Since joining the big Austrian KTM group, GAS-GAS has made no secret of entering the road bike market, and has done so with a 'dual' model. The same base serves the ES (Enduro version) and the SM (Supermoto version) that share the frame and engine, but there are many differences between them.
GASGAS had already shown their intentions on the asphalt with their Moto3 team, so it was only a matter of time before they added a road model to their Motocross and Enduro ranges. That's what they did now, although there was no innovation in the technical part, since they took the same KTM/Husqvarna models and basically changed the look with the aggressive GASGAS decoration, and a bit of ergonomics for the rider.
The platform from which these two bikes came from is that of the KTM 690 Enduro R and KTM 690 SMC R, and the Husqvarna 701 Enduro and 701 Supermoto, which feature the LC4 single-cylinder engine, the largest and most powerful single-cylinder in production.With a camshaft only driving the four valves, it has a very compact head, but is still able to offer 74 bhp at 8 rpm and 73,4 Nm of torque ate 6.500 rpm. The gearbox is a six-speed, and the clutch is slippery and power-assisted, reducing torque to the rear wheel on deceleration and 'livelier' downshifts, but squeezing the discs harder against each other the harder you accelerate. With this we have a very efficient clutch without a hard touch on the lever. It also has a common quickshift system that works to downshift and upshift. The electronics are present in more aspects, thanks to the ride-by-wire accelerator. Mode 1 is Street Mode on the ES 700 and SM 700 and offers a quick and lively response, while ABS and Traction Control (TC) remain active. Mode 2 already differs on both bikes: On theES 700 it is Offroad Mode, making the throttle more direct and reducing the TC action, letting the wheel skid when it has to, and allowing the front wheel to lift without cutting back on power.On the SM 700 it is the same motto, making the throttle response more aggressive and switching to Supermoto TC, which lets the front wheel lift and the rear wheel skid under acceleration at corner exit, very Supermoto style. On both bikes Mode 2 disables ABS on the rear wheel, and the TC can also be disconnected from the same computer where you choose the Modes. The Bosch Cornering ABS, which relies on tilt sensors to send information to the ECU and other control units to adjust the action accordingly. The exhaust was designed to comply with Euro5, but to emit a strong sound, allowing the single-cylinder to 'breathe' without restriction and 'fit' perfectly with the lines of the two bikes.
In terms of cycling they also share everything with their Austrian sisters, and almost everything with each other. The frame is steel lattice trusses in the style of Rally bikes, offering rigidity and flexibility at just the right points. The aluminium swingarm is also shared, and the rear sub-frame, which also takes the place of the 13.5 litre fuel tank, is a single piece of tough polyamide plastic. It's very strong, and helps keep the centre of gravity lower. The air filter box and all the plastics and the seat are similar on both bikes, and obviously with a different identity from KTM and Husqvarna, but this is where the paths separate.
The spoke wheels with 21" in the front and 18" in the rear, with Continental TKC tyres, are what most notice between the ES and the SM, but the differences are deeper. The fork is a WP XPLOR, with open cartridge and similar to the ones used on Enduro bikes. The left one has the cartridge(and tuning) for compression, and the right one for extension, thus avoiding that one thing influences the other when we use the tuners on the top of the sheaths to adjust. The steering tables have the right flex for this Enduro version and the handlebar mounts with 'silent-blocks' to absorb vibrations, and braking features a two-piston caliper biting off a ø300mm disc.With Mode 2, Offroad, you turn off the ABS on the rear wheel, but you can still turn the ABS off completely for more 'serious' off-road riding, and it only comes back on again by switching the bike off and back on again at the key.
The Supermoto bike has 17" aluminium wheels, light and black for a more 'racing' look. Continental ContiAttack SM EVO tyres are fitted, also with light casing to guarantee a better handling. The suspension is also from WP, obviously, but with an APEX fork specifically designed for Supermoto. It also has a compression adjuster on the left sheath and an extension on the right, and they are mounted on special steering tables. They also mount the handlebars with rubber mounts to absorb vibrations, but they have a 24 mm offset in the standard position, which can be changed to 22 mm easily, which allows a great deal of change in the riding behaviour in terms of agility and/or stability. Front braking is a lot stronger, with a four-piston radial caliper taking a bite out of a 320mm disc, and a radial pump on top too.
The shock absorber is also a WP APEX, and rear braking is identical on both bikes, with a single-piston caliper and a ø240mm disc.
They are obviously different bikes, because the concepts and uses for which they were designed are almost the opposite, but they are also slightly different from the bikes from which they descend. It was near Girona, a few kilometres from Barcelona and the original home of GASGAS, that we were presented these first road bikes from the brand, and we also had two extra surprises. With the ES 700 we rode almost always off-road, with a route of more than 50 km that varied from rolling single-track to wide and open forest tracks, including a passage inside a river. The 150 kg weight is not a bad thing, thanks to a good weight distribution and a low centre of gravity. It is easy to ride even on single-track and with good pace, but obviously at a less aggressive pace than on a 'smaller' enduro bike. We can, and do, go fast, especially in the open areas where we can exploit the 74 horsepower more, we just have to do it the right way. The quickshift is useful on the road but not so useful off-road, and there were a few times when the bike failed and I couldn't understand why. It was the boot touching the gear pedal and activating the electronic part of the system, but without enough pressure to change the gear, so that was the reason for the failure. Of course, from then on, I was more careful with the left foot, but it is still not very useful in those circumstances. The suspension works well, with good reading on small irregularities and handling well some bigger impacts when going faster. Still the shock is slightly stronger than the fork, which allows us to carry a load for a trip without the ES 700 complaining. That's exactly the potential of this bike: grab the pack and the bike, leave the house on the asphalt and do rough kilometres on and off road, knowing that we have a sturdy bike, with a reliable engine, with great maintenance intervals.
To finish the morning, we rode in a track with some jumps, curves with and without support and fast areas. The ES 700 didn't deny itself, and the truth is that it gave us several fun laps, with the cherry on top being the Spanish rider Laia Sanz who joined us on the track for a few laps.
Supermoto is much more alive of reactions than Enduro, and that was visible right from the first kilometres of the 100 or so we rode during the afternoon, mostly on national roads. Lower, harder suspensions, different injection maps and a more aggressive front geometry give the motto for a super fun and safe bike. The pace increased along the way as we noticed the limits of the SM, or, more precisely, the almost absence of them. The truth is that we were already going very fast, in a very strong rhythm, braking late, making trajectories, correcting curves that were tight in the middle, and the SM700 never had a strange or unpredictable reaction. The suspensions are firm but with good reading and some comfort,without having a 'setting' too 'racing', and the bike is quite stable of geometry.The engine response is always full from the low regimes, where it is smoother than you expect from a single-cylinder, and pulls linearly and without breaks until the top of 74 hp. Quick shift works well and is useful on this version, whether on the road or on circuit, as we eventually saw, but we'll get to that in a moment. Braking is superb, both on impact and on pure power, 'getting us out' of tight spots without problems.With the SM 700 came the second surprise of the day, as we entered a private kart track and stopped the bikes by the pits. I think all the journalists cracked a smile when they saw the host, none other than Sete Gibernau, the Spaniard who was one of Valentino Rossi's great rivals and who has used his track to improve the technique of some of the world-class riders. We had the privilege of having a lesson with him and riding on the track at the same time as he improved our technique and we saw the bike's potential on the circuit. If in the technique part of this scribe there is still a lot to improve, GASGAS was up to the mark, with the same character it had shown us on the road. Easy, neutral and allowing us to have fun in safety. There, abusing more the inclination, the Continental tyres performed without problems or slipping, showing that they were a good choice to equip the SM.
This is where GASGAS men want to make the difference to the other brands of the group, with a younger and bolder approach. Aesthetically they are aggressive, quite different from Husqvarna, for example, which is at the opposite extreme. The prices of both is almost identical to the same models from KTM, and you can already find them in the dealers. Obviously there are already plenty of parts for the improved red 700, like exhausts, engine covers, number plate support, protections,etc, and there are also a lot of items for the users, like TT and SM equipments, boots, backpacks, jackets, helmets and the like.
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