VOL. 53 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 25, 2016 P83
many engineers from purchasing working
with TVS in establishing a supply network
in India to make sure that the standards of
BMW are applied in sourcing components.
TVS understands the BMW spirit."
W H Y 3 0 0 c c ?
Owing nothing to any previous single in the
company's catalog such as the G 650 GS,
this new Indian-made world bike is a clean-
sheet design by BMW engineers in Munich.
But why 300cc? "We wanted to have more
than 250cc, because when we started, the
Japanese firms in this segment like Kawa-
saki and Honda had a
maximum capacity of
250cc," says Stoffre
gen. "We decided that
300cc was likely to be
the next step for them,
so we decided to go
with that capacity even though we had no
competitor at that stage with such a model.
I was quite pleased when Honda came out
with the CBR300R!"
The G 310 R's liquid-cooled Euro 4-com-
pliant four-valve wet sump engine with chain-
driven DOHC, six-speed gearbox, oil-bath
clutch and a single gear-driven counterbal-
ancer in front of the crankshaft, measures
80 x 62mm for a capacity of 313cc, and
in aiming to offer compatibility with varying
fuel qualities, has a relatively moderate
10.6:1 compression ratio. Carrying paired
33.5mm inlet valves and 27.2mm exhausts
set at a flat total included angle of 24.5°,
it delivers 34 bhp at 9500 rpm, with a
10,500 rpm limiter, maximum torque of
21 ft-lb at 7500 rpm, and a weight of 350
pounds fully loaded with 2.5 gallons of
fuel—figure about 24 pounds more than a
KTM 390 Duke. But unlike conventional
single-cylinder engines, the G 310 R mo-
"IT WAS, FOR US, VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS
SHOULD BE A TRUE BMW, EVEN THOUGH BUILT
IN INDIA BY OUR PARTNERS TVS."
tor features a backwards-tilted cylinder,
a format pioneered by Cannondale on its
MX bikes 15 years ago, then copied by
Yamaha on its 2010 YZ450F motocross
bike, and now brought to the street for the
first time here by BMW.
This sees the cylinder head, with its
Nikasil bore, rotated by 180 degrees so
that the 42mm throttle body faces forward
for optimum ram air cylinder filling, as well
as an advantageous layout to the bike with
the exhaust running directly backwards.
According to Jürgen Stoffregen, it was an
architectural reason that drove this lay-
out. "We wanted to be able to have good
stability and easy handling, but also extra
weight on the front tire for increased safety
in cornering via better grip," he says. "So
for this reason we decided it would be
good to position the engine a little bit for-
ward, because then you can also make a
longer swingarm which is good for stabil-
ity. By rotating the cylinder head to allow
you to do this you also have the spinoff
