I would say that on a given ride, I would never be over 7,000 rpm on my 450XC. If I rev it at all, the thing becomes a damn time machine! However it is totally smooth up to that point. All stock.

I can't use all of the power the 450 has to offer anyway. How I do use it is coming out of a corner on an MX track lugging 2nd gear, seat bounce a small or medium table 20 feet out from the corner. In this situation, the 450 is just entering the lower midrange, and I still have to fan the clutch to get it to pop over the table. But it will yank hard down there.

I guess what I do know is that at -150cc displacement, the motor will not have the same torque off idle as a 450. I wanted to know if that will limit what I can ride at the track, or if what you guys are saying that I might have to adjust my riding style and keep the rpm's up a bit higher. The GG is about 30lbs. lighter than my 450 full of gas.

I would say that on any given day, a good running KTM RFS motor will make about 45hp on a dyno. With the spark arrestor on mine and 200+ hours on the engine, I would estimate that to be in the 40 hp range. You guys are saying the 300 makes about 50, and the bike weighs about 30lbs lighter. Sounds like a rocketship!

I guess I'll just have to go buy one and see. But I will probably never go over 6,000 rpm anyway.

[GMP]

When that bike is jetted crisp and geared down to 13/50 it IS a rocket ship. In fact a lot of the jetting work discussed here is focused on smoothing the low end. You can make the bike anything you want with a few mods, and go too far fairly easy. What position was the map switch in?

It won't have as much raw yank as a 450 MX 4 stroke but you never hear any complaints about the 300s lack of low end, thats for sure.