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I had the opportunity to ride an example from perhaps the most famous Spanish marque of motorcycle recently when I booked up for a days trial riding. The bike I would be riding to my adventures was a 2003 Gas Gas 250 Pampera. Not a full on enduro, or a pure trials bike the Pampera takes elements from both to create a sort of hybrid machine. While the riding position and stance leans more to a trail bike the water-cooled 250cc 2 stroke engine is tuned more for trails type work. This basically means it is great for ham-fisted inexperienced riders…like me!
It is incredibly light at 95kg, so if you need to move the bike to get get the best line or pick it up it can easily done. Over the day I rode the little Gas Gas I had to do both and really appreciated this svelte build on a couple of occasions. It was easy to shift line, pull out of ruts and when my talent run out and I fell off it was easy to pick back up and its robust nature meant no discernible damage either!
The Pampera has a relatively big flywheel and porting more orientated to low end torque rather than top end rush and power. So again you could trickle along on a whiff of throttle and just let the motor pull you along and out of trouble. Rob, owner of Adventure Rider from whom I had hired the bike has also fined tuned the engine and throttle response to suit the type of rider that come to use his services and the trails that surround his Shropshire home
I tackled rutted, muddy sections, fords, ascents, descents, woodland tracks and the Gas Gas just quietly got on with picking its way through and flattering its inexperienced pilot. I found the bike easy to ride and spend much of my time off road standing up on the pegs as the bike picked its way through ruts, grass and gravel with equal aplomb
The example I rode was a 2003 model and had been an 'experience' bike for the last 5 years. So for such a veteran the bike rode really well and seems to of stood up to the rigours of off-road life really well, although I suspect they may be an element of 'King Arthur's Axe' going on here…800 years old and original apart from the handle and the blade! When I last went 'green laning' I used Honda's diminutive CRF230L and the two bikes are clearly aiming at a similar type of rider. Of the two I think I would take the ride of the Honda, bit lower for me and combine it with the lightness of the Gas Gas
I suspect that in the right hands the Pampera would still be a respectable off road bike in some types of competition: to quote the Adventure Ride website: “A Pampera is easily capable of being ridden to Gold medal standard in the Motor Cycling Club's long distance events such as the Edinburgh, Exeter or Edinburgh trials. In fact, when first introduced they were so effective at long distance trials they became commonly known as 'the cheat's bike' “
So if you are looking for a good general purpose trials bike that can be used when your become more experienced the Pampera could well be a good option for you…you just have to find somebody willing to sell you one!
Link to the blog about our day out in Shropshire:https://bikemeet.net/forums/topic/green-lane-riding-in-shropshire-review-and-pictures/
I am not good enough to be able to push the bikes or tyres hard off road, but you felt an experienced off road rider could of romped around on the Gas Gas irrespective of the tyres fitted!
Looks like great fun!
Did you see the review of the full day?
https://bikemeet.net/forums/topic/green-lane-riding-in-shropshire-review-and-pictures/
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