Fit of a GasGas EC300 coming from a KTM 300/380

[ghill]

I'm going to be selling my KTM 380 here in pretty short order. I'm 6'1 and mostly arms and legs, so the stretched out feel of the KTM's seems to feel alright to me (although KTM's are really all I've ridden, so I wouldn't know otherwise). I've been reading that the GasGas chassis are somewhat "cramped" for people over 6' at all. Is this just because of the seat height, or is the actual reach shorter than other bikes? By reach, I mean the horizontal distance from the footpegs to the handlebars. Seat height and bar heights can obviously be adjusted.

I demo'd an EC300 very briefly which I believe was an '08, and the seat felt lower, which it was, but that was about all I could feel out on a quick ride. I mostly felt the difference in weight distribution.

What are taller riders doing to the 300's besides the seat height?

 

[mountain thumper]

im 6 4 my former 07 300 fit me fine, the seat was really hard, but not too low. i almays put my bars straight up, levers straight forward.
the 98 250 im riding now feels a bit shorter in length, but overall is pretty comfy, all i did was the same with the bars

 

[bondo]

Different riders will have different impressions.

First, I can tell you that coming off of a '98 KTM, most any current bike you ride will seem compact by comparison.

We've got an'06 KTM 400. I got it to replace a '97 250 Katoom. At first, it seemed very cramped, so I got a tall seat. After riding with the tall seat, I went back to stock. The tall seat seemed to raise the CG while riding the bike and it didn't turn nearly as well as with the stocker.

We've also got an '08 GG 300 which has a Scott's underbar mount, so the bars are raised. We like it better with the stock seat than with the tall seat we tried. One other trick I've seen on this forum: Mount the footpeg springs IN FRONT of the peg itself on the footpeg bracket (you will notice stock is with the spring mounted behind the peg). This will move the pegs back about 1/2" and down about 1/4". The combination of bar position, tall seat and footpeg adjustment will open up the rider compartment, if the stock settings seem too cramped.

Regardless, I would try it first with the stock configurations, so you have a benchmark for the changes you make.

 

[stevethebrit]

Bar risers (3cm) made a huge difference for me. I'm 6' and think the seat/footpeg layout is fine om my 2008. Haven't tried any KTMs, so I can't really compare.