topple over isn ’ t the job it is on larger , heavier adventure bikes .
ENGINE AND SUSPENSION This bike is EURO5 compliant and GasGas has had to mess around with the fuelling to get it to meet the legislation . It feels to be running on the lean side of things at the bottom end of the rev range and this makes the low revs area feels a bit lacking . It ’ s a bit weak , which is good in that it doesn ’ t shoot forward with a small sniff of throttle , but it does make the bike easy to stall . I snapped the front brake lever when it stalled turning around at the top of a big dirt climb , breaking the front brake lever . I do like a stubby lever for two-finger use … but a new one will rush you around $ 100 . I ’ ve since fitted metal-framed hand guards to replace the standard plastic ‘ dirt shields ’, which will stop it happening again . The WP suspension is decent and takes all that I ’ ve thrown at it , both with luggage fitted on adventure rides and without . I ’ d say that it can feel harsh on sharp-edged bumps , especially as the road speed creeps up , but it ’ s not a deal-breaker . I ’ ll probably have the suspension re-valved at some point to make it more compliant on the high-speed compression side of things .
KIWI RIDER 105