2018 BMW G 310 GS First Ride Review

It would seem as though I had brought some of the lovely weather I had endured while in Spain back with me as we geared up to ride the 2018 BMW G 310 GS. More rain, you’re welcome Southern California. Thankfully, this time around it would only last for the first half of the day, although that was where the good stuff was in regard to our route. Nonetheless, the mixture of weather during our introductory ride of BMW’s lil GS gives us an opportunity to deliver an all-weather review of this new motorcycle.

BMW has done a fantastic job in designing the G 310 GS to carry-on the quintessential GS look while being quite svelte. From the GS beak, to the large, robust rack capping off the rear, there is no mistaking the styling of BMW’s newest addition to it’s ADV family. In my opinion, after having sampled the others, it is the best small-displacement ADV bike on the market in terms of fit and finish.

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The 310 GS uses a 41mm upside-down gold fork which, aesthetically, offers a premium look that rivals in the category have yet to opt for, although it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be suspended better than a traditional style fork. The cast five-spoke aluminum wheels look fantastic, and the 19-inch up front is helpful off-road – while I might have liked to see spoked wheels on a bike with off-road potential. Lighting is well-placed with the turn signals up high out of the way of impending tip over damage surprisingly perhaps, no LED lighting has been used on the 310.

Once we made our way to the beginning of the fire road, we paused to discuss the next part of our route. It was suggested that we turn off ABS. On the G 310 GS, ABS is easily disabled while moving with a dedicated button on the left control module. Yes! Although there are no off-road modes or complicated algorithms detecting the rate of wheel spin individually, I was so happy to see an easily switchable ABS system on a bike like this. Of note, like many other models, ABS will be turned back on if the key is switched off. If the ABS light is off while riding, it is on, if the ABS light is solidly lit, ABS is off. Easy as that.

Just as we were nearing our lunch stop, the skies opened, the clouds blew away, and we were left with the sunny California weather we know so well (and that those who had traveled to San Diego had hoped for). After lunch, we hit the road, eager to push the bikes to their limits to really test the performance of the machines.

I am happy to admit even when hustling into corners with the fairly soft suspension, once in a corner at speed, the suspension was predictable and linear in its stroke without bouncing all over the place. I’m sure speeding through tight switchbacks would offer a different outcome; however, it worked just fine where we were riding.

2017 Lightweight ADV Shootout

Let’s take a step back for a moment though and consider the potential buyers of the BMW G 310 GS: a new rider or one interested in the adventure motorcycle segment who doesn’t want to make a $15,000 investment just yet, or perhaps the buyer of the wee GS has a 1200 in the garage already and wants a bike to slap on the back of the RV while on summer road trips. Well, Any of the aforementioned will likely be happy with the 310 GS. The performance attributes that can be seen as negatives, when comparing the motorcycle to costlier larger machines are probably going to be enough for the intended audience of the new 310 GS. On the spec sheet, the BMW stacks up nicely to potential competitors like the Kawasaki Versys-X 300. So closely in fact, that I had to ride one of these bad boys an hour and a half home on the 5/405 freeway so we can have a chance to test it more thoroughly and get it side by side with the competition for a good ‘ol fashioned MO shootout.