Red is the colour of passion . Lipstick . Sports cars . Motorcycles . Red is sexy ... and the Mediterranean countries know this . Ducati built its very passionate ( and successful ) core around red motorcycles . Those wily Italians . And on the other side of the Med ’ they know this too . Spanish bike maker GasGas has a storied history making beautiful , successful trials and enduro machines . GasGas started making trials ( moto-trials ) motorcycles in 1985 . As for many Mediterranean automotive manufacturers things aren ’ t always plain sailing , and this was the case with GasGas . To cut a long story short , GasGas found themselves in a little bother in 2015 where it was bought by Torrot Group , and then again by Pierer Mobility Group in July 2020 – who also own KTM and Husqvarna . And this is where the story gets interesting . July 2022 saw GasGas unveil its first bigger capacity road-going machines , the SM700 Supermoto and the ES700 Enduro . And that ’ s what we have here , the GasGas ES700 Enduro , possibly the last of the big capacity trail bikes ( more on this later ...).
WHAT IT IS Ok , so , let ’ s get rid of the elephant in the forums .... yes , the ES700 is based on KTM ’ s 690 Enduro R . It doesn ’ t take a rocket scientist to see this . Over the years KR has tested several iterations of this impressive big single and editor Ben attended the launch of the very first 690 Enduro way back in 2008 . After Pierer Mobility Group ’ s acquisition of Husqvarna , along came the Husky 701 , the 701 long Range ( LR ), and , now , the Gas- Gas ES700 . When first released the 690 was more dirt bike than dual purpose , kinda like a very big brother to the 500EXC-F ... mainly a BIG dirt bike that was road legal . You know – raw and ropey power , but plenty of it and long travel suspension . Our old mate Jacko even raced a few enduros on one . But , over the years the 690 morphed into quite a civilised trail / dual purpose bike with the emphasis on exploring the road less traveled rather than being a hardcore dirt bike . I say this because the 690 / 701 totally lack weather protection and creature comforts like heated grips and screen , but , also , the fuel range
58 KIWI RIDER