P280 is a KDX killer

[BunduBasher]

So is the Pampera P280 a KDX killer or what. I have had my new P280 for a few weeks now, and all I can say is wow. This bike is made for fun, has plenty of torque, and is a blast to ride. Coming off the DRZ, this bike is just pure fun, no worries about the weight, at 200 pounds is extremely light, and the 34 inch seat height makes it small and nimble. As a shorty rider, this bike feels like it is made for me. Every time I watched 'on any sunday', I wished I had a fun/play bike that was zippy and nimble like the old bikes of Malcolm Smith and Steve McQueen. Now I have a 2002 bike which offers the same, can't wait to get out to the river and mix it up with the bigger bikes. This is going to be a fun time summer.

To add insult to injury, I bought the bike sight unseen from the local dealer, the salesman who is smaller than me, bought a used 2001 KDX220 just before the P280 arrived, had nothing but praise for this little bike. His grin was bigger than mine when he had a chance to give it a rip (betcha he wishes he had a P280 too :) )

I really wanted a KDX200/220 before this baby arrived, I am really happy I waited.

BTW, the Pampera250 is an ideal bike for the ladies and can be raced, just saw a great recommendation from Laura Bussing of Trials Training Center who has already raced the P250 in an enduro, she only has praise for the little bike. For the ladies the Pampera may end up being a 200EC killer too :)

 

[MCNut]

Congratulation on your new Pampera, they are wonderful and unique trail bikes. I picked up my new P280 the same weekend you got yours. While I don’t have a lot of time on the new bike I have some setup thoughts based on my experience with my P250 & P320 to pass along. The dealer delivered my 280 with a Champion RN9YCC (equilevent to a NGK BR6) sparkplug and an oil/gas mix of 100:1. These are settings often used successfully on trials bikes but I feel are risky when used for general riding. I would suggest a plug several heat ranges cooler (I use a NGK BR8ES) and fuel mixed about 50:1 (I use 64:1). Check the alignment of the swingarm chain buffer, mine was off line. Remove the passenger pegs if you haven't already as the will interfere/damage with the swingarm when ridden aggressively. My bike is jetted to rich at 1/4 - 1/2 throttle so I will be going to a smaller needle jet, but first I will be mounting an FMF S/A muffler before rejetting. Good luck with the new bike!;)
Bruce

 

[BunduBasher]

Bruce, what other extras do you have, is there a skid plate for the bike, will a standard GG-EC plate fit, also any info on rad guards would be appreciated. I don't plan on making any significant mods to the bike, will definitely look into running a different plug, and will watch that mixture ratio. How will that new FMF mufler change things, more power, hit etc. Also what year Pamperas do you have, P320, P250, are they the older model, and how does the new bike compare to the old one. Must be pretty good bikes if you now have three !!?

Hey Okie, time to get scooter a real bike !! - she will love the P250 :)

 

[HGilliam]

MCNut let us know what S/A silencer you find that fits the new Pampera. Supposedly there is one being developed by ToteGoat for the GasGas parts distributor but it isn't available yet.

Thanks Toolman:)

 

[MCNut]

My riding buddies and I prefer riding technical mountain singletrack trails and have found the Pampera meets our needs perfectly! The Pampera is extremely light (198lbs), incredibly nimble and has a wonderfully usable power/torque band. Our bikes of choice before the Pampera became available had been trials bikes (Yam TY350, GG JT321 etc.) which handled the terrain very well but had serious shortcomings with regard to comfort and range. Besides the 3 I own, there are 4 more Pamperas in the group I ride with. The 2002 Pampera is the 3rd generation of this model. The first generation (96,97) Pampera utilized many parts off the GG trials bikes including wheels, brakes, swingarm, forks and motor/trans. The 2nd version (98,99,00) traded the trials style pipe exhaust for an expansion chamber and added a half gal more fuel capacity for improved engine efficiency and range. Another big change was swapping the trials gearbox ratios for those of the enduro bike, which made the bike more flexible. Gas Gas didn‘t build any Pamperas in 2001. The new model benefits from improved component quality, better detailing and the 280 motor displacement.

Unfortunately the Pampera has only been imported in very limited numbers and as a result there are no aftermarket parts for the bike at this time. The stock mufflers are very quiet (good), fairly restrictive (not so good), and doesn't incorporate a spark arrestor (very bad) which is required on the national forest lands where we do the bulk of our riding. No one makes a muffler/spark arrester that fits so we modify the FMF to fit. Les at LTR (www.lt-racing.com) is a friend of mine who specializes in GasGas mods, perhaps we can encourage him to develop some Pampera pieces. Les lowered my 2000 P250 1 1/2” (1” suspension + 1/2” seat foam) allowing my fiance (5’2”) to get both feet flat on the ground which really increased her confidence riding. Planned mods for my 2002 include:

Trials tires
FMF Spark Arrester
Jetting
Skid plate
Pipe guard
Rally guards
Tall seat foam (I’m 6’3”)

Right now we are in snowmobile season but I will be dialing in the 280 so she will be ready for spring riding.
Cheers, Bruce

 

[Trialwench]

Hi Bruce:
Will you please tell us which FMF muffler you got exactly? I've sold alot of the new 02 Pamperas here at Trials Training Center in Tennessee. In fact, they're infectious. If one guy gets one, his buddy has to have one before too long because the guy on the Pampera can now go places where he can't and goes along effortlessly.

In fact,my husband Tony & I were on a trail ride recently and I started out onthe P280 and he on the EC200 (gasgas). Couple of hours later, we traded. All of a sudden, I couldn't ride the EC200 very well. And that's the bike I predominatly (not all the time) race in Enduros! We were in steep mtn. terrain. I apparently had been relying on the Pampera's mtn. goat abilities to keep pulling and pulling off the bottom, never spinning. So when I jumped on the EC200 (with little bottom end) it was like I couldn't ride all of a sudden. Spinning here and there, conking out here and there, falling over (hey, where did the ground go to?)

My point is that the P280 is SO EASY to ride that you don't have to do much of anything to get it to go over really rough terrain. Which is much unlike riding any other dirtbike, that you have to work hard to ride it in the same conditions: lots of clutch slipping, keeping the motor revved, not losing a drop of momentum, more balance etc.

So, I now learned that if he and I are gonna go ride and take these particular bikes - that I should ride the EC200 first and not the P280 as it will spoil you! Tony actually totally concured with these thoughts as well. Because he said he immeidately recognized how much easier and FUN it was to ride the P280 when we switched. Tony's a very fast woodsrider with "A" level speed and he looks like he always rides with no effort

 

[canvet]

pampera

Hello Trailwench:
If you and your husband were riding a technical enduro would the Pampera give a better score?? Is it capable of "A" speed?? How much for the '99 320??

 

[euro gasgas]

Hey Bruce,
I noticed that the gasgas factory website (in spanish and catalena) lists an optional kiehin pwk carb kit for the pampera. Looks like it come with new insulator, etc. Do you know which model years of the pampera this kit is made for? I wonder what this bike would run like with a properly jetted pwk...

By the way, I too am a "friend of Les" - I think we met years back up in the taneum area (if that was you ridng the CR125 with the XR motor stuffed in it...)

jeff
'01 gasgas ec300
www.lt-racing.com GasGas Performance Accessories and Services

 

[MCNut]

Wish it were that easy! I have been reluctant to share the muffler type because it requires a fair amount of rework to fit well. Metal work is my trade so a little cutting, bending and welding was no big deal for me. I modified a Turbine Core II for a 96-99 Yam YZ250, #020361. A friend was able to adapt a mid 90’s KTM 250 muffler without to much trouble but it doesn't fit and look as good. Also keep in mind that we were mounting them on 2000 models, which is very different from the current bike. If I get a chance this week I will see if it fits the 2002 bike. I also heard that Tote Goat Sales in Pueblo CO (719-545-6310) is modifying something to fit the new bikes. Some of our rides require us to be as stealthy as possible so I am very interested in FMF’s new “Q Muffler”.

Canvet, if you want to shoot me an email ([email protected]) I would be happy give you detailed info and a price.
Bruce

 

[MCNut]

Hi Jeff,
There’s a excellent chance I was there because the bike you described was owned by my main ridding buddy Steve K. The bike was either his XR250 in a custom frame with CR suspension or his CR125 framed and suspended bike which had a bored and stroked Honda Reflex motor. He now has two Pamperas!
I know many of the trials guys love the Kiehin carb setup available from Jim Snell @ Rising Sun Imports ( http://www.hebousa.com/ ). A riding friend tried one and was disappointed in the fit and didn’t find any advantage over a well-jetted stock carb so it’s now collecting dust on the shelf.
Bruce

 

[LoriKTM]

Bundu (and others)--

What's the difference between the P280 and the 250? (other than the obvious 30cc's!) What makes you say the 250 is a better ladies bike, if the P280 is just as smooth and easy to ride? I'm intrigued with all I've heard about these bikes.

 

[Trialwench]

Euro GasGas-
We would both agree that the 02 Pampera 280 could be the best bike for a very tight, technical Enduro with no whoop action. And if the conditions were slick, even better. A rear trials tire works great on these bikes and really help with traction. Because the bike is so light and "flickable", I'd say you'd be able to go faster thru tight/technical single track. The bike simply takes less energy to ride than a larger dirtbike . . which for an endurance race is a plus.

Lori KTM-
I being a girl - have only noticed a couple of differences between the 280 and 250 and that is the 250 is easier to kick and the 280 has just a tiny bit more snap to it. In a drag race, I was able to beat my husband on either bike multiple times. No he doesn't suck, I just weigh 40lbs less. We did this to see if one was faster than the other. We soon realized that our weight difference gave me the advantage by a bike length and a half regardless to which one I rode.

 

[BunduBasher]

Lori, Laura sums it up perfectly, there is not much difference between the P250 and P280, same weight similar ride. Only the P250 starts easier, which may appeal to the ladies more, especially those 4'11" lady riders :)

Send suggestions and comments to:
Olga in GG spain at '[email protected]'
or Dale Malasek USA at [email protected]

 

[BunduBasher]

Got this email from Dale Malsek regarding the skid plate and muffler:

The skidplate of the trials bike will fit the bottom of the Pampera. I put one on the 250 Pampera I had when I was out in Colorado just to keep rocks out of the bottom of the engine.
I held it on with three clamps, one at the front and two at the back sides of the skidplate. You could have it on and off in minutes. I carry a spare around in my spare parts, so I thought I'd try it and it fit the curve of the frame perfect.

Call my dealer in Pueblo for a silencer pipe made my FMF......it fits perfectly except for one of the frame mounts. You can cut the silencer tab off and re-weld it into the proper place for a perfect fit then. Or, Stan will make one for you. His number is: 719-564-6476

These solutions are well worth the cost, which is not that much. Actually, those nylon skidplates will work also. Maybe check out a Tucker-Rocky catalog.

 

[MCNut]

Good Info :) :)