It looked back then to me that this bike has a great future, but suddenly after advertising and promotion the brakes were put on production. I can tell you this was a very short bike between the axles. The length of the bike was very short and also the front angle was very very steep. In reality this bike really appeared to early and it was like a prototype that reached the market. The bike was developed for one year before it is produced during the last year of the Aire model.
The factory more or less got it right on most occasions and brought a bike to the market after careful testing. On this occasion however the factory crossed the barrier to early and released this bike a little bit too early and not at the right time. The reason that this happened was because they wanted to be the first and be at the front of all development. They had a close eye on the competition and didn't want to be left behind. Follow the others. I remember Gallach who was with Gasgas at this time. I remember him being not very happy with this bike.
This model should never have appeared in the market. The bike was rushed to production and it was too early and the bike was not ready this was a totally prototype bike that was not ready for the market it was some months behind and away from production and in reality totally prototype.
From Retrotrials.com - The man dressed in the red boiler suit in this photos is called Quico. He has worked for GasGas all of his life and he proudly states that he assembled every GasGas trials engine. I have met him a few times and on one of these occasions we spoke about this first Water cooled GasGas. He stated that this bike was rushed to production before it was ready. The reason for this is something I've heard many times and and is spelt out in this interview. He also stated that this model was complicated to assemble, hadn't been adapted from proto to production in the normal way, because of this rush and was an expensive bike to produce. I certainly agree with this and can see what he meant.
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For instance, the plastic tank has alloy inserts moulded into it for the cap and tap. Also under the plastic are to many small brackets and rubber straps.
Some close up photos of the short lived 1990 GasGas Delta. Whatever it's faults, I love it. Back to Albert
Some close up photos of the short lived 1990 GasGas Delta. Whatever it's faults, I love it. Back to Albert
Narcis is a cautious guy. Paxau had spent years developing bikes and knows when a bike is right and when it is not. But how did this mistake happen?
I don’t know the internal position within the company if Casas say this or not.
Was Naris really involved ?
You know when you are busy working you are concentrating on what you are doing and not looking at other areas under another person and what are they doing and where they are working. You do not know what they are doing and what position they are at now. Instantly you know that you are not finished and you can decide whether the bike can go into production or not. If you “Yes”, then you risk it. If Piber decided “let's go” probably yes. If you ask me, I say clearly “yes” for sure. Piber would have said at this time “Yes, let's go ahead, let's go and see the future”.
And what went wrong with that bike?
Do not try big steps. The frame will snap at the front. This happened too many of the bikes and it needed changing. Also the front angle is to sharp, but the second green bike was ready and he was a good bike. We called this bike Lola. It was given this nickname by the factory because of the bright colours like a woman and then the tears on the Gas tank made as all think of a woman. Yes it was Amos’s bike, so it was a great bike. It was a great bike, but the first white bike, it was too early.
I don’t know the internal position within the company if Casas say this or not.
Was Naris really involved ?
You know when you are busy working you are concentrating on what you are doing and not looking at other areas under another person and what are they doing and where they are working. You do not know what they are doing and what position they are at now. Instantly you know that you are not finished and you can decide whether the bike can go into production or not. If you “Yes”, then you risk it. If Piber decided “let's go” probably yes. If you ask me, I say clearly “yes” for sure. Piber would have said at this time “Yes, let's go ahead, let's go and see the future”.
And what went wrong with that bike?
Do not try big steps. The frame will snap at the front. This happened too many of the bikes and it needed changing. Also the front angle is to sharp, but the second green bike was ready and he was a good bike. We called this bike Lola. It was given this nickname by the factory because of the bright colours like a woman and then the tears on the Gas tank made as all think of a woman. Yes it was Amos’s bike, so it was a great bike. It was a great bike, but the first white bike, it was too early.
'Lola" - the 1991 Gasgas Gt25 Delta. Brochure signed by the bike's main rider Amos Bilbao.
This is my Lola marked up in the Trial Pro stickers. This was the name of the trials school run by Gabino, Salva Garcia and myself.
1991 Trial school photos.