THE WEEKLY FEED: FIRST RIDE: RIEJU’S SHOWCASE 300- THE MR 300 SIX DAYS

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Factory Maico’s Adolf Weil leads a Suzuki mounted Willie Bauer and Mike Runyard at the 1974 Saddleback Trans-AM. Mark Kiel caught the action and as you can see in the background, the hills were packed with spectators.

FIRST RIDE: RIEJU MR SIX DAYS 300

Here’s a quick snap shot of our first ride on the new Rieju MR Six Days 300. This machine is painted with an incredible pallet of high-end aftermarket parts and wraps around the well-tested benchmark off-road machine that was the GasGas machine back in 2018. The liquid-cooled, e-start 300 is based on the MR 300 Pro, the upgraded two-stroke model from Rieju equipped with a collection of upgrades including high-spec KYB suspension, X-Trig triple clamps, V Force reeds, FunnelWeb air filter, Supersprox sprocket, a “handcrafted” exhaust, an upgraded seat cover with a pocket, new Polisport frame protectors in red, Cross-pro engine guard and new black footpegs made of high strength steel.

She sells for $10,999.00. More coming once we get some more trail time on the machine!

Here’s how our Rieju arrived, crated up. We put it together at the office, with the toughest part of the job coming in fitting the skid plate! We added tranny oil and gassed her up, set the sag and hit the trail.

In the back of the Wolf’s Honda, the MR300 Six Days is an impressive looking machine.

Mike Webb was our tester on the maiden voyage. Here’s his initial take on the machine. He has a strong history with 2-stroke off-road machines, owning both a KTM 300 TPI and a Beta 300RR.

“Throwing a leg over the bike I noticed a rather tall seat height (compared to my 2022 Beta 300 RR), the seat itself offers adequate cush but the designer grip pads offer little traction. The cockpit layout is neutral, the Renthal Twinwalls are a comfortable bend and height, the Magura controls are excellent, it’s got a clean instrument panel, but the Renthal grips are on the hard side. Overall ergos are good, she’s slim and nothing obstructs body movements.”

“The old school electric start operated perfectly and jetting was spot on. Once on the trail, I played with the two map options (Sun/rain) preferring the sun which enhanced the very bottom response. Overall power was good but a tooth taller on the rear sprocket would have made 3rd gear more useable. In stock trim the motor can pull third in flatter terrain but adequate clutch/throttle technique must be applied when the motor is under a load. As the day went on when the engine was under a load (big hill climbs), I had to really pay attention to keeping the power in the correct RPM range or it would fall off dramatically and down shifting would be required.”

“On the chassis side they did a stellar job. Coated KYB forks and shock from Technical Touch were super impressive. The suspension allowed adequate absorption in the small hack but ramped up quickly into a firmer stroke action in the mid and bottoming area. The fork allows a very aggressive approach to bigger obstacles and holds up beautifully in high speed situations. Out back the shock action was initially stiff and transmitted a lot back to the rider. I backed off the low and high speed compression and the action improved and felt balanced with the fork.”

SOCIAL DISTORTION

VIDEO JUKEBOX

GREAT ACTION HERE FROM THE 2016 BOISE ENDURCROSS- HAAKER, WEBB AND REDMOND!

GEAR BAG

MOOSE RACING TITANIUM FOOTPEGS

The Moose Ti Foot Pegs provide a factory look and extreme weight savings coming in under 300 grams per set. They are made from aerospace grade titanium, Grade 5 Ti-6AL-4V, with chamber-controlled welding. The pegs have an aggressive 57mm cleated platform with an inner cleated webbing design for added traction surface and strength.

www.mooseracing.com

slavensracing

https://aomc.mx/

WOLF: BACK IN THE DAY

In Cycle News ‘Looking back’ I made the 40-years ago slot. What’s interesting is that I remember just about every detail of the weekend. I traveled up north with Jon ‘The General’ Miller, Mark Cook (in his motorhome) and another good friend Randy Daugherty. I raced my Husky 420 Auto at the Cowbell and had one of those days where everything flowed. The bike was magic in the tight stuff and I ended up winning over some deep Nor Cal talent. We drove back to Gorman for the next days Bad Mountain Enduro and I raced a bone stock KTM 250. Gorman was my home stomping grounds at the time and I was very familiar with the terrain. I had little time on the KTM, but she towed the Wolf caboose to a win. In all, a weekend to remember. Thanks Cycle News!