Berkyboy
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Just got back from a weekend of riding up in the Paul Bunyan State Forest (Akeley, Minnesota) with Hasslbri and Wannabe where we got to spend some serious time on the Hasslbri's 2008 FSR515.
In a word, WOW!
After receiving a special flywheel weight from the GasGas Racing R&D department in Spain we finally got a chance to put the bike through some serious riding this weekend. In all the bike logged over 100 miles of mostly tight single-track and never missed a beat.
The flywheel weight, which added over 10 oz of rotating mass, took away the occasional stall the 515 suffered from when it was ridden aggressively before. Prior to the change it was not uncommon for the motor to fall flat on its face if the throttle was chopped hard coming off of idle.
The 515 motor has always delivered an incredible amount of linear power right of the bottom and if you aren't careful you would find yourself out accelerating your riding skills if you held the throttle open to long. Most four-stroke's give the rider a warning as the bike hooks up as they normally start barking (read start making a lot of obnoxious noise from the muffler) as they start to build serious power. That noise reminds you its time to pay attention.
Not so with the 515. The bike, with its stock muffler, is deceptive in its quietness and has the ability to flat out haul a$$. The bike takes a smooth throttle hand, especially in the tighter stuff, but you learn quickly that it doesn't take a lot of throttle to pick up the pace and as Hasslbri put it "don't grab any clutch unless your serious."
The most surprising part is the FSR515's frame geometry and layout hides its weight incredible well and actually handles tight single-track more like a 200 two-stoke then a big-bore four-stroke. I spent most of the weekend on an '06 EC250 with a Clarke tank and each time I got on the 515 I felt like I was sitting on a 125.
I'm sure Hasslbri and Wannabe will chime in here soon but the bike surprised me. The only additions I'd add would be a G2 throttle cam set up, with the least aggressive cam installed, and for me at least a steering damper to help slow down the steering responsiveness. Don't get me wrong the bike handles like any other GasGas, which is very predictable, especially when riding tight rocky single-track, it's that I need a little help controlling all of that momentum I just created because I had I had to see how quickly I could accelerate to the next corner.
The additional flywheel weight made all the difference, especially if you have an aggressive riding style. Over the next couple of weeks were going to play with some mapping changes and we'll let you know how they go.
In a word, WOW!
After receiving a special flywheel weight from the GasGas Racing R&D department in Spain we finally got a chance to put the bike through some serious riding this weekend. In all the bike logged over 100 miles of mostly tight single-track and never missed a beat.
The flywheel weight, which added over 10 oz of rotating mass, took away the occasional stall the 515 suffered from when it was ridden aggressively before. Prior to the change it was not uncommon for the motor to fall flat on its face if the throttle was chopped hard coming off of idle.
The 515 motor has always delivered an incredible amount of linear power right of the bottom and if you aren't careful you would find yourself out accelerating your riding skills if you held the throttle open to long. Most four-stroke's give the rider a warning as the bike hooks up as they normally start barking (read start making a lot of obnoxious noise from the muffler) as they start to build serious power. That noise reminds you its time to pay attention.
Not so with the 515. The bike, with its stock muffler, is deceptive in its quietness and has the ability to flat out haul a$$. The bike takes a smooth throttle hand, especially in the tighter stuff, but you learn quickly that it doesn't take a lot of throttle to pick up the pace and as Hasslbri put it "don't grab any clutch unless your serious."
The most surprising part is the FSR515's frame geometry and layout hides its weight incredible well and actually handles tight single-track more like a 200 two-stoke then a big-bore four-stroke. I spent most of the weekend on an '06 EC250 with a Clarke tank and each time I got on the 515 I felt like I was sitting on a 125.
I'm sure Hasslbri and Wannabe will chime in here soon but the bike surprised me. The only additions I'd add would be a G2 throttle cam set up, with the least aggressive cam installed, and for me at least a steering damper to help slow down the steering responsiveness. Don't get me wrong the bike handles like any other GasGas, which is very predictable, especially when riding tight rocky single-track, it's that I need a little help controlling all of that momentum I just created because I had I had to see how quickly I could accelerate to the next corner.
The additional flywheel weight made all the difference, especially if you have an aggressive riding style. Over the next couple of weeks were going to play with some mapping changes and we'll let you know how they go.
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