Ranting and raving..

[Jakobi]

Should I or shouldn't I?

[swazi_matt]

The forum is a bit quiet at the moment ... I say go for it, spice things up!

[Jakobi]

Haha Matt! I like your style.

I was out riding today! Bloody good ride too! But I was thinking to myself.. This bike.. this bloody bike! Its a love hate relationship.. but overall, I think I've almost spent more hours fixing things on the 2013 than I have riding it... and its getting to the point where I'm questioning if its something I want to continue with.

In the past I've had time, and embraced the learning involved in sorting the little niggles out, but these days I just want to be able to ride and do little more than normal maintenance.

The airbox stinks. While I've been fortunate enough to not flood the engine, hardly a ride goes by where the bottom half of the filter doesn't end up wet. The water gets pulled in and makes the bike run like shit. The duck bill design chokes up in no time, and only adds to the above. If it weren't for a quality filter oil that repels the water to a certain extent I think it would be the dumps.

The shock valving has never been great, and even after several iterations and testing different springs, its still the weak spot.

The stock forks ate themselves alive. Enough said.

The seat continues to flog out on the leading edge, and the plastic frame beneath is also wearing out. The part that rides on the subframe is wearing the subframe away.

The tank was a poor fit that needed work, and still takes quite some finess to line up the top bolt. The addition of 3mm allen heads on the tank was a stupid idea which have had to be replaced with 8mm bolt heads.

The silencer stock looks like a 4 stroke can and needed to be cut down just to stop the drool.

The trail tech speedo went spastic today and has stopped working, and is reading 299 999kms on the ODO... it can't be reset. This is not the 1st trail tech speedo I've had to replace.

The electrical gremlin which I'm trying to sort out that keeps overvolting the system, probably responsible for the issue above with the speedo. Replaced regulator no success. It also impacts on the lights and tail lights. Something I need as part of being a road registered vehicle.

I've had a stator side seal weep that needed to be replaced.

Just a short list of things that I would consider to be outside of typical bike related wear. A short list of too many things.

Don't get my wrong, while I love my Gasser, I think when the time comes to replace it I think I'll be having a long hard look towards other options.

[Jakobi]

Throttle cable is worn where it bends against the tank too. Hooked up at WOT on me today while already hooking in. Scared the crap out of me, for a split second until I got a finger back on the clutch.

All under 100hrs.. but now can't even track the hours until I spend more replacing the busted speedo/hour meter. ..and on a bike maintained probably more than it should be.

The old girl was rock solid. Might be time to get her out.

[Simmo737]

Yeah, but ya love it.

[Jakobi]

Love-Hate

Nothing that couldn't happen with any particular brand/bike.. but a real kick in the nuts when its continually one thing after another. The grass looks greener on the other side.

[noobi]

Jake, you're not the first person to come to similar grief at the hands of one of the newer bikes..
We all remember how that one played out..

Huh, been quite a while since I've posted anything..

[Jakobi]

True that Stu!

I hope others don't see this as brand bashing, as thats not what I'm out to do. I'm as loyal as the next bloke.. I just needed a whinge and unfortunately, when you start to add the complaints up she forms a decent list.

I've emailed trail tech letting them know I'm 3 for 3 on their units. I'll see if they have any advice.

I've contacted someone else who has experience and knowledge regarding the regulator.

I've sourced and ordered a replacement motion pro T3 10-3000 throttle cable.

Sometimes you just have to get it all off your chest. On the brighter side of the picture, they have addressed several of the issues in the later models too.

[JCG61]

And......these newer bikes (not just Gas Gas) are not inexpensive to purchase, so you really don't want to have to deal with these things Years ago I bought a new RMX 250 and never had to do all that much to it. And I rode that thing hard. Now on a 95 KTM 300 (and I envy you guys on much newer bikes) which really has been good....just no fun to get jetted correct. Still want something new, and it's nice to read how others are truthfully getting along with what they ride.

[Neil E.]

You are talking about the joys of owning an "offbrand" bike. It is what it is. At some point we all get tired of what we ride and hope for a clean start with a new bike. But then we add all the necessary accessories for bashing around offroad and that alone is a good chunk of time. Past that effort, it seems like too much wrenching and too little riding.

Here's what I've learned; buy the machine that has:
1) the best suspension
2) a good solid engine
3) available accessories (large tank, better seat, high output stator etc.)

The only problem is that no one manufacturer has all this.