Newbie...just bought 2014 300R, need advice

[bkwdc]

Congratulations on your new purchase. You are gonna love your bike. Handles and out pulls anything out there. Extremely durable and dependable.

[95jersey]

First Ride Report:


So my previous couple bikes were a 2002 YZ250 and a 2013 Husky TXC310R for comparison. I sold the YZ, but still have the Husky. Rode the Gas Gas 300 for the first time Sunday. Only mods were pro taper bars, zeta bark busters, pillow top grips, and horsepower house silencer. The forks seemed pretty stiff (especially being new), so with the advice of another Gas Gas rider, I turned the pre-load adjusters all the way out and ran 18 clicks out on compression and rebound (both forks and shock). The thought was since the suspension was new and not broken in, to run it soft initially and go from there. All my riding is done in soft sand (no rocks whatsoever). I am impressed with build quality (visually). I will say however, that the air filter design is ridiculous. There are no alignment holes on the intake and the filter basically just sits flat against the intake housing with nothing to align it to. Just seems such a cheesy design. There is no real way to know if you have the thing aligned properly...oh well, guess it must work.



First Impressions...My version has no e-start, and it was 38F outside, so getting her started took several kicks. Once warmed up, it was not a problem. I had a 2 mile drive to the trail head. Street manners were very good for a 2 stroke, but the horsepower pipe is quite loud. Roll on power down my street was very smooth (not like my YZ). So finally we get to the trail head and I am leading out of 4 riders. This trail opens up to a large sand pit so I had my chance to open the bike up and see what she could do. MAN talk about a power rush (hold the F on), definitely faster than my Husky, and just a tad faster than my YZ250. I think the Gas Gas has more mid range grunt than the YZ. Even in the sand the front wheel was lofting in the air. The bike tracked strait and felt planted, suspension felt surprisingly smooth and supple (especially considering how firm it felt when pushing down on it).



Hitting the Trail...So now for some trails. There is so much power on tap, that I am now being very cautious, riding well below my skill level. First thing I notice is how short the rear brake lever feels (actually a good thing). On my Husky and YZ you have to take your foot off the peg to reach the rear brake with proper feel. When I did the same on this bike, my foot hit the pipe. So the first couple turns were interesting as instead of grabbing a handful of brake, I grabbed a foot full of pipe. After a few tries I realized that leaving my foot on the peg and just applying pressure with my toes was sufficient. This took me a while to get use to, I keep taking my foot off the peg to find the brake and forgetting it was right there. It is not so noticeable by eye, but the rear brake lever is shorter than what I am use to. I see this however being a good thing once I get use to it.



The bike turned beautifully and was quick to transition, although I did notice the turning radius was larger than my Husky. I did not feel any extra weight and if anything the bike felt lighter than my Husky. The only negative I could find was the power delivery at med throttle. I was in trail that was not wide open, but certainly not a stick forest, but the bike kept hitting the power band, which created an instant rush in power, lofting the front wheel which made it difficult to control. This was not an issue in the faster trails, but the med speed trails took a ton of concentration. Too much throttle and the bike was leaping out from under me. It was kind of like riding a bucking bronco. My Husky with more manageable 4 stroke power shines in this type of environment. Good speed and traction with out ever feeling out of control. The rear also seem to kick in the whoops, forks felt great, but if I pushed the bike it wanted to throw me off the seat. This may be because the suspension is new and stiff, or a sag or set up issue, but none the less a handful.



Hitting the Trail (Part 2)...So now onto a bit tighter and more technical single track. My first thought was how am I going to manage these trails with all this power. So in 3rd I went and I kept the power down and just lugged it through the trail. We'll this worked, but when the trail opened up a bit and I got on the power, the bike hit the powerband and exploded. It is a lot to manage. My Husky on the other hand can be lugged in 3rd as easily and gives me the extra power when needed without the explosion. I must admit the front wheel being lofted at every twist of the throttle was getting a little old. When it got real tight, the bike would occasionally stall. The clutch was weird. Even though I had it pulled in at least 1/2 way, it was not enough to keep the engine from stalling in the tight. Also, I notice it would stick in the 1/2 pulled position, then slowly go back to fully extended and even when pulled all the way in, I could feel some engagement...maybe it needs to be bleed??



Got stuck in the mud, bike stalled, couldn't get out in 2nd or 3rd, had to go down to 1st with a lot of throttle. Again, my Husky would have pulled right out of this in 2nd (or 3rd) without stalling. Now onto the weight, I had my first fall (very small at low speed). First thing I though was, here we go all the stories about picking up a heavy bike. Not the case, was even easier than my Husky. I would say this bike is light and the 106kg advertised weight seems about right.



Things that need to be addressed...power delivery needs to be cleaned up. It hits too hard to early right now to be a good single track bike. It is too much work to manage. I know I am faster on my Husky even though it has less power. Is this all jetting and/or a power valve adjustment. I thought I just may need to get use to it, but having the front wheel loft every time I twist the throttle in single track is not confidence inspiring. Rear suspension needs to settle down a bit and stop trying to kick me off the bike. Bar position needs to go forward and up, just a bit too cramp. I can't get into a normal riding position. Clutch engagement is poor (and makes a lot of noise). Maybe a bleed. Also this thing sounded like it had a recluse with all the chatter. Is that normal? I hope not.



Again the power transition is poor, it goes from soft (not enough power) to a big front wheel lofting hit. This is great on MX or open trails and pits, but was a beast in technical trails.

[iamovru]

G2 throttle tamer will fix your whiskey throttle. And the main thing that I had to learn going from my 450 to my 300. Was to ride a gear or two higher in the tight stuff. Which up here is all the time Sounds like you like the bike! Congratulations and welcome to the Dark Side The chatter is the PV Gas Gas is famous for. It warns your friends you are coming.

[95jersey]

[95jersey]

Originally Posted by iamovru

G2 throttle tamer will fix your whiskey throttle. And the main thing that I had to learn going from my 450 to my 300. Was to ride a gear or two higher in the tight stuff. Which up here is all the time Sounds like you like the bike! Congratulations and welcome to the Dark Side The chatter is the PV Gas Gas is famous for. It warns your friends you are coming.

Problem with riding a gear higher was that the bike had very little bottom end at low RPM.

[Buysomerice]

If I'm in flowing tight stuff it's a manditory gear high. My bike shines in the low down grunt, I love it. When I need the power of the correct gear, it started out as a handful, until I learned to harness her with the clutch. Maybe need to look at the clutch? Also diffrent trans oil makes my bike/clutch feel diffrent could play with that.

[desertgasser300]

Originally Posted by 95jersey

Problem with riding a gear higher was that the bike had very little bottom end at low RPM.

Try some different jetting, not sure if you said you changed out the stock needle? I use a JD kit with the red needle and now have just two jetting changes during the year, one winter and one for summer. The rear shock sounds like it will need some massaging from a tuner? Or just a longer break in? Forgot you are not running an Ohlins. Some have used an S3 23oz. fly wheel weight with great results. Sounds heavy but it does work. I had one on mine and it makes the bike a tractor and still rips. I took mine off, being out here in the desert I didnt need more tractor effect. The air filter cage should have tabs on it that fit into the box that let the filter sit squarely and flush. The spring loaded design is great.

Guaranteed you wont find a sexier bike!!

[iamovru]

Originally Posted by 95jersey

UGLY BIKE! Should have bought a KTM

[shang]

You should have no problem taming the power. Mine has hardly any hit at all at this point. Mostly jetting did it, but I noticed a difference after cutting squish. Well, actually that's when I really changed the jetting so that's gonna do it for you. Try a different needle. There are tons of threads on here covering it.

I actually want some of the hit back. It just makes the bike more fun.

[iamovru]

BTW

I am glad to see you didnt get killed under the weight of the beast when you went down.