OFF-ROAD TEST: 2025 GASGAS EX300

[MotoFactory]

It’s as if someone rolled a teargas grenade into the two-stroke clubhouse. The arrival of the Austrian throttle-body injection 300s in 2023 and 2024 left the faithful scrambling and confused. They had just wrapped their heads around the transfer port injection (TPI) bikes of 2019, and then everything changed once more. This isn’t a group that’s especially fond of change in the first place, and expecting them to adjust and readjust so quickly is asking a lot.

Now, emerging from smoke and chaos, we have the 2025 GasGas EX300. This is a closed-course cross-country version of the new 300 two-stroke platform. It coexists with the EC300 trail bike and is designed to provide fill-in as a motocross bike if need be, as GasGas has only the MC250 to satisfy that crowd.

THE 300 LANDSCAPE

Off-road riders comprise the overwhelming majority of the 300 two-stroke market. No secret there; that’s why KTM, Husqvarna and GasGas have so many similar models. Within the GasGas line, the EX300 is considered an off-road model, but mechanically it’s a closer brother to the 250cc motocross version. The only differences are 6mm of bore, a six-speed gearbox, a coil-spring version of the WP Xact fork, softer suspension, a bigger tank, an 18-inch rear wheel, Dunlop tires and a kickstand. That positions the EX300 as much more of a race bike than the EC300, which has a completely different cylinder and is in a much milder state of tune.

Like all of the full-sized two-strokes from Austria, the EX’s recent make-over was a game changer. The key component is the fuel-injection system, which now uses injectors in the throttle body. The on-board computer now integrates fuel mixture, spark advance and power-valve position in a complicated three-dimensional matrix. Never before has ECU mapping had so much control over so many aspects of engine performance.

For the first of the new two-strokes, the roll-out was a little rocky. There were mapping glitches, warranty claims and, more than anything else, mistrust from a group of riders who have a very high regard for tradition. Behind the scenes, Austria’s engineers were still testing different maps as the motorcycles were reaching dealers. GasGas was spared most of the teething problems because the new 300cc two-stroke platform arrived in 2024, whereas it happened for KTM and Husqvarna a year earlier. All the bikes that arrived as 2025 models had a number of revisions that were under the radar.

Very much above radar was a significant frame change, too. The GasGas competition bikes all got an updated frame that was a little lighter and a lot more compliant. Gusseting was reduced around the top shock mount as well as around the steering head. Suspension was also revised to work with the new frame. Like all the bikes in the GasGas line, there are a handful of different bits and pieces compared to KTM and Husqvarna. The brakes and hydraulics are by Braktec, there is no map switch, and the bike comes without handguards. As a side note, there was a recall on those brakes earlier in the year. Bikes that sit in dealerships now have the updated parts.

The 2025 GasGas EX300 sells for $10,749. The 2025 EX300 serves double duty in the GasGas line. It’s meant to serve both the off-road and motocross markets because there is no MC300. The motors in the GasGas EX300 and the KTM 300SX are similar, but the GasGas has a six-speed gearbox. Braktec brakes and hydraulics are standard equipment on GasGas models. Oddly, GasGas off-road models come with Dunlop tires, whereas the motocross models have Maxxis.

ROAD TRIP TO NEVADA

We went a little GasGas crazy at the 41st Motion Pro Nevada 200 Trailride this year. Ron rode a GasGas EC450F four-stroke, while Pete Murray rode the EX300. The thinking was quite straightforward; Pete wanted to humiliate his closest friends and win the trail ride. He approached it the way any lifelong motocross rider would: go flat out until you reach the finish line. The EX300 was the right bike for that. It’s a racer, and it likes to go fast. It has the peak horsepower to hold off 450s in deep sand, as long as you remember that it isn’t a 450. You have to shift right on cue. It doesn’t like to be over-revved, whereas a good-running 450 just keeps on going and going on top. The longer the straight and the deeper the sand, the more advantage a big four-stroke will have. But, at the other end of the powerband, the EX300 truly thrives on being under-revved. You can take it right down to idle in the rocks and technical stuff, and it just won’t stall. 

If you truly want to give the 450s a challenge, there is a path that will get the EX300 much closer. In keeping with the GasGas bare-bones philosophy, it is delivered without a map switch. Normally, that’s no big deal. KTM four-strokes exhibit very little difference between settings, and more than one test rider has come in asking which map is aggressive and which is mild. It’s not like that with the EX300. It has an aggressive map hidden in the ECU that can be accessed if you buy and install the switch for around $150. The “green” map changes the power output dramatically. Apparently, the standard setting only allows the power valve to open 80 percent. The green map gives you that extra 20 percent and all the horsepower that comes with it. Naturally, the bike has a much harder hit and loses some of its off-road ability. Unless you frequently find yourself in bar-to-bar drag races, the mild map usually makes for a better ride.

For 2025 the EX300 received a lighter, more compliant frame and a handful of minor changes.

THAT FRAME THING

It seems like we’ve been talking about KTM/Husqvarna/GasGas frame rigidity since the earth cooled. To recap, as it pertains to this particular bike, in 2024 the frame was made much, much stiffer. The motor was also repositioned to provide more anti-squat on acceleration. It needed both attributes, but they overshot the mark when it came to rigidity and riders complained. The minor-sounding changes that were made to the 2025 frame take the edge off. If you ride the new bike back to back with last year’s version, you can tell the difference, but it’s not that dramatic. If, however, you ride the new bike back to back with the original Pierer-made GasGas EX from 2019, the older frame feels spongy and flexy. Clearly, the change was needed, but it took two tries to get it right. The EX300 is a truly great-handling motorcycle. It turns well, has decent stability and is reasonably light. The suspension is nothing short of excellent. We absolutely love the coil-spring Xact fork, and the shock is a good match. For true trail riding, it’s firm, but you must remember, this is the racing model. The EX handles both worlds as well as any bike can. 

On our scale, it weighs 227 pounds without fuel, which certainly helps overall handling. It gained a little weight with the remake in 2024, but it’s still among the lightest off-road two-strokes and quite a bit lighter than the EC300. That bike has lights and an oil-injection system. It is interesting that the newest EX model went old school, and now expects riders to mix their own oil and gas. We haven’t seen that on a GasGas two-stroke since before the coming of transfer port injection. It is, perhaps, the only concession to two-stroke purists.

There will still be a large portion of these guys who will refuse to accept the EX. It’s a complex and somewhat mysterious motorcycle. But anyone who actually rides it will be hard-pressed to maintain a pretense of disapproval. It has all the strengths that made them love two-strokes in the first place. It just gets there from a different direction.

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