GasGas Pampera 250
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Hello! It's been a while but I guess I might as well upload a project of mine. So in the end I ended up buying a new enduro bike instead of riding my DTR as I didn't want to damage it and found it too heavy to properly enjoy.
I ended up buying this. The bike was very dirty when I picked it up and in need of attention, but it ran so I thought "f*ck it" and rode it for the entirety of summer. You can find a video of me riding here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCgZnqhJuEQ
After summer though it was obvious it needed a renovation but unfortunately I could not take care of the work as the bike is in France and I live in the UK. I ended up giving it to a retired man who was an enduro enthusiast with a very impressive garage! At 73 years old he was still rocking it on a Husqvarna TE 125 and Honda CRF 300 both with a rekluse manual clutch.
Anyway, he took the bike and did an overhaul on it. Fixed the front rim, new tires, restored expansion chamber and exhaust, adjusted the brakes and rebuilt the engine. The bike was running 2 weeks ago when I went back to France but is now back to pieces as the front fork seals are being done up and the gearbox will be treated with an oil change.
Tyres and alloys where a mess.
Tail pipe taken apart, clearly it's never been cleaned or taken care of.
Air filter and box cleanup.
Repainted expansion chamber.
Tail pipe fixed up with new tyre in the back.
Fixup of the frame which was broken.
The bike annoyingly didn't have a stand, which is fine if you're next to a wall but finding a tree that suits the right conditions to set the bike next to was a pain. I don't know what happened to the old stand and I didn't manage to find a replacement.
In the end I enjoy the bike, it runs very well and the power is always there when you need it. Of course I can nitpick and say the gearbox has a mind of its own, it's impossible to get into neutral when the bike is running and standing still. But sometimes it will randomly get back into neutral when you don't ask it to. If you watch the youtube video you might see what I mean.
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Those wood paths looked great, Pampera's are rare in the UK. I know of a couple owned, yet to have a go on one!
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@Darty The paths were I ride are next to Brioude, Auvergne. Home of Enduro, when I was there I had the chance to go see the french enduro championships! Very exciting stuff! And it is true, don't see many Pamperas here in the UK. But they're very good bikes, incredibly light and nimble! Only fell off mine once but that was to my stupidity, I forgot it did not have a stand haha.
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Lovely looking bike. My KTM SX and EXC bikes were very similar as yours with their clutches. Could never find neutral when the engine was running.
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Back in France, GasGas is on its last leg before being finished. Forks done, gearbox oil change and a couple electrical things to do. Dad decided to pick up a mint-looking XT 125 from 1982! Photos in a couple weeks when we return return
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@Minia None of those links are working for me dude, are you not able to upload the pics direct or use some other hosting webby please???
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@CYBER-NINJA The links on the main post are from 5-6 months ago, doesn't look like they work any more. When I get back I'll re-upload them somewhere and fix them. I'll also make another reply with the new bike and some photos
But that won't be for at least 2 weeks since the objective at first was work, not bikes haha
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So I'm finally back, journey from hell. But anyways. I've fixed the main post and got the pictures working again. I got to see my lovely GasGas, forks are done and the entire electrical system was basically ripped out. Unfortunately I have no pictures but it was spaghetti everywhere, computer didnt work and the headlight and breaklights don't rely on it so they still work. However if someone plans on putting indicators back on it in the future I will be wishing them luck.
Bike has been raised and suspension set to my height and weight.
Gearbox still has issues, neutral is a bitch. The bike will not get into neutral the majority of the time. It will also some times pop out of gear and go to neutral. Therefore the gearbox oil change has not been done since it will have to be taken apart.
License plate and rear light had broken off after a failed hill-climb. So a metal bar was bolted onto the rear to hold it all together.
Whilst I was in France dad decided he wanted a bike in France and found himself a 1982 XT125 in good condition. Bike starts well but suffers from carb and fueling issues which means it stalls when going uphill. It was a barn find though so it's going for renovation. So far I know the tyres will be replaced, carb and tank will go for a thorough cleaning and the forks need to be done up as they are leaking. Gearbox and engine feel very smooth so I don't expect any surprises but we'll see.
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@Minia It's looking sweet bud!
Yeah my Aprilia was like that, Neutral was located between every gear, if you didn't give it enough welly upshifting then you could end up in neutral, also the proper neutral was a nightmare to find lmao.
It's all looking good though.
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Probably unrelated to your issues if Gas Gas are prone to having dodgy gearboxes, but I actually found this exact problem occurring with my CR 85 just after I rebuilt it last week. The gearbox was perfect before I stripped it though, so I had to split the cases a second time to find out what went wrong. Turned out when the cases were hot, the gearshift drum bearing had moved about 1mm or 2mm out of place, causing pressure on the main shaft / counter shaft.
As I say, could be unrelated but if you are going to split the cases, check all bearings are seated correctly as it's easy to overlook.
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@Mightyman Hm, I'm not sure this could be the problem. My GasGas does run incredibly hot, but it does need quite some time for the engine to get hot. I don't remember feeling any difference whether the engine was cool or hot, but nonetheless better be wary. Thanks mate
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@Minia Sorry, I didn't mean when the engine was running. My bearing came out of place when I split the cases and heated them up to put in the new bearings. I was suggesting it could have been a previous owner the last time it was rebuilt perhaps?
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@Minia GasGas build quality :(....
really good engines tho! Looking good.
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How much did you pay just out of interest?
I picked this up -
Don't really know what gas gas model it is apart from being 320cc.
Bought it at 5pm for £400
Crashed it in the field at 6:30pm ripped the back off and bent the wheel.
Sold at half 7 to a guy that races them for £700.
lol not really sure what I had.
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@gareth_iowc Bought for 1400 euros, but needed a lot done to it. All in all, around 2,100 euros or so spent. But I'm perfectly happy with it, extremely solid and lightweight.
Your bike looks to me like an old Gasgas txt pro 320cc trials bike. Could be wrong.
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@Minia Not very many of those XT's still around, she's in great nick too - good find there bud!!!
