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BMW reveals G 310 R price buster

2016 BMW G 310 R

The BMW G 310 R arrives in Australia in October/November at a highly competitive price to ignite the 300cc learner range.

It will cost just $5790 plus on-road costs which is comparable to the Honda CBR300R ($5749), Benelli BN302 ($5590), Kawasaki Z300 ($5999), KTM 390 Duke ($6095), Royal Enfield Classic 350 ($6490 ride away) and Yamaha MT-03 ($6099).

 

Like all BMW Motorrad models and most of the 300cc learner-approved motorcycles in Australia, the G 310 R comes equipped with ABS as standard.

It will be available in Cosmic Black, Strato Blue Metallic or Pearl White Metallic.

BMW Motorrad Australia boss Andreas Lundgren says the Indian-made G310 learner motorcycle is “an exciting development for BMW Motorrad” that will “open up the brand to a whole new audience”.

The liquid-cooled, single-cylinder, DOHC 313cc bike is the product of a collaboration with Indian manufacturer TVS Motor Company, but will be available worldwide.

Production has begun at the Hosur plant of TVS Motor Company near Bengaluru in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.

BMW G 310 R being built in India at the TVS plant
While BMW has 650cc models suitable for learners in Australia and New Zealand, the G 310 R is their first novice bike for Europe and will compete in the burgeoning sub-500cc market dominated by the Kawasaki Ninja 300.

The bike has 25kW of power at 9500 revs and maximum torque of 28Nm at 7500rpm which is similar to other bikes of this capacity. However, at 158.5kg, it’s lighter than most.

The light weight, together with the 785mm seat height should make it suitable for a wide range of rider sizes.BMW G 310 R

It has a six-speed gearbox and the official press release says ”it is just as happy winding its way nimbly and flexibly through the narrow streets of a city as it is travelling supremely and powerfully along country roads”.

Styling is similar to the S 1000 R with modern, angular features, striking gold upside-down gold forks and five-spoke black wheels.

It will come with ABS as standard and quite large brake discs (300mm and 240mm) for a lightweight bike.

The G 310 R also features reasonable rubber for a small bike (110/70 R17 and 150/60 R17).

Despite releasing 101 photos, none shows a close-up of the instrumentation, although it looks like a single pod with a multifunctional screen. 

BMW says the large liquid crystal display includes engine speed, road speed, gear, total kilometres, engine temperature, fuel tank level, remaining range, average fuel consumption, average speed and time.

Optional accessories include a low seat, comfort seat, 29 and 30-litre top boxes, centre stand, LED turn indicators, 12-volt socket and heated grips.

Although the bike is made in Bangalore, India, BMW says staff were specially selected and trained by TVS for production and assembly. Extra training was supplied by workers from the BMW Motorrad plant in Berlin-Spandau.

“All in all, production of the new BMW G 310 R is subject to the same quality criteria that apply to production at the BMW Motorrad plant in Berlin-Spandau,” BMW says.

There is also talk of a scrambler version coming later this year.2016 BMW G 310 R

 

  1. two weeks after this announcement it was reported in India that production is delayed – with release in February, possibly March. The story blames component delays.

    In Australia BMW told me that the delay was because they needed to replace the factory floor. A Dealer told me it was to modify the product.

    Just for once I’d like to hear honesty. Stupid aren’t I?

    I waited for this motorcycle – only to give up today. Back to Honda no doubt.

  2. Interesting that you’ve had no response to this from BMW Australia in nearly a month. Someone there must know the correct information, so why not be transparent about it? After all, anything less only encourages the rumour mill.

    Second nasty surprise: I checked the other day on an OTR price for Tassie, and was quoted a figure of a cent or two under $8k, locked in! In other words, a markup of $2200, or just short of 40%, on the “price-breaking” list price.

    Compare this with the Yammy MT-03, practically identical list price, normal OTR in Hobart $6800, but currently down to $6300 – puts BMW pricing in the Jetstar, maybe even the Ryanair class! Most people reasonably expect a BM to cost a bit more, so why try to sweep it under the carpet like this?

    Taken together, really bad marketing. From all I’ve read the G310 sounds like a fantastic little bike, I’m pretty confident it meets my requirements better than any of the competition, but it now looks as if I’m going to miss out on a whole summer’s riding before I even get the chance to sit on one and find out. Add in a dose of possibly unwarranted but nonetheless unallayed doubts over quality issues, and how would you expect the average customer to react?

  3. Finally, an update on this mystery. I get a weekly online bulletin from Das Motorrad, Germany’s top bike mag, and the latest issue reveals that the bike finally got released on the European market, only to cop its first recall after a mere 250 deliveries. According to the official notification, problems had arisen with both the bars and the front brake caliper working loose, respectively because of substandard mounting bolts and an unspecified assembly error.

    Despite being right at the centre of things, Das Motorrad has yet to hear anything official about the reasons behind the previous 4-month slippage, but it reports rumours of a problem somewhere in the supply chain resulting in “massive engine damage”.

    Doesn’t sound good. My Triumph dealer told me recently that the much-publicised baby Trumpet eventually turned into vapourware because they couldn’t get the quality standards they wanted out of the Indian assembly plant, and I can’t help worrying whether history is about to repeat itself.

    Incidentally, I read elsewhere that the Australian release has now officially slipped back once again, this time to July. With some regrets, I think it may be time to start looking for runout deals on the old model 390 Katie…

  4. I was going to buy a 2017 Duke 390.My dealer also has the BMW.The BMW screams quality.
    The difference in quality is night and day.The BMW G310 R has way better fit and finish.
    I mean a lot. I still was going with the KTM but the BMW was 600 bucks less. And so far I have not read about any issues with the BMW where the KTM still has just one too many for me to pass up the BMW. I still see the KTM as a nice bike but there really is a huge difference.

    1. Well, despite all my well-aired misgivings, once I’d had a proper look at one in the metal, I ended up buying one. As always seems to happen, the purchase coincided with the onset of really foul weather, along with a sudden rush of family responsibilities and a badly overdue piece of work which has kept me at my desk. So I’m not yet in a position to tell you anything about its dependability or suitability for distance work, having only just got through my second tank of fuel. Incidentally, I’ve so far got about 240-250 km out of the tank before the warning light goes on, though the computer told me in each case that it had at least 70 Ks’ worth left; so the 300 they claim in the publicity may well be realistic with a fully run-in motor, provided you take things gently, which isn’t exactly easy even for someone of my advanced years, given how eagerly it revs out.

      I can say with confidence that it gives you a great deal more room to move around than the old Katie (I’ve yet to see, never mind sit on, one of the new ones), and feels like a full-sized bike despite being wonderfully compact. The one problem is that the big tank cover, with its deep indents for the knees, prevents you from getting up on the pegs to stretch your legs when they start getting cramped, as mine do after an hour or so in the saddle; on the other hand, it also gives you the sensation of having a substantial amount of bike around you, besides keeping most of the wind and nearly all the rain off the top part of your legs. My other worry was the lack of adjustment on the clutch lever, which is quite a long reach if you have small hands like mine, especially as the clutch only takes up when it’s practically at the end of its travel. So for the first few hundred Ks it was a matter of dump the clutch and then feed in the power, which is not exactly good technique, though the mechanic at the dealers eventually managed to adjust a just-tolerable amount of slack into it. The gearshift is good enough not to intrude on your attention, but neutral can be tricky to find at this early stage, though a bit of practice helps.

      The motor is an absolute beauty – revs out like a sewing machine but will pull from well below 4000 so long as you don’t jerk the throttle open too hard, and sounds better the harder you rev it, though the exhaust note remains a bit fubsy; there is an Akrapovic homologated for this model, and I think I might get one eventually, as it reportedly adds a bit of an edge to the performance besides making it sound more like a real bike. (If you go to YouTube, you’ll find a video from someone in WA who’s fitted one.) Even as it stands, it feels as if it’s developing the kind of power I used to expect of a 500, and I’m amazed by how much of your riding you can do in top, at least once you get out of town. You can pootle around town unobtrusively at a very relaxed engine speed, but the power is there the moment you need it to get out of a tight spot. Suspension is well controlled but so far has coped more comfortably than I’d expected with sharp bumps. It was only by the end of my last ride that I started feeling fully confident to throw it into a really tight bend without having to think consciously about technique, and for me it still lacks the feeling of absolute stability and dependability I used to get from the old small-block Guzzis which have always been my touchstone a good-handling bike; but I suspect that’s largely a matter of getting used to it. Certainly it’s yet to give me a moment’s difficulty even throwing it through the corners on the old Huon Highway at speeds which would have scared me on my last bike, and even if you do find yourself taking the wrong line, it’s so agile that you have no problems about correcting instantaneously; the fact that you can safely let the revs drop while you sort things out really helps here. The brakes do need a bit more of a squeeze than you’d probably expect if you were used to performance bikes, but they certainly pull you up OK, with the reassurance of ABS at both ends.

      So all in all, I think the tests so far have been pretty much spot-on. You’d still go for the Katie if you wanted outright power and ultimate agility – can’t speak about the quality issues from any personal experience – but the BM is the one to go for if you want the one bike to do just about everything except maybe serious dirt, and do it all better than you have a right to expect. The quality certainly feels very good so far, and in any case you get two years’ free roadside assistance (something we could never have dreamt of in the 70s when I started riding) in the unlikely event that anything does stuff up.

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