BMW G310GS | 34,000 km ownership review

From a nippy little CBR150

Had a lot of memories with the little one. Lots of places travelled, but sadly being in college, I did not have access to the motorcycle often and finally sold it off after only covering 15000 kms. Then I went on a North India trip with my friends, rented a Himalayan 411 and travelled through Kashmir. What an experience! This made me realize one thing about my then owned bike, although it was super fun driving the CBR, it lacked one very important factor that I wanted the most.... COMFORT

The search for an ADV

At the time, there were limited options. The ones that was in my list though were the KTM ADV 390, Himalayan 411, H450 rumors, VStrom 250 and the Xpulse 200.
Started test driving each and every one of them, multiple times. All are great motorcycles themselves, great value for money, but they lacked something that I wanted. Then came the G310GS. As soon as the BS6 version was released, with a price cut, I went and took a test drive, and my god the comfort. It rode over potholes and bumps like they weren't even there. It looked drop dead gorgeous too. Plus, coming from a CBR, this one too had a slightly high revving engine and a sweet sound at higher revs, which I preferred at the time.

Immediately rented a GS310 and went for a long ride, and boy did I have a smile on my face the entire day (and maybe the next week too).

Did not think about it anymore and immediately booked the baby GS within days.

And now the ownership

The one thing I have noticed after was the inevitable urge to drive it. Every weekend I went for rides, 100kms, 200kms, 300kms, solo, with a group, with friends, offroad, onroad... nothing mattered. If it was a holiday, I was off on my bike first thing in the morning.

The pros:

• Comfort: I haven't driven any other bike in the same segment till date which matches the comfort the baby GS offers (maybe the H450 is very very close, but I might be biased towards the GS).
• Suspension: On-road or off-road it always handles well. The dive down on brake does scare you initially but after a while, I was scraping the footpegs (With a pillion + luggage of course, otherwise it won't reach the ground). It is super stable even after doing jumps, big or small. Even if the bike does start sliding, it is super easy to control (have happened a lot of times)
• Weight management: It is such an easy bike to drive in traffic. Weaves in and out like anything. The extra wide handlebar with hand guards is the only limit here.
• Engine: Was wondering if I should keep it here in the pros. But for what it's worth, it is smooth if maintained properly (will get to it in the cons below). The high revving and sweet sound is always a bliss (might be a very personal opinion).
• Turning radius: Super short, it leans so much and still stays stable, I learned to take U turns in very short spaces. (Fell twice while learning by leaning too much and engine cut off because of clutch release)
• The looks: It is just.. jaw droppingly gorgeous for me. Absolute head turner no doubt. Everywhere you go people ask "Kitna ho gaya bhayya?". It is a very deceptive motorcycle when it comes to the size, honestly easy to mistake for a 500cc (when not looking at the tiny engine)
• Wind protection: Didn't I see anyone mentioning this before. Yes, you need a third party visor (bought mine from Yana worldwide for Rs. 1400) to cover the head part. But the bike as stock deflects a lot of wind coming to the rider. Especially in the legs and chest area. I have noticed my casual jacket not becoming Superman's cape while riding under 60kph with the stock visor in this bike. Didn't notice the same for current NX500 or any other stock ADVs I've driven. This adds to the comfort over long distance. Less tiring journeys.
• Self servicing: It is fairly easy to service the bike by yourself. Easy to do an oil change, oil filter is easily accessible, chain tightening, brake pad change, etc.
• Build Quality: It is built quite well. Yes you can nitpick some plastics here and there not finished well, but the overall fit and finish feels quite premium. The silvery front side panels, well shaped beak, golden USD forks, well concealed bolts, etc. The bike looks like some one has put in good effort to develop it. There are small buckles in the bottom of the rear body to pass through luggage straps and stuff (at least that's what I use it for). Neat!

One thing I would like to highlight is that the bike is truly underrated off road. Trust me it can take a beating. It can do jumps, slide out of corners (not into corners because no switchable ABS :() and sprint over rough roads like anything. It drives super fast over rally like roads/trails, never losing balance or control. A set of knobby tires and switchable ABS would do it wonders if I'm being honest. Lose the extra weight of the crash guards and other attachments, it will take you anywhere. It has taken me everywhere with them too, all the while being equally fantastic on road.

The cons:

• Power: Honestly it could have used with a little bit more power. This is more than enough but it is lacking considering the competition. Very flat powerband too, and only a slight punch at mid-high RPM ranges, the 6th gear is very short, causing a low top-end speed.
• Initial cost and servicing expenses:
  I still think it could have been priced at least 20-30k less. Plus the service is EXPENSIVE for a 300cc. The normal service usually costs me around 5-6k (not more though), but for a major service, it will burn through your wallet like anything.
  Had to do the front suspension service during major service at 30k kms, the total service was 28k. Everything they touch, it will be at least Rs. 500 for labor. For chain tightening (which I often avoid and do by myself, but forgot once), they charged Rs.370 for labor. After everything there is a Rs.1000 "BMW Service" added. Only plus point is that you learn to do everything yourself because going to the SVC, my wallet starts crying. More servicing details explained below.
• Instrument cluster: Looks very outdated and I have sometimes noticed it to be not visible during bright sunlight.
• Gear shifter: It starts becoming quite clonky a few 100kms after a chain service.
• Tank capacity: No idea why BMW/TVS didn't provide a larger tank for the 310's ADV counterpart. The front tank covering is basically hollow. Only 13.5 litres, super low for a 300CC adv, but still manageable with some fuel stops in between.
• Tire availability: Had recently replaced the rear tyres and I had to go with the Original Metzeler Tourance. The rear tire size is super hard to find. there are very limited options in the ADV tire ranges. Road tires are available, but if you want a dual terrain tire, you have to clear your wallet. I had to go for the higher V rated Metzeler Tourance as the original H rated was unavailable in almost all of the stores in Bangalore. Or it was a 1 month wait and I had multiple punctures on mine due to construction going on in my neighbourhood (lots of nails and metal parts on the road)
• And now for the most persistent con, as everyone would have expected, Vibrations:
  For the first month after buying the bike, everything was fine. Vibes starts creeping only after 7-8k RPMs. Then I installed a crash guard, a hand guard, off-road footpegs and a saddle stay. RIP myself. Immediately there were so much vibrations. In the handlebars, footpegs and slightly the tank. I had removed the saddle stay as of now.
  
  For a week I drove like this until the first service. Told the issue to the BMW service center, and I don't know what they did, but it felt like they conjured some motorcycle wizard and asked them to make the vibrations go away. After the first service, it was super smooth like the day I first bought the bike. Then after two months everything became super vibey again.
  
  Finally I asked the engineers what they did to reduce the vibrations. They showed me some bolts in the frame, and said just tighten it to the correct torque settings. They were kind enough to leave markings on the bolt and frame so that I can tighten them myself till the markings are aligned.
  The engine, by nature, is vibey. So after covering 2000-3000 kms, the bolts (because of the crash guard) starts rotating (which side is unpredictable as I have noticed a bolt tightening after every 4k kms or so; on the crash guard).
  
  This cycle repeated for a few initial times. Service -> No vibes -> 2-3k kms -> High vibes -> Service -> No vibes. They have always done this for free in my case. Have dropped the bike there just to this 1-2 times, no service bill received. The service center was always super helpful and super transparent in my experience. They actually consider what we have to say and also look into stuff we said, instead of neglecting like some other brand I know (*cough* *cough* honda *cough*).
  Now I do it myself, although the results are not as good as the BMW folks' service, it still makes a big difference.

Accessories:

Installed the following accessories after the first week:

• Crash and hand guards: Since this was my first kind-of-big bike, I was very paranoid about dropping it, and twice I did. The crashguard and handguard totally saved the bike from any scratches. Both times I was learning to take tight U turns in an empty area, let go of the clutch too much and the bike stalled, thud!
  The handlebar raiser for me was definitely a must. It made a huge difference in my riding position (I am 5'9''). I felt like during tight turns, I had to lean to reach the handle bar comfortably.
• Footpegs: The stock footpegs were very slippery. A slight amount of water or mud on it made it completely lose grip.
• Visor: Stock visor only protected till mid-chest area, over that there was complete buffeting. Immediately installed a visor, and phew what a difference. The visor shakes like crazy though. Recently reduced it by adding a few more rubber washers in the mountings.

After that I added few more accessories: A gps mount and mobile holder, saddle stay, radiator guard and a tyre hugger.
Had to remove the saddle stay after a while because it caused a lot of vibrations in the rear rack and footpegs (Zana saddle stay).
Also added a pair of tiny HJG auxiliary lamp. The stock headlights are awesome, but due to it being LED, it cuts off very abruptly at the sides. A combo of hairpin turns and bad road felt very dangerous to drive on at night. So installed the HJG mini aux lamps and pointed them at the dark space in the side. More than enough for my use case.

It could use a stronger bash pate as the oil filter is quite exposed at the front. I didn't add it as at the time, the ones that were available were quite heavy and I didn't want more weight.

Service history:

Not much servicing was done on the bike other than regular interval services.
The only three major changes were:

• Front fork service: This was a scheduled major service at 30k. They opened and checked the front forks and the gaskets were visibly damaged. So replaced them, changed the fork oil and changed the springs as well.
• Rear shock replacement: As mentioned earlier, the rear tyre took a high speed thud onto a pretty thick footpath slab while avoiding an accident (slightly raised up the front so front shocks were saved). The rear shock oil immediately started leaking. Towed the bike via RSA. The rear shock was then replaced under warranty. (took only 5 hours to get the bike back)
• Chain and sprocket replacement: The chain had reached end of life at 23k kms. The sprockets were worn out too. Replaced them, cost me 12-13k for this. (again one day job)
• Left side mirror unit replacement: After a long travel to my friends' place, I wanted to slightly rotate the clutch and front brake levers. Gave it to the service center there, they over tightened the clutch lever bolt (where it mounts to the handlebar) and stripped the bolt. No bolts would go on on the same thread as it was completely destroyed. Had to replace it. Cost me 2700.

One thing that surprised me was the availability of parts, maybe because I am doing this in Bangalore, but still. They had the rear and front shocks, chain sprocket set, all immediately available. Event the mirror unit was available. Sometimes I get the bike within 2-3 hours if I book the service appointment. They are super fast and pretty skilled at what they do in my experience.
Normal interval services always ran me up to 6k. Once it crossed 7k as they wanted to do valve clearance, chain adjustment and chain lube. Started making sure I do maintain the chain myself before taking it to the service center. You have to explicitly ask them not do these jobs.

Closing thoughts

In conclusion, I would still happily recommend the bike to whoever is looking for a beginner adventure bike. If you can bear the slightly high expense (totally avoidable if you have a good mechanic, after the warranty ends though), and don't mind the lack of power, it is still a great choice for a starter adventure bike. Easy to ride, super comfy and a total head turner on the road. In my opinion it is a great bike to start learning basic off roading skills too once you are confident and familiar with the bike. If you are a travel enthusiast, this is a great choice.

The Future:

As of now, I recently upgraded to a Honda NX500. Mainly since my last few rides, I feel like I had my fun off roading and jumping over things. I notice I am using my motorcycle more for travelling long distances than the former, and I have always dreamt of owning a twin cylinder (also the CB500X was one of the dream bikes for a young me). Test drove it and instantly felt this would be my next bike. The GS has been put for sale (took off the ad due to my NX500 facing alignment issue, it has been at the service center since purchase, but definitely planning to sell it).
Now I am just looking forward to exploring more places here in India.