tEST
1996 Gas Gas JTR250
remar a e
By Donn Maeda
hat's in a name? In the case of
the newest Gas Gas trials bike,
th e new JTR nomenclature
stands for "[ordi Tarres Replica ." Replica - so that's what the new racy-sounding "R" stands for.
We beg to d iffer.
The 1996 JTR250 is without a doubt
the most impressive 250cc-class offering
to roll off of the tiny man-powered production lin e at the Girona, Spain-based
Gas Gas factory . The new bike looks
almo st exactly like the works bike that
[ord i Tarres rode to his record-exten d ing seventh World Cha mpionship in '95,
and we suspect that the mo tor delivers a
grunt that's on par with Tarres' excep tiona l skills as well. Sure, Tar res ' bike
was powered by a one-off 270cc motor,
but the power of the new 250cc engine is
so improved that one would al most
believe that an exira 20cc were crammed
inside.
W
o
(Right)
Seventhrank ed Nati onal
rider Mall
Moore lelt that
the new Gas
Gas was much
Improved over
last year 's . He
will contest the
Nationals
aboard a 270cc
vers ion .
(Below) The
1996 JTR250
looks much
li ke the bike
seven -time
. Wor ld
Champ ion
Jordl Tarres
competed on
last season.
50 WHAr5 NEW?
As promised, the same frame style
that Tarres used throughout the '95 season was incorporated into the '96 JTR.
The smallish, square dou ble downtubes
of th e p ast have been replace d by th e
beefy-looking stamped-a luminum spars.
Nestled be tw een the dow n tu bes is a
new, la r ger -v ol u m e radia to r and ai r
du ct. The rest of the frame is all-new as
well, with redesigned engine suppo rts
an d a stronger bash pla te. The shockmount area has been stre ngthened, and
a new integrated rear subframe rounds
out the chassis changes. The tiny new
subframe replaces last year's removable
u nit, which was easily d ama ged in a
crash. Th e new sub frame is tucked neat-
