GasGas-Man (Girard) of the Houston contingent of the Gas Gas Riders Forum drove me up to somewhere NW of Lake Conroe, Texas for some romping in the National Forest north of the Houston Metro area.
Introductions were made as we suited up in what would turn out to be some of the most humid riding I've done since Ohio. Girard said he wanted to warm up the Gasser so he put me on the WR250F for the first couple of miles. I think he really wanted to make sure I was worthy of riding on his brand new '07 GasGas250 (MX version).
I enjoyed my time on the Yammie. It was a very relaxing bike to ride. The power, while a bit lacking in the mid-range, rolled on smoothly and then hit if I needed it to in the upper revs. The suspension was shag-carpet smooth and behaved well on bumps when I was going slow to mid pace.
With several clicks to the suspension to make it a bit stiffer, I'd say it would be where I'd like it, especially for slow, techincal riding. Going faster wasn't much of a problem either and the WR tracked fairly well.
Getting speed on the WR required a big twist on the throttle. I'd have to re-grip the throttle to get an extra tug on the cable to get the engine moving. Maybe a different throttle cam is in order. It seemed like it behaved like a 4T version of a 125 2-stroke, with a little more bottom. It would chug fine in 1st and 2nd, but 3rd was a chore.
Handling was predictable and consistant, but a little slow. Slow to lean in and slow to turn. It got me wondering what a fantasy WR350 (OEM or kit) would feel like or maybe what the supposedly un-corked '08 WR250s would be like... or maybe a YZ250F...
Then I decided to kick start it a la a YZ. Not fun. The E-button brought it back to life.
Nice time. But it was time for a ride on the red Euro machine.
Ready To Ride:
Being dubbed GasGas-worthy by Girard, I climbed upon the Spanish Lady and found the ergos to my liking. I've read that the GG line is very friendly for we sub-six-footers. My 5'9" frame and 30" inseam were impressed with the layout. The balls of my booted foot rested comfortably on the ground. Another half-inch and I would have been flat-footed. I might have rotated the bars a bit more forward, but their position allowed for a nice, comfortable standing position.
That seat. Gawd, that
seat. A KTM is a couch by comparison. The GasGas seat is not only hard, it is in the shape of a trapezoid (a triangle with the pointy top cut off). The angles on the top of the seat nestle uncomfortably on one's nether regions. The two edges dig right ...(Edited by Moderator due to the grotesque description of a moto-wedgie)... resulting in excruciating pain when one gets too lax about one's sitting position. I would be standing as much as I could that day.
GG-Man told me that this 250 was an MX version in every sense of the word. Although he enjoys trail riding, this one was sprung and valved for the track. The flywheel weight (or lack thereof), would have this thing revving much quicker than the EC (enduro) line of Gassers, be they 250cc or 300cc.
"You mean like a KTM 250SX?" I asked?
"They wish." He cautioned, looking me over for any tell tale hint of fear as a bead of sweat anonymously trickled down the side of my head inside my helmet. The last time I rode Arizona's AZNative's impressive 250SX, it was at 7,000 feet, and even then I commented that I'd like to mellow it out some. What was this Gasser MX bike going to feel like at 650 feet?
I fired it up and we headed out. Things were happening a little fast for my taste and for the shakey hands of Gerard as he snapped this shot.
It took a mile or two but I was able to come to terms with the bike. Loads of scary power, and I could only wonder what would happen when I found the hit. But there was no hit. It just kept producing power in a fairly linear way. Good for me.
Still, there was a lot of power to deal with. The first sections were all curvy flat track in first and second gear. I tamed the bike by riding in 2nd gear most of the time until I got accustomed. I thought that it would have difficulty pulling 2nd gear but the combination of the powerful motor, elevation, and the perfectly spaced six-speed tranny -- all was fine... even third gear was pulling well out of slow corners.
Part of the difference is that GG-Man put on a 52T rear sprocket which (I think) is 4 teeth bigger. It seemed perfect to me, from a pure ratio standpoint. But the power of the bike had me spinning the tire through the sand so much that I wondered if I could have ample control of this MX bike on a rocky hill climb.
Unfortunately, there would be no enduro 300 Gasser for me to test ride, so for now, I can only contemplate the behavior of a mellow CDI and a heavier flywheel (although the 275 modded bike I rode detailed below might give me a hint).
The 250MX bike did have the switchable CDI map on the bars, but I rode most of the time with it in "Rain" mode instead of "Sun" mode. I didn't notice the difference between the two settings and really didn't expect to since I rarely got a chance to take the bike through the entire rev range.
While I was figuring out the power issues I was having an interesting time with the handling. I assumed that it would turn as fast as a KTM200 (which turned too fast for me). In actuality, it turned somewhere in between the 200 and the '07 250SX/XC that I rode. Which was just perfect for me. I'm thinking that the lower seat height played a part in that as it allowed me to lean it in with more control.
As fast as it turned, I would have expected it to be unstable at speed, and/or wobbling through roots and rocks. On the contrary, it was paradoxically very stable and planted. When I began to get comfortable with the throttle I found some sections where I could go fast for three or four seconds over whoops (small and medium) as well as roots.
Of course, with the MX suspension, the faster I went, the more it liked it. The interesting thing was that I felt no sensation of the back end shifting left and right. It felt railed over some challenging terrain. The closest I've come to that sensation was on an '07 Honda CRF450X (which still felt big and clunky) as well as AZNat's and Derik Staley's KTM250s (a young twenty-something Arizona 250A rider). But the GasGas was better. I saw one nasty section coming ahead and I stopped, dialed down the Scotts steering dampener and took off. Straight and true with no deflections.
Here is the only straight section on the entire 20-mile loop. So starved for speed are these Houston riders that they fondly call this section "The Tramway."
I managed 4th gear:
During part of the ride, Girard was riding behind me, and although I didn't notice it, he decided the shock needed the compression reduced a tad and the rebound slowed. He was satisfied with that. I didn't care one way or the other.
I also noticed that my riding position on this bike was more aggressive than I've been on other bikes. I thought it was the frame layout, but Girard pointed to the Pivot Pegs I had unknowingly been suspended upon. They only rotate about 15 degrees or so, but it made all the difference. When I was leaning forward, I wasn't on the edge of the pegs, I was on the pegs. The pegs felt larger than they were. Confidence inspiring.
The rear brake pedal had the same feeling. It felt as if it were the size of a half-dollar. I always found it with no fuss. Curious, I finally looked down to see why it felt the way it did. Nothing jumped out at me, but for some reason it worked well.
I also got to hop on the WEC version of the bike owned by Mister Boomhauer. This beauty had a 300 bottom end and a 250 top end with some sort of other mods that equated to a 275-ish bike. This bike *did* have enduro suspension and an engine that was perhaps somewhere in between a 250 and a 300, but I didn't ask what kind of porting or CDI it had. That bike rode well too, albiet somewhat differently in the behavior of the motor, jetting, and throttle. Everything else, down to the Pivot Pegs were the same.
At the end of the ride, I found myself drenched in sweat that can only be created by riding a dirt bike through twenty miles of turn course in 80% humidity next to a lake. I was completely soaked. I was more soaked than when we rode in the rain in Flagstaff. I was so soaked, that when I changed into my shorts to go eat pizza and drink beer, the waitress couldn't stop looking at my crouch. Turns out that the sweat from my undies had soaked through my shorts which made it look like I'd pottied myself.
Rick
I really liked the 200 I raced. I would consider buying one in an instant. I'm thinking of saving up money during the school year, selling the KDX and getting rid of the tons of crap I have in house right now and by summer time I'll have enough for another woods bike. haha
