GASGAS HITS THE ROAD

The new GASGAS ES 700 and GASGAS SM 700 are a bit of a departure from the Spanish firm’s usual fare… they’re designed for the road.

We all know of GasGas. The iconic Spanish firm has made its name making competition-ready Supermoto, Enduro and Trail motorcycles since the mid-80s. But we’re starting to see some changes after its takeover by Pierer Mobility (who also own KTM and Husqvarna).

For the first time in its 37-year history, GasGas is going to be making bikes for the road. Okay, so in typical Pierer Mobility fashion, they’re spin-offs of KTM’s 690 SMC R (and by extension Husqvarna’s 701), but that doesn’t mean that the ES 700 and SM 700 aren’t worth getting exited about.

With their ‘fire engine’ red livery and white logo emblazoned on the side, the ES and SM certainly look the part – and with KTM’s much-loved, tried and tested big-bore single-cylinder 692cc engine taking centre stage, they should go almost as well as they look.

Kicking out a respectable 74bhp, the GasGas ES 700 and SM 700 both come kitted out with a lightweight chromium-molybdenum steel trellis frame; a die-cast aluminium swingarm; ‘state-of-the-art’ electronics;a six-speed gearbox (with a quickshifter); a 13.5-litre fuel tank; and Bosch ABS and a slipper clutch. Not bad, right? They’ve also got nice long service intervals, meaning you can cover 10,000km without needing to give it a really good onceover. Oh, and they can also be tweaked to make them suitable for A2 licence holders.

The main difference between the two is that the SM 700 gets slightly more road-biased 48mm WP suspension with a fully-adjustable rear shock, while the ES 700 comes fitted with WP’s XPLOR forks and rear shock unit.

While naysayers might argue that you’d be better off going out and buying the KTM or the Husky, as they’re much the same bike, there’s nothing wrong with wanting something that looks a bit different (but that has all the good stuff going for it as its two main rivals).

It’s an interesting move for GasGas and we’re very excited to see what comes next, but it’s clear that Pierer Mobility won’t be resting on its laurels and will continue to try and evolve the brand. Leaked documents show a big range of bikes are on the way, and there’s even been talk that we could see a GasGas team in the MotoGP paddock in the not-too-distant future. Wouldn’t that be something?

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