THE SKINNY As a lightweight adventure bike for getting into harder terrain , the GasGas ES700 is leagues ahead of the midweight twin-cylinder adventure bikes on the market , let alone the 1000cc and over machines , coming in 50kg lighter than Yamaha ’ s Tenere 700 . The electronics work well . Both engine modes and the associated traction control and ABS settings are noticeably different from each other and do a good job in a variety of situations - and being able to turn the TC and ABS off will make the dirt-riding purists happy . I ’ m totally stoked with the GasGas for dirt riding and , while it ’ ll never compare with a lightweight enduro such as the Husky 501 or KTM 500 in the extreme stuff , it has 10,000km service intervals , is road legal due to the ABS and works better for distances . Improving the distance capability is next on my list , and I ’ ve just bought a Puig screen out of Europe to keep the wind off a bit . I ’ ll tell you about that once I ’ ve fitted and ridden with it .
106 KIWI RIDER