Gas Gas


Gas Gas is a Spanish motorcycle manufacturer established in 1985 by Narcìs Casas and Josep Pibernat in Salt, Girona. The company specializes in off-road motorcycles for trials and enduro competitions. Gas Gas was purchased by KTM motorcycles in 2019.

Company history

In 1973, Narcìs Casas and Josep Pibernat began operating a Bultaco motorcycle franchise in Salt. With the financial demise of the Bultaco factory in 1979, Casas and Pibernat began importing Italian SWM motorcycles until 1984 when, the manufacturer ceased operations.
Casas and Pibernat then embarked on a programme to manufacture trials motorbikes for sale in their shop. Gas Gas began manufacturing trials motorcycles in 1985, enduro and motocross motorcycles in 1989, and quads in 2002. The name Gas Gas literally means "to gas it" The Gas Gas founders have, at times, expressed misgivings about the chosen name inasmuch as that name causes confusion outside Spain. Others have joked that Gas Gas are so good that they had to name them twice. The slogan "Gas Gas = Fast Fast" was used by the US importer, GasGas North America, from 1999–2002 to try to help people understand the unique name.
In 2014, Gas Gas merged with the Spanish motorcycle manufacturer Ossa before being absorbed by the Torrot Group in 2015. In 2019, Gas Gas was purchased by KTM motorcycles.

Championships and riders

In 1993, Gas Gas succeeded in luring the multiple world trials champion Jordi Tarrés away from Beta and he promptly won three successive world trials championships for GasGas.
More recently Gas Gas won the Trial Outdoor World Championship twice with Adam Raga. It has also won the Trial Indoor World Championship in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 also with Raga riding.
Gas Gas has also been successful in the World Enduro Championship. Paul Edmondson won the 125 cc world championship in 1994 and the 250cc class in 1996, Petteri Silván the 250cc and the overall championship in 1999, and Petri Pohjamo the 125cc class in 2003.
In 2006, British Enduro Champion Wayne Braybrook, riding a Gas Gas, was one of only two riders to finish all 80 miles of the Red Bull Last Man Standing event. 126 other riders did not finish the race.

Importing

Gas Gas bikes are currently imported into many countries in Europe and around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South America, South Africa and the United States.

Models

Enduro/off-road

While the EC and MC models are shipped worldwide, GasGas has manufactured specialized models for the United States off-road market. The XC and the DE models were successful attempts to customize the product to the US market.
The FSE and FSR are the fuel injected, four-stroke enduro bikes similar in appearance to the EC models.
Prior to 2007, each color on the EC model line represented the engine displacement range of the motor.
In 2007–2009, the company standardised to the colour red for all displacements and models. As of the 2010 model year, all standard EC models are black with red and white accents. The "Six Days" edition uses white plastics with red, yellow, and black accents. The "Racing" models are white with black and yellow accents.

Trials

The TXT models are specifically designed for trials riding. The TXT trials model line also used a similar color code to the EC line.

Quads

The GasGas sport quads are known by the Wild HP brand and come in two-stroke and fuel injected four-stroke models.
Prior to 2007, the Wild HP line of quads were available in choice of blue or red regardless of displacement. Beginning in 2007 the Wild HP line standardized to black.