Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/280528
18 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com still a quick turner. It also chugged up the steep, muddy leaf- covered hills with ease. Day two is when the GasGas really made an impression on me. I started the second day of testing aboard the GasGas, and after hitting the first few rocks, I knew I was in for a fun day. While the super light Sherco bounced around a little on the rocks, the GasGas was tracking cleanly in a straight line. The motor was equally impressive. I rode a gear or two higher all day long without complaint. The GasGas feasted on the muddy, rocky, hilly terrain all day. Whereas the Sherco killed it on day one in the flowing single track, the GasGas killed it on day 2. I didn't want to get off of it. We ran the stock jetting which was slightly rich but a good match for the technical terrain. Wheel spin was minimal when cruising through the gnarl. A couple of times through- out the day I would jump in front and whack the throttle back and found that the GasGas was quick enough for me (AA NETRA Enduro Rider). Its' strength, however, was in its smooth delivery of power - one that kept the bike constantly moving forward. A few of the hills were quite steep and rocky and yet I had no problem lugging the bike to the top. The motor really was a gentle giant this time around. What about the new Rieger shock? The best thing about the Rieger shock is that I hardly noticed it. It has an internal thermostat that is supposed to regulate the flow of oil based on the temperature of the oil. I can say that the shock per- formed consistently throughout the day. It also did a decent job soaking up the terrain and keeping the back end planted. The forks were also pretty good. They were initially better when noodling when through the rocks. Then I added three clicks to the compression settings and was able to keep it straight at speed. The Marzochi forks really are pretty adapt- able when you understand how to use the preload settings to your advantage. As mentioned above, the cornering characteristics on the GasGas are sharp. The GasGas has always been a quick turner and this year is no different. As far as the weigh sav- ings, I really couldn't get a sound feel for it as this 300 had the e-start. In fact, the e-start made the bike feel heavy. So what's not to like about the GasGas? In addition to the heavy starter motor, the steering radius is a little wide. We wove though some tight trees and I had to stop and back the GasGas up to make it around one corner. Aside from that, there's nothing weird or awkward about the GasGas. It takes a little time to get used to but once you get a feel for it, the bike does everything a woods rider will ask of it. Overall I had a great day on the GasGas - its motor was fan- tastic and the bike ate up the gnarly terrain. It's been four years and I have yet to have a bad day aboard the GasGas.