After 32 hours of travel from Australia to a small village about two hours from Lyon, Sherco welcomed the Australian journo crew to a picture perfect French Chateau. An epic grass track was nestled in the French countryside with a bush/wooded trail “test” at the back of the estate, a rather fitting location to experience the 2025 Sherco 300 SE Factory. Adding to the European experience the skies opened up for the night before and continued to drench the countryside throughout the day. It turned an absolute picture perfect grass track to almost a mud slide.
Rumors were high with what might be coming to the Sherco brand in 2025. All signs were pointing towards the two-stroke range breaking cover with fuel injection, doing away with the carb fed engine and saying hello to fuel delivered via a TPI or TBI platform. So it was a little bit of a shock after traveling half way around the world that there was still a carburetor on board the 2025 Sherco 300 SE Factory. The rumor mill had obviously been working overtime and was not exactly right on that one and Sherco remains one of the last of the carby-fed two-strokes on the market, and that is not necessarily a bad thing at this point.
What we were presented with was not just a bike that had bold new graphics and change of year number. There are plenty of new parts and upgrades from the 2024 model and it almost feels like Sherco were getting the rest of the bike ready for an overhaul on how the engine would receive its fuel in the future.
SO WHAT DID THEY CHANGE?
The 2025 Sherco 300 SE Factory gets in-mould graphics and a redesign of the plastics kit, a flatter seat and new LED front and rear tail lights but the first of the big changes to the Sherco 300 SE Factory is the tool-less side access to the air box. A redesign of the air filter means you can now access it far quicker and it is far easier to service, not only that it improves engine efficiency.
Sherco has redesigned the cooling system which is now 157g lighter but also far more efficient by 15%, this is helped with the new radiator grilles which are also more rigid and provide a bit more support and protection when you decide to launch your bike up a rock ledge without you attached. There is also a lighter and more compact fan which is more easily removed than previous generations of Sherco.
Changes to the frame have resulted in the weight dropping by 250g, and the subframe has shed 254g. They have achieved this by changing the lower tube geometry, a new steering pipe and forged shock absorber arch. New 7075 CNC triple clamps and a new steering column offer some slight changes to the front wheel but also give further weight reductions along with better sealing on the steering head bearings. This has also allowed for a new handlebar position and raised the height by 5mm.
Accessibility of the exhaust and muffler has been improved, and the exhaust has had a redesign to help raise ground clearance. This also allows for better access to the skid plate bolts making it easier to access and service.
One thing the 2025 Sherco 300 SE Factory did not receive that the 250 SE did was a new gearbox. The 250 SE got an upgrade directly out of the new Sherco factory which has just been put into use, expect to see changes to the 300 SE in the coming years.
Some additional changes to the 2025 300 SE Factory include new larger handguards, fork protection, side stand, dashboard support, brake discs, lighter electrical harness, fuel tank dampening system, flat sided linkage axles and fuel tap.
SO WHAT IS THE 2025 ACTUALLY LIKE?
After firing the 2025 Sherco 300 SE Factory into life, power is very similar to previous models as you would expect with little to no change in the way it is delivered. Hearing the bike rip up the slick grass track was epic and even with the new exhaust system it still retains that crisp note that you would be accustomed to with the previous years’ 300 SE. Right off the bottom the bike needs little encouragement to get moving a there is plenty of torque throughout. The bike really works well, short shifting and lugging a higher gear which was a priority on the extremely wet grass track we had to test out the 2025 bikes on.
In so many ways this was the perfect conditions to be testing out what the Sherco 300 SE Factory would be like in tricky conditions. We did not have the opportunity to ride in any hard enduro situations, but the conditions on the grass track and wooded sections were a good indicator for how the bike could be lugged and eased around using the ample torque and power on tap.
SUSPENSION AND RIDE
One of the stand outs for the 300 SE is how well the bike feels and is set up in standard trim. Without doubt one of the reasons why the Sherco feels so planted and stable is the KYB suspension and the balance of the bike. Jumping back and forth between the two-strokes and the four-strokes on the grass track, it was evident that the two-stroke bikes had a little less feel on slick off camber corners.
The fork didn’t travel through the first initial bit of travel that the heavier four-stroke bikes would naturally, which most of the time ended with a little less traction or feel in the two-stroke range. I feel if we had more time to play around with settings and our test session was not cut short we could have found a better adjustment for this. On the wooded sections of the “bush loop” the suspension and feel of the bike felt good and on the faster parts of the trail the bike really felt comfortable even in the muddy, rutted sections towards the end of the day.
WRAP UP
Sherco’s biggest seller is both the 300 SE Factory and the 300 SEF and it is understandable, from all the previous reports and our experiences with the long term ADB test bikes. The 300 SE really is perfect for hard enduro and is right at home in any trail conditions. Race results around the world are showing that Sherco is on the right track with a solid platform.
One of the big steps forward for the 2025 Sherco 300 SE Factory and one that the French manufacturer seemed to be excited about is the all new redesign of the airbox and the tool-less side access. I know in the past this has been a point of contention with Sherco owners. It is obvious when you look around at the majority of bike manufacturers moving towards a tool-less and easy side access to air filters, some prayers have been answered there for sure (although Honda might be re-inventing the wheel with their motocross bikes, lol).
Taking the engine efficiencies out of the equation the ease of access and serviceability of this is what the people wanted. This also seems to be a theme with a lot of the upgrades and changes throughout the bike like the bearing seals and linkage bolt changes, exhaust changes etc. So I guess we will wait with patience and see when the French manufacturer corrects the rumor mill by adding fuel injection to the 300 SE, will it be in 2026? Again not much has changed as far as bike characteristics go, rather little improvements to fork and shock settings and performance, handle bar height, exhaust system etc.
One of the big stand outs from the test of the full range was this 300 SE, on one of the bigger hill climbs it just ripped up there in comparison to a few of the others, especially at the end of the day when the dirt was getting churned up a fair bit. The 300 SE Factory really just ate that hill up. All of that aside it would be great to experience the 2025 model in some more hard enduro type conditions and really try the bike in its natural habitat, crawling up rock ledges and over snotty root sections.
2025 SHERCO 300 SE FACTORY
ENGINE
Type Single-cylinder two-stroke, anti-vibration balancer, SBS electronically-controlled exhaust valve
Displacement 293.14cc
Bore & Stroke 72mm x 72mm
Cooling Liquid-cooled
Compression ratio NA
Fuel metering 36mm Keihin PWK carburettor with VForce4R reed valve system
Tank capacity 10L
Transmission Six speed
Clutch Brembo hydraulic multi-disc in oil bath
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase 1,480mm
Seat height 950mm
Ground clearance 355mm
Claimed Weight NA
SUSPENSION
FRONT 48mm KYB closed-cartridge fork, fully adjustable, 300mm travel
REAR 50mm KYB shock, 18mm shaft, fully adjustable, 330mm travel
BRAKES
Front Brembo hydraulic, 260mm Galfer
Rear Brembo hydraulic, 220mm Galfer
RUNNING GEAR
Handlebar NA
Front tyre 21 inch Michelin Enduro Medium
Rear tyre 18 inch Michelin Enduro Medium
PRICE & CONTACTS
RRP $16,799
BROWSER Sherco.com.au
BLOWER 03 83631600
Warranty 6 months
WORDS | GUY STREETER
PHOTOS | SHERCO
