On The Pegs July 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 7 | Page 91

On The Pegs
Vol. 4 Issue 7 - July 2019
91
Daniel Blanc-Gonnet talks about how he sets up his GasGas TXT300:
SUSPENSION
Generally I won’t touch my suspension until it’s broken in, because when it’s still
fresh the suspension is kind of stiff and uneven. Once it gets broken in, there’s
slight manufacturing variances so usually I’ll set it to the middle. I like slightly more
damping, just because I’m a little bit heavier. So off the drop-offs I don’t want to
blow through the stroke so fast. Then I do like a pretty quick rebound on the back,
so that way hopping is a little bit easier and for big splatters I can get some good
lift.
Out of the box, the springs are rated usually for about a rider that’s 165 pounds
and I’m at 180 with all my gear on. So it’s a little bit over, but I’m able to
compensate a little bit with my legs and things like that.
CLUTCH
The clutch has an adjustable ring and I usually put it to the quickest setting. This
weekend it’s a little bit slick so I toned it back to two, just so that way it’s not just a
light switch. On the third setting it’s pretty much a light switch. Second setting it’s
a little more slip to it. I usually run a lot less oil in the engine than recommended.
I run 325-350 cc’s depending on how quick I want it. The less amount of oil it will
make it just grab much quicker. There’s not as much of a slipping effect. So like this
weekend I’m running 350cc. If I went somewhere grippy I’ll run 325cc, and on the
stiffest spring so it’s just quick.
There’s a bellville washer in there and you preload it differently with this ring
that’s adjustable inside the clutch. It’s the same plates. They upgraded the plates
this year, so all the 2019 models actually have Kevlar plates which are a huge up-
grade and really, really awesome. So those ones right out of the box perform great.
ENGINE
I put a high compression head on, and then I have a custom flywheel that I use
just to get a little bit more torque out of it and a little more grunt on that top end
when you’re flying up the big steps so I can tractor up some stuff. The flywheel is
an add-on flywheel weight that weighs about 200 grams. So it helps with the bot-
tom. It’s equivalent to adding 40% of the S3 flywheel effect. Obviously it’s not just
the weight; it’s the moment of inertia of that weight. So I added that on there, and
that helps just flatten out the bottom just a little bit more for slick conditions here.
When it’s dry, I’ll take it off. But when it’s slick, I still want it to rev up quick but I
want it to be able to rev up and then tractor me through things.