Spain killers!
By TMX Archives on 16th Sep 04
Gas Gas unveil their '05 trio of full-on two-stroke enduro weapons fresh outta the Spanish factory THE GAS Gas test was scheduled for the day after the Fast Eddy six-hour race - using the same Ellesmere venue - so it really was going to be a crackin' test of all the full-on enduro aspects of the two-stroke Gassers. The test venue was a perfect blend of speed sections, technical stuff and serious roughness from the six hours. Today was gonna be a good day. Gas Gas make enduro and trials bikes. The enduro range is exactly that - these bikes are specifically designed and manufactured for off-road endurance racing, they are not modified MX race bikes. After many years on the world enduro circuit the Spanish manufacturers use the valuable lessons learned through competition to develop their production range of bikes to make some of the leading enduro-specific machines on the market today. Another quite refreshing idea the Spaniards have come up with is to make each bike a different colour. Yellow = 200cc, red = 250cc, blue = 300cc. But enough background, let's crack on with the riding. The baby of this group test with a mature performance. The 200 Gasser was top of my list to abuse as I enjoy the one-twenny-five feel of 200cc bikes. They just love to be chucked around and provide the extra power to get you out of trouble when you bury it in the brown stuff. I hadn't ridden a 200 Gasser before so I didn't really know what to expect. The seating position in relation to the handlebar and footpegs is just about right - even for me as a six-foot-plus Irishman. The top triple clamp is a crackin' unit as it provides an option of a forward and back position for the handlebar clamps. This kind of stuff is down to personal preference and this particular test rider preferred the back position for the kind of going on the day - although on longer rides, where you might be on the pegs more, the forward position may be the hot ticket. Like I say - it's personal, you find out for yourselves (what am I? Your mother?). All the controls felt easy and positive on first impression and once set in position we were ready to rock. The kickstart is the nuts on the Gassers. Small and compact. The 200 starts every time with a wee prod of the puppy - and that's what startin' bikes is all about Rog... An ideal trait of any enduro bike is low-down smooth power so we set off to find some testing, gnarly climbs to give the little one a good seein' to. One of the first things I noticed with the 200 was the stable and easy feel the motor gave to the bike as a package - a good motor does this. When a motor works well it allows the rest of the bike to perform and the yellow Gasser certainly has this quality. Right from the off things felt good with an incredible amount of tractable power coming from the little lump as it fired me up the steepest root n' rut-filled climbs with ease. Where you think the motor is going to die it finds another lower power level and just keeps on truckin'. That's the beauty of the extra power of the 200 over a 125 and Gas Gas have got it right with the usability of the bottom-end. On speed work I found the best way to use the motor was to short shift it as it didn't really enjoy being revved real hard, although I think with maybe one size larger main-jet the 200 would spread its wings. As things were, even with my large frame on board, the motor refused to struggle - even when buried deep in the loamy berms and deep clay ruts around the test site. The balance of the bike really comes into its own in the woods as it feels easy to flick around as the suspension works really well on the first part of the stroke. My only small criticism of the suspension was that at around the two-thirds travel point the shock was finding a hard point, making things tip and causing de-stabilisation. This could be a one-off but I have to tell it as I find it and the shock felt a little over-sprung at that point. This really is the only thing I can comment slightly negatively on as the forks felt great as well as the rest of the package. The Gasser 200 really is a great thing to ride for pilots of all abilities. Geoff Walker For Geoff's verdict on the 250 and 300cc Gassers don't miss the October issue of dbr – on sale September 17