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2022 GasGas EX 350F Review [Mojave Desert Fun Motorcycle Test]

The 2022 GasGas EX 350F landed in our garage just as the snow started falling on our favorite mountain single-track, prompting the nannies at the United States Forest Service to close them down for the winter. That moved the venue of our review to the Mojave Desert, and we certainly can’t complain about that. Despite the many shortcomings of California, the ability to ride year-round on a wide variety of terrain makes the downsides considerably more tolerable. For those not familiar with the GasGas saga, it’s a Spanish brand that started up in 1985. As is typical with Spanish motorcycle companies, financial issues constantly reared their ugly heads. Eventually, GasGas was purchased by KTM AG, which already owned KTM and Husqvarna. KTM has continued to sell the Spanish-made GasGas trials bikes, while selling off the enduro manufacturing capability to Rieju, another Spanish company. The GasGas enduro models are based on the platform shared by KTM and Husqvarna, with a focus on simplicity and a lower cost. The 2022 GasGas EX 350F brothers are the KTM 350 XC-F and Husqvarna FX 350 off-road race bikes, with the GasGas getting a bit of massaging and cost-cutting. You won’t find the traction control or power modes that the KTM and Husky enjoy, and the exhaust is simplified by eliminating the resonator in the header pipe. The suspension units are the same as its Austrian brothers—including the WP Xact air fork—but with a GasGas-specific suspension setup. The GasGas has the same swingarm as the Husqvarna, which is different from the KTM. GasGas specific parts include the bodywork and a forged, rather than machined, triple clamp. In exchange for these differences, the 2022 GasGas EX 350F is $600 less expensive than the KTM equivalent and $700 below the price of the Husqvarna version. Marketed by GasGas as “one hell of a fun ride,” we took the 2022 EX 350F out to the Mojave Desert to have some fun. Spoiler alert: We had tons of fun, and kept going back for more. To please the tailpipe sniffers in the Californian government, we installed a Fisch Moto Spark Arrestor insert into the stock GasGas muffler. This clever $79 unit takes just a couple of minutes to install when you need it, and it can easily be removed when you don’t need a USFS-approved spark arrestor. You can also swap it between exhausts with identical inner diameters and depths. The short-stroke DOHC 350cc engine has lots to offer for a desert rider. It combines the free-revving nature of the GasGas 250F motor with some of the grunt of the SOHC 450F powerplant. The result is a highly flexible motor with an impressively flat torque curve with the meat of the powerband stretching from about 5k to 13k rpm, approaching its near-50 horsepower peak output about 1500 rpm before the rev limiter kicks in. There’s no hitch in the power as it builds, so the delivery is extraordinarily predictable, usable, and adaptable to any conditions. From just off idle to 5000 rpm, the motor is delightfully docile in the tightest situations—flameouts and stalling are non-issues. Matching the broad powerband is a wide-ratio six-speed transmission. You have to work to be in the wrong gear when riding the 2022 GasGas EX 350F. Typically, I found myself shifting fairly early, enjoying the midrange torque and less frantic power delivery. Remember, this is a fun test—not a race test. The desert floor is mostly flat, but there are channels of unpredictable width and depth caused by infrequent, though often intense, rainfall. You can be ripping across the desert and, all of a sudden, there’s a chasm you may not have spied while scanning the oncoming terrain. This is one of the instances where the EX 350F is especially fun. Unless you have the motor completely tapped out, all it takes is a blip of the throttle, and the torque-everywhere powerband delivers instant front-end lift to clear most gaps. When I had time, I’d preload the linkage-assisted WP Xact shock to get a bit of lift to smooth the hit on the opposite side of the gap. When I couldn’t clear an obstacle, the shock didn’t punish me. Instead, it seamlessly absorbed the impact—no hard bottoming from too-soft suspension, or a kick skyward from a too-hard setup. Sometimes, I couldn’t tell if I was riding great, or the EX 350F was simply camouflaging any errors I made. One of the great joys of desert riding is slaloming at high speed through the bushes. The GasGas EX 350F excels here, with the front end responding as desired. If I was in the mood to get loose and steer with the rear Dunlop Geomax AT81, a twist of the throttle rewarded me instantly. I could spin up the rear wheel at will and slide back-and-forth whenever I liked—great fun.