The majority of the hours I have spent on the GASGAS EC 350F this month were out clearing fallen trees from the trails I intended to use for the first VIP Experience GASGAS ride. There have been some pretty crazy storms through the area lately knocking trees down all over the place.
The first day I spent clearing trails on the 350, it was not happy at all going at walking pace. Not getting any air flow made the engine run very hot, and the coolant boiled quite a few times with steam going everywhere. As much as I don’t mind pushing a bike to its limits while racing, I don’t like torturing a motorcycle when it is not necessary so I got the 350 a radiator thermo fan.
I went with a genuine GASGAS unit as it made fitting very easy. All the holes, plugs and screws were exactly where they need to be and it only took me thirty minutes to fit the fan and have the 350 ready for some slow speed action.
The following day I headed back out on the 350 clearing fallen trees and the best thing was, I had no more radiator coolant steam hitting my goggles. The fan did its job and kept the 350 running at a much cooler temperature all day. Now that I have a fan fitted I am looking forward to venturing into some Hard Enduro tracks to see how the mid capacity thumper fairs in a two stroke dominated place
For now, the next mission for the 350 is leading the first VIP EXPERIENCE GASGAS ride, as much as I was excited about leading the very first VIP ride I was looking forward to watching the 350s hour meter clocking up 70 hours. During the VIP ride everyone rotates between all the different GASGAS enduro models so they can find their favourite.
Unfortunately for me one of the riders took a liking to my 350 and I missed seeing its milestone of clocking up 70 hours. I did get it back at the end of the weekend for the final few hours of riding. That was quite interesting as it gave me the chance to see how a 70 hour old GASGAS felt compared to the new one I had just gotten off.
The most noticeable difference between my 70 hour old 350 and a new one was the seat foam feel. Mine had gone quite soft compared to the new one. Apart from the very different feel in seat foams I was quite surprised at how similarly my well used 350 felt compared to a fresh one. I am pretty confident that new seat foam and servicing of the fork and shock would have my 350 feeling like new again. However with my Desert coaching being flat out and the second VIP EXPERIENCE GASGAS ride not far away I don’t see this 350 getting too much love before it clocks over 80 hours.
GASGAS EC350F
RRP: $14,490
WARRANTY: One months (31 days)
DISTRIBUTOR: GasGas Australia
WORDS | PHOTOS // BEN GRABHAM
