Chilly tests the 2011 Sixdays

[gasgasman]

Chilly White does a nice video demo of the 2011 Gas Gas EC300 Six Days.

http://www.enduro360.com/2010/12/01/featured/gas-gas-300-six-days-first-look/

He mentioned the 45mm Zokes have KYB internals!!!

 

[twowheels]

Chilly White ...

[He] mentioned the 45mm Zokes have KYB internals!!!

He's the first one to have mentioned that ... not sure if I'd bet the farm on it. He may have confused the forks with the KYBs fitted to the new Huskys.

Looking forward to his ride comments from the Tecate though.

 

[john01]

I think I've heard and seen enough now to want the six day over the standard EC/XC. Thanks for posting up the info. Now do I want the 200 or 300 six day....that is the question.

 

[webmaster]

He's the first one to have mentioned that ... not sure if I'd bet the farm on it. He may have confused the forks with the KYBs fitted to the new Huskys.

Looking forward to his ride comments from the Tecate though.

In my mind the Zoke cartridge is better than the KYB - the materials and hard coating will hold up better in the long term and once the valving quirks are worked out they are fantastic.

Talking to Les - one thing to look out for on the marzocchi is the torque on the lower triple clamp - with the strong three bolt setup on the GG clamp - you can deform the upper tube and cause binding and wear at this point. No big deal, just be careful...

By the way, Les and I have identical XR playbikes - his has ohlins forks and shock - mine has the zoke 45mm front forks and ohlins shock. Once valved by Les - I really can't tell them apart...


Jeff

 

[ScottyR]

Talking to Les - one thing to look out for on the marzocchi is the torque on the lower triple clamp - with the strong three bolt setup on the GG clamp - you can deform the upper tube and cause binding and wear at this point. No big deal, just be careful...

Good point. I only use 2 bolts on any clamps with 3.

 

[webmaster]

I think it would be better to use all 3 bolts - they are of relatively small diameter. just be very careful when applying torque to the three lower bolts. The reason I say this is that Les told me that the upper fork tube has a thinner wall than it's husky equivalent. You do want to distribute the load as much as possible - just don't over-do it and equally torque the bolts.

Watch out for older torque tables supplied by GasGas from earlier model years - they are sometime wrong and can lead to a few stripped out threads - Glenn (GMP) came up with a nice torque table - I have it posted on the main website, note that glenn has bottom triple clamp bolts flagged with comment "Critical to avoid fork binding"...

jeff

 

[GMP]

Wow thats 10 yrs old now! I have the original on my garage wall with some adjustments. I backed off even more on the 16Nm listed, primarily because I always use anti-seize (like you should) and that affects torque. Off hand I think the general rule is 20 - 30% less tightening torque with an anti-seized/greased fastener of this size for the same clamping force. Never a slippage problem and the fork works fantastic, so I tend to think that wide clamp area at a lower torque is a good thing.

 

[webmaster]

You know I was trying to remember another italian fork that came with KYB cartridges long ago. It was the CRE250 that came with paioli forks that had KYB cartridges in the mid-90s; Maybe chilly had the two forks confused - marzocchi and paioli...

jeff

 

[dcg141]

Chilly mentioned the brake pedal. Mine sticks way out and its the one thing on the bike I'm not that fond of. Anyone tried flexing that back in some??? Looks like it might break if I try to bend it too much.

 

[Nhuskys]

You know I was trying to remember another italian fork that came with KYB cartridges long ago. It was the CRE250 that came with paioli forks that had KYB cartridges in the mid-90s; Maybe chilly had the two forks confused - marzocchi and paioli...

jeff

VOR's also came with Paioli/Kayaba Forks

 

[GMP]

The pedals can be manipulated safely with heat from a MAPP torch. I've fixed/tweaked several. The large bend has to clear the frame guard, so to tuck it in you need to work it in the straight section.

Does anyone have a pic of the new pedal pivot configuration? Do they still use the M8 bolt and sleeve with the narrow shoulder?

 

[dcg141]

The pedals can be manipulated safely with heat from a MAPP torch. I've fixed/tweaked several. The large bend has to clear the frame guard, so to tuck it in you need to work it in the straight section.

Does anyone have a pic of the new pedal pivot configuration? Do they still use the M8 bolt and sleeve with the narrow shoulder?

That is the same setup thats on the 11's. Kawasaki brake pedals look awful close.

 

[GMP]

I have a much stronger pivot post I've been using for years now on two different bikes. I designed it and Les made me a very nice proto, but at the time it would be a little pricey for the limited demand. Perhaps now is the time. I would want another one on a new bike if the '11 setup has not been changed, as I've bent and broken a couple OEM setups.

 

[fury1]

glenn i would buy one!!

 

[gasgasman]

Here's Chilly's final review.

http://www.enduro360.com/2010/12/24/featured/exclusive-2011-gas-gas-ec300-six-days-review/