VOL. 54 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 10, 2017 P83
hardship to ride the little BMW in traffic or narrow,
densely-packed streets, like in the old section of
the country's capital Andorra la Vella, or in any
of the Catalan hill villages we explored along the
way. The G 310 GS is responsive to how you
choose to ride it, so if you work the gearbox hard
and use lots of revs it does deliver enticing perfor-
mance that exceeds expectations, considering
how small the engine is—but it's also happy just
loping along gently at slow speeds off the cam.
It's a bike that'll appeal to riders of all levels of
experience and skill, and will make each of them
feel good about how they're riding it.
USE THE MOMENTUM
The digital gear counter on the dash is your pass-
port to riding this bike well. However, maintaining
hard-earned momentum is relatively simple, since
the mini-GS BMW's handling is good, especially
by the standards of its capacity class. Unlike on
the R-bike, the front rim is a 19-incher carrying a
110/80 tire, though the rear's still a 17-incher with
150/70 rubber. This results in a rather long 58.2-
inch wheelbase for a 313cc single—46mm longer
than the G 310 R's, in fact. This not only con-
tributes to the sense of substance you get when
looking at the G 310 GS in the metal—this is not a
toy bike like many others with comparably small
engines, especially those made in China—but also
helps it live up to those GS family genes in making
it seem stable and planted on the highway, more
than you expect a 313cc bike to be.
Suspension is quite different on the GS than the
G 310 R, while still sourced from KYB/Kayaba's
factory in China, and the steering geometry is
rangier, too, presumably in BMW's search for
greater stability. Well, they found it: the GS was
super-stable around tight sweepers descending
from Andorra into France—or faster ones climb-
(Right) The
Cosmic Black
color scheme is a
little more stealth
than the "look at
me!" Racing Red.
(Below) Even for
an early production
bike, build quality
appears to be up
to par. (Opposite)
"I wonder if they
have my jamón
plate ready?" Sir
Al ponders one
of life's great
problems.
