2019 BMW G310GS India Review, Road Test

Enchanting –

• Well built and well designed BMW motorcycle, follows lineage
• Adjustable and comfortable seats will make it fit all types of riders
• Superlative chassis, brakes, tyres
• Easy to ride

Unsatisfying –

• Priced a bit higher
• Lacks LED headlamp and slipper clutch
• Engine needs refinement and punch

BMW, till the G310 twins came in the market was known for making luxury cars and bikes which were so complicated to look at, intrigued some folks. People who could afford them, bought it and the Motorrad in India continues to do well too. Now times have changed. BMW wants a piece of action in 300cc motorcycles and offer it to the world and the most promising emerging market, India. The company is making it here.

India is a base for the G310 twin bikes, its being made by TVS Motors. They were launched last year. We gave you a first look and a taste of the roadster. Now its time to spend, quality one, with the GS G310, the popular of the two, as it turns out to be in terms of sales and talk of the town. How is it? We find out over 700 kms of saddle time.

Styling

The design is of a stubby, muscular and slightly tall motorcycle thanks to longer travel suspension at both ends. The beak is sharp, the headlamp is small, the wheels and tyres shout adventure. The rear tail-lamp is oddly mounted, just like the Bajaj Pulsar RS200. The fuel tank is large, there is a luggage carrier plate at the rear all of this again shouts of an adventure motorcycle.

BMW and GS badges run all around the bike which should up the premium quotient in the eyes of the customer and remind them of the lineage on offer. There are three color schemes on offer and all of the suit the GS G310 just right.

Speedo and Switches

The instrument cluster is a screen which already looks dated despite it has all the features, fuel efficiency parameters, gear shift indicator, tell-tale lights and menu to choose different settings is on offer. The motorcycle gets switchable ABS which is great as switches off the rear ABS. The quality and finish of the motorcycle is good all around.

The rear view mirrors are mounted well but the vibrations are high enough to block vision most of the time. Seats are comfortable enough for rider and pillion to a large extent and touring is possible. The luggage carrier can be used to aid further to the cause.

Ergonomics

A tall seat height of 840 mm which is standard, is on offer. You can get lower and higher seat heights to choose from, which is great move by BMW. However, the handlebars are mounted quite low so riding while trail riding means you have to go down to grab the handlebar even while standing on it. The pegs are mounted lower to aid in comfortable ride and more legroom for taller riders. Gripping the tank is no problem as it is quite large.

Engine

The engine has been a subject of discussion as this is the first single-cylinder engine from the brand which is unique in its layout and the kind of punch it delivers. The 180 degree rotated exhaust means it comes out from the back which helps it more punchy and emission friendly engine. The fuel-injected DOHC motor makes 34 BHP of power and 28 Nm of torque from its 4-valve, liquid cooled motor.

The engine comes mated to an 6-speed gearbox which isn’t entirely smooth. The clutch is not entirely light and its lack a slipper clutch too. The engine noise levels are alright, vibrations are in plenty in the mid range and then very high in the RPM range. Heat and harshness are not much of an issue with this motorcycle. Throttle response is smooth and engine power delivery is very linear.

We tried this engine in the RR310 from TVS and found it in same tune. The motor doesn’t like to be pushed and it lacks and low and top-end punch which means it best ridden sedately and it is a great engine who don’t look pushing their expensive bikes hard. Settle down, enjoy a bit of torque you get all the time in the mid-range and cruise under 110 km/hr after which the engine acts stressed and begs you to either go for a top speed run or stay there and cruise.

The free revving engine isn’t the sportiest in terms of sound track and lack of focus in the low-end means it isn’t entirely suited to the job of adventure machine off the road. On the road the performance may be plenty, but it lacks the sportiness of the Bajaj/KTM/Kawasaki/Honda engines. It is efficient though we 26 km/l in our overall test on the highway and in the city.

Ride and Handling

Dynamically, the chassis is stiff and very responsive. The long travel suspension is on the softer side to suit the role better of adventure biking. This means there is front-end dive, but that equals to fantastic ride quality on our roads. You can almost stop for nothing on a broken patch of road and go for it. The rear suspension though is still stiff enough as the roadster version to give it that confidence.

In the twisties, it is still good enough but it does feel a bit floaty as push it harder, but we rarely do that. A high rake and long wheelbase also means stability on the highway should be good and it is excellent. Brakes have good progression and bite for an adventure bike is a bit less though. ABS is on offer and is switchable as well. Metzeler Tyres do a spectacular job on and off the road to make sure that is grip when needed.

2019 BMW G310GS India Review, Verdict

The much awaited adventure touring motorcycle is finally here and it does make sense in the current market. While the competitor is far away, the Japanese is already here and is more expensive than the BMW G310 GS. The single-cylinder layout is much preferable too over the Japanese rival. However, BMW G310 GS in its own way needs improvements all around to make more lucrative.

For now, if you have the budget, cannot wait, you can buy it off the showroom with subtle discounts too. As for how it is to live with, it is comfortable, easy to live with motorcycle which fits our road conditions perfectly.