VOL. 54 ISSUE 5 FEBRUARY 7, 2017 P87
BY JEFF BUCHANAN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BMW
M
otorcycles appear to be under-
going a seismic shift in terms
of profile. There's a renewed
interest and fascination among the
general public similar to the two-wheel
craze that swept America in the '70s—
where it seemed everyone wanted a
motorcycle. In case you hadn't no-
ticed, motorcycles are cropping up
in more and more commercials and
advertisements, ad agencies having
adopted them to craft auras of freedom
and present examples of exciting life-
styles in their campaigns to sell jeans
and soft drinks. Yes, it seems motor-
cycles are cool again.
Driving this trend is a new wave of
riders with an appetite for small dis-
placement, unintimidating motorcycles
to make learning to ride fun and acces-
sible. BMW has intelligently anticipated
the new paradigm and has produced
a motorcycle that caters to this demo-
graphic without losing any of the sex
appeal so inherent in bikes. After the
tease of a European presentation of
BMW's all-new, ground-up G 310 R at
the end of 2016, there was speculation
as to whether the pint-size machine
would be available Stateside. Well, the
