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Written By: Michael Allen (AKA Janky Mike)
It’s been quite some time since I’ve been able to ride and enjoy an off-road specific motorcycle and if you listened to the podcast Kris and I did this summer you’ll understand a little better why that is. I’m now back to a point in my life where I am enjoying riding and racing on two wheels and when a friend of mine asked if I wanted to race a local SRA Grand Prix at Glen Helen I asked Kris if he had an off-road bike I could use, and he told me to come pick up a 2024 Gas Gas EX 450. Admittedly I’m not much of a 450 guy on a moto track as I feel like it’s too much bike for my abilities, but when it comes to off-road I’m not as scared of a big cc 4-stroke.
On the morning of the race I got to Glen Helen and did my typical pre-race bike check of tire pressure (14psi front, 13psi rear) and checked that the sag was at 105mm. As I headed to the starting like for practice the first thing I noticed was that I didn’t really like the start/stop button on the handlebars. To me it took too much effort to engage the starter button and it doesn’t have a positive engagement. The second thing I noticed was that the bike will not start in gear when it’s cold, it will also stall when you put it in gear unless you rev the engine before putting it in gear and keep the revs up. On the sight lap, I started to get used to the engine traits and how the bike handled. Since I almost never ride 450s the bike felt like a power monster although I’ve been told that the Gas Gas is one the tamest of the three versions (KTM, Husky, Gas Gas). After the sight lap, I swung back by the truck to top off the fuel tank, put fresh goggles on and take a final drink of water before heading to the line.
I took a rather poor spot on the line that was actually a bike length behind the other racers because the line was full and I didn’t want to rub bars with the fast guys. As the green flag flew I dumped the clutch and got off to a crap start and tucked inside the first turn (I mean WAY inside). Like any other race everyone funneled into line and I started to find my groove with the Gas Gas. When at a faster trail riding pace this bike is a blast. The suspension may be a little soft for motocross, but for off-road it has a lot of comfort. The front end has a slight springy feel (fast), but in chatter and smaller bumps I prefer that feel. That springy feel is also felt in the rear and can make racing and riding more enjoyable as it gives the bike a light and poppy sensation which makes smaller obstacles more fun because you can turn whoops and braking bumps into small jumps (finding your inner Jett Lawrence). That sensation also gives the bike a light feeling for being a 450. Cornering the Gas Gas when there is traction is confidence inspiring and doesn’t take a lot of input from the rider. When things dry out though the 450cc power can allow the rear end to step out quite easily.
Being that the course was a GP there were plenty of high speed sections and there was plenty of power to accommodate and desire I had to test out the top speed. I was shocked at how stable the bike was when in fifth gear even when getting off the throttle when bikes generally feel a bit nervous. There was the typical pitching sensation that comes from a springy (softer) suspension setup when transitioning from on/off throttle, but I never felt like the bike wanted to head shake or become twitchy.
The one negative that I found with the EX450 was the clutch engagement. Although I generally like hydraulic clutches, I never seemed to gel with the Gas Gas. I like when a clutch has a large window of engagement, but for me the Gas Gas has too large of an engagement window. What I mean is that unless the lever is pulled into the bar, the clutch seems to drag. During the race I stalled the engine four times and then had to put the bike in neutral in order to get the engine started again. One thing that I did to semi remedy the issue was to adjust the lever as far out as it would go so that when the lever was pulled in the clutch was more engaged. The EX comes with and 18” Dunlop AT81 rear tire which I’ve never been a fan of due to its lack of side bite and lateral stability when cornering, but I am a fan of the 33F front tire. I was definitely disappointed that I had to go buy handguards because I feel like any bike marketed as an off-road bike should come standard with them as well as a skid plate which the EX also did not have.
After the 45 minute race I still had about 1/8 of a tank of gas left which was about what I expected for fuel consumption riding at a faster GP pace with a 2.3 gallon tank. I came away pleasantly surprised at the Gas Gas and I look forward to spending more time on this bike riding and racing off-road in the future. Feel free to email me with any questions you may have about the EX450 as well as any suggestions of parts you’d like to see tested on the red Austrian machine at michael@keeferinctesting.com.
Positives:
Fun/playful off road setting
Engine feel (linear/easy to ride)
Stability at speeds on small chop
Negatives:
Braktec Hydraulic Clutch (Engagement is much more finicky than Brembo)
Stalling (Can be attributed to clutch engagement feel)
Starting when cold
