The G310R by BMW Motorrad
I’m going to tell you about the time I first rode a BMW sports bike. In fact, it happened today and it wasn’t planned.
I was over at St Marks Road writing my IELTS exam. That’s right. I finished my first set of papers and had 4 hours to kill until the next set. The next set was called the Speaking Test where I was to sit in a room facing a 100% biological humanoid and mechanically respond to random questions in the best English I could muster.
So after a few hours spent in a top secret restaurant, I took a walk down Vittal Mallya Road. Thought I'd check out the fancy car & bike showrooms. I remember a couple of months ago I stood outside the BMW Motorrad showroom near UB City just ogling at the bikes parked inside. I decided it was time I check them out in the metal.
Once at the showroom, I was greeted by a rather skeptical looking employee. Funnily enough, he was from the “finance” department. He showed me around the place.
We finally came to stand by the G310R. At first glance, the bike didn’t seem like anything so fanciable. I mean there was a 1000RR parked just two spaces back so obviously, I wasn’t going to find anything special about this one! I asked him the price — as though I could afford it — and without really paying attention to how much it actually costs, I thought to myself, “why not a test drive?”. I put my thoughts into words and asked the finance-attendant and he said
“yeah, sure!”
After filling out and signing a couple of forms, a real BMW Motorrad sales guy took me to the bright red G310R parked outside. I mounted the bike and at first, I was pleasantly surprised at how, despite its size, light the G310R actually is. For a guy like me who stands 5'4'’ tall and weighs in at 60kgs, the bike’s weight definitely made things more comfortable.
Pushed the button to start and the single-cylinder liquid cooled engine sputtered to life. The clutch played lightly and I tried short bursts of acceleration and felt the throttle to be zippy (i don’t like to use this word to describe a BMW sports bike but…).
The real-sales-guy hopped onto another BMW motorcycle but this was different. It was the G310GS (oh these names…). (The G310GS is a taller offroad-friendly-version of the G310R)
“Pretty cool”, I thought to myself. This is proper riding.
I let off the clutch with a dab of throttle the clutch bit with precision and the G310R bolted forwards, in pursuit of the G310GS. The riding position in this bike is so aggressive, its ready-set-go from the start! I followed the G310GS through the sparse traffic in front of UB City. All the while the G310R was itching me to open the taps. I just couldn’t wait. Having had tons of practice holding high revs on my RX135, I was, at all times, readily poised with 34bhp and 28Nm of torque.
The balance on this bike is supreme, courtesy the half-mile wide rear tires. In my eagerness to not get caught at a stop light, I dropped the front wheels into one of Bengaluru’s glorious potholes. The G310R absorbed the impact remarkably well!
Through the intersection and we entered the tree canopy covered and relatively empty Cubbon Park Road.
I twisted the accelerator, full crank, and the bike surged forward. Pure exhilaration! I didn’t bother looking at the speedo but I’m sure I was dangerously fast. Before you judge me for speeding on city roads, in the middle of the day, in traffic, think for a sec, I live in Bengaluru!
Once you enter Cubbon Park Road, in about 250 meters, there’s a round-about. Real-sales-guy took this corner wide. I bent the G310R to the right with ease, dropped a gear with some throttle, and in no time I reeled him in and we were side by side, sideways, going through the tight right-hander like a bunch of wannabe racers. Sales-guy wasn’t a bad rider. He held his line, I held mine and we powered out of the turn and from then on I got ahead slightly. Through traffic the G310R is nimble and the brakes are nothing short of terrific. Easy stops and no drama!
On the way back to the showroom, the cheap racing didn’t stop but it was worth it. The G310R is a sensational bike. It’s perfect for Indian roads and conditions. I mean you can’t really enjoy a 1000RR on our roads. For sure the power is there to take you from 0–200 in many fewer seconds, however half that time you’re probably saying a silent prayer to Yeshua or the Destroyer. You need a real track to enjoy those bikes.
Anyways, I parked the G310R back at BMW Motorrad Bengaluru, spent a couple of more minutes faking wealth and a dilemma of choosing between the RC390 and the G310R, and was finally on my way.
Before I left BMW Motorrad I clarified something — Most of the bike-review sites I’ve visited compares the G310R to the Apache RR310 (these names!) and most reviews tell customers that the RR310 is good enough and one doesn’t need to spend the extra 1L rupees. If that’s the case, why would BMW ever launch this bike? Real-Sales-Guy gave me an answer which I think might just be the case — the G310R gets its ECU from Magneti Marelli and the spares are all BMW Motorrad! AND it is a BMW after all! I’ll review the RR310 next so we can know for sure.
On the walk back to IDP, to attend my exam, I thought to myself, I should just write about this experience.
And so, thanks for reading!
