The German Austrian war: KTM has dominated and dictated the way when it comes to small bikes (read less than 500cc) for some time now but the Germans, not to be outdone, have eventually engaged in battle and entered their new weapon of choice; the BMW G 310 R.
In development for more than five years, the G 310 R has been highly anticipated since first appearing in public at the Milan Show in late 2015. Not only does the G 310 R represent BMW’s first foray into sub-500cc street bike production, of greater significance is that this is the first model to ever be manufactured outside of Germany. Designed and developed in Munich by BMW Motorrad, production is handled by TVS Motor Company, a BMW partner located in Bangalore, India. ‘There were some delays that were expectable, but we wanted to have it perfect before putting it on the market,’ Project Manager Jörg Schüller says. ‘It took time to bring the two worlds together. With two different cultural backgrounds, while each is very professional, this needs time.’
So bearing this partnership in mind, it was with trepidation that I swung my leg over the not so little G 310 R (I say not so little because in the flesh it looks a lot like its bigger brother the S 1000 R but once on board you can immediately feel how light it is). But I should not have been worried because obviously BMW had to give their stamp of approval and the little 310 comes with the same superb build quality that we have come to expect from the German marque. Before climbing on board and whilst taking a quick walk around the G 310 Rs at the press launch showed that refinement is visually evident in clean welds on the tubular-steel frame, quality castings, precise fit of every plastic body panel and extensive use of allen head fasteners. Same for the view from the saddle: A full-feature LCD dash including bar graph tachometer, gear indicator, shift light, trip computer functions, and more, greet the rider. Handlebar switchgear is topnotch, the grips and bar end weights would be at home on an S 1000 R, an inset BMW logo atop the bar mount and radial dimpled steering stem nut cap upscale the presentation.
So all of this is well and good but how powerful is it and how will the chassis fare? We set out on an approximately 80km test loop through Sylvia’s pass, the hills of Houghton, a short stint on the highway and a photo stop in Newtown. Stop-and-go traffic in the centre of Johannesburg on the way to Newtown, provided ample opportunity to experience the ease at which its 313cc liquid-cooled, four-valve single moved us away from traffic lights. Clutch pull is light with linear engagement that, combined with a hint of throttle, provides consistent, smooth, stall-free leaves from stops. Maintaining revs between 3,000 and 6,000 rpm provides ample torque and low vibration for a relaxed run up through the light-shifting, short-throw six-speed gearbox. The only complaint I had, if any, was a bit of trouble finding neutral at stops.
Cable-operated, the fuel injection provides crisp response with an intuitive sense of control. Pin it at low revs and a subtle hit in delivery can be felt at 6,000rpm with power continuing to build linearly to the 10,600-rpm rev limiter. The claimed peak output of 34 horsepower at 9,500 rpm proved easily capable of keeping up highway flow. Towards the end of the day I had a change to test the top speed and only managed to get 154km/h on the speedometer (so probably more like 148ish on the GPS), which is more than enough and above the legal limit anyway.
Cornering performance for the 2017 BMW G 310 R is very good, with light, neutral steering making it easy to flick around bends. The KYB suspension (Japanese, but they were allies in WW2 so why not again), soaked up rough patches while having enough spring and damping control to keep the chassis settled when aggressively flicking through side-to-side transitions or hammering the brakes.
ABS comes standard on the G 310 R and works very well, however the single 300mm rotor/radial mount four-pot caliper combination up front requires a fairly firm application of the lever to invoke the ABS.
Did I like it? Oh yes indeed. I think that BMW has hit the nail on the head and I left this launch thinking what a wonderful little bike the 310 is. For a price tag of R62,900 the Austrians had better watch out, because this might be just one all out war that the Germans plan to win.
