Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128139
(Left) The Gas Gas' motor makes tons of power, which came In handy. (Far left) In the deep sand. (Below) The Spanishmade bike is a looker and certainly got Its share of attention In the Laughlin pits. bit on the smaller, choppier bumps. handling. The bike also shifted well, Generally, the Gas Gas felt very stable and I was never really worried even under a heavy load in the about it pitching me over the bars or anything drastic like that, once I got a feel for the bike. As far as comfort, I felt right at beach-like sand. Overall, there really wasn't any- Straight-line stability is another good characteristic of the Gas Gas. thing I didn't like about the bike. I ended up finishing second in the race, home on the Gas Gas. I never really and I give the Gas Gas most of the credit for my decent finish. The bike had the thought in the back of my had plenty of power to deal with the head that I was riding some "weird" Euro bike, when instead the bike felt not that much different than the RM250 I rode just a few hours earlier. A lot of this had to do with the Gas Gas' light-feeling controls (especially the hydraulically operated clutch), relatively narrow profile and quick sand, and the suspension to handle the whoops at speed, and it cornered quite well, too - at least as far as I could tell, since turns were few and far between at the Laughlin race. I might've only ridden the Gas Gas for 90 minutes, but it was 90 minutes well spent. eN ~[fJ@:K~51J5@ff]1]5@[fiJfB ~@@~ @&J~ @&J~ E@@ ~@@ ENGINE TYPE: You can order your Gas Gas XC 300 with either Ohlins or WP forks. The Ohlins will cost you more, though. Water-cooled, two-stroke, singe, w/case-reed induction and exhaust-valve DISPLACEMENT: ...............•................................294.7cc BORE x STROKE: ........••...................................72 x 72mm COMPRESSION RATIO: 14:1 CARBURETlON: 38mm Keihin CLOTCH: _•....................Hydraulic multi-disc TRANSMISSION: 6-Speed IGNITION: Kokusan digital CDI (programmable) SUSPENSION FRONT: Ohlins inverted 43mm (XC WP inverted 43mm) REAR: ..........•.......................Gold Series Ohlins w/330mm stroke FUEL CAPACITY: .2.8-gal. SEAT HEIGHT: ..........•...................................... .38.1 in. GROUND CLEARANCE: 14.6 in. BRAKES FRONT: 260mm disc, w/Nissan double-piston caliper REAR: 260mm disc, w/Nissan double-piston caliper WHEELS FRONT: ..................•..............................D.I.D rim 21-in. REAR: .......................•..•••••..............•....D.I.D rim 18·in. WHEELBASE: ............••....................................1475mm CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT: .218 lbs. MSRP: XCO $7649/XC $6949 cycle n e _ S • JANUARY 30. 2002 15