BMW gave its all-surface G 310 GS a soft body redesign ahead of MY2021 along with a handful of drivetrain upgrades to boot. Comfort and safety also saw a buff with a number of new-for-2021 features on Beemer’s littlest GS.
The rearward-canted engine in the G 310 GS carries over from the previous gen with its single-cylinder, forward-exhaust/rear-intake configuration. It’s over square with an 80 mm bore and 62.1 mm stroke that adds up to a total displacement of 313 cc with a relatively mild 10.9-to-1 compression ratio that should tolerate mid-grade gas.
New for last year, the Electromotive Throttle Control and automatic idle-speed increase features that deliver ride-by-wire functionality and low-rpm insurance. This prevents stumbles when coming out of the hole.
Water cooling handles the waste heat, and dual overhead cams time the four-valve head with electronic fuel injection to manage the fuel delivery. Beyond that, it’s a very essential machine and leans as a snake with nothing of the superfluous to add weight to the 386-pound total heft.
Power flows through a slipper clutch for some added backtorque mitigation with a chain-type final drive. It delivers a BMW G 310 GS top speed of 88 mph.
Mighty, and a mighty small engine, the G 310 GS produces 34 horsepower at 9,250 rpm with 20 pound-feet of torque that maxes out at 7,500 rpm. Like any thumper, it definitely likes to operate in the higher rev range.
The aesthetic adjustments were fairly minor on the new G 310 GS. A higher-profile front fender starts out the changes with taller, foil-shaped uprights. It extends their protection up onto the inverted fork’s upper stanchion and provides more tire-to-fender clearance.
The factory gave the rest of the bodywork a bit of a nip and tuck for a slightly different finish and did some clever things with multi-toned paint packages. For the most part, the rest of the bike is much like its predecessor with the same sporty bent and youthful vim, vigor, and vitality.
New for this gen, LED headlights, DRL, and blinkers come stock to ensure two-way visibility with the world. It’s something you’ll definitely benefit from here in this age of distracted traffic.
Behind the cyclops headlight housing, an LCD display handles the entirety of the instrumentation with a teeny-tiny clear flyscreen as its only protection from the elements. It comes with a USB port, so you can plug in your mobile devices.
The handlebar rides in dead-short risers with very little pullback. It puts your hands close to, and almost in line with, the steering head for the leverage and feedback it provides.
A three-gallon fuel tank gives the flyline that prominent, fuel-camel hump ahead of an adjustable seat. The seat comes 32.8 inches high, lowered to 32.3 inches off the deck or jacked up to 33.4 inches for nosebleed seating.
That’s not the end of the adjustments for the rider’s comfort either. Adjustable clutch and brake levers come with 6 mm of travel to accommodate a wide range of hand sizes. The pilot’s seat rides in a deep swale between the tank and the pillion perch to finish out the adventure-tastic profile.
Generous J.C. handles bracket the p-pad with a small luggage rack and LED rear lighting finishes the gear in the rear. Since the stock GS doesn’t come with bags, the old p-pad and bungee net action out back is the only storage on the base model. Well, that and a backpack, I suppose.
Beemer’s smallest Gelände-Straße – literally “terrain and street” – comes built around a tubular “space frame” that looks suspiciously like a Trellis to me. The steering head on the G 310 GS establishes a 26.7-inch rake angle for stability at speed and a 19-inch front wheel delivers a short, 3.9 inches of trail over a 55.9-inch wheelbase.
Cast-aluminum wheels round out the rolling chassis with a 17-inch wheel and 110/80 hoop out back to go with the 19-incher and its 150/70 upfront. This combination improves its rough-terrain performance.
Inverted forks float the front end on fixed variables and the rear shock comes with the obligatory spring-preload adjuster as the only ride-quality tweak. It’s not complicated, but for its intended purpose, it’s fine.
Cast aluminum is the material of choice for the yoke-style swingarm to keep the rear-end light and give the rear shock a break. Meant for use in rough terrain, the 7.1-inch suspension travel at both ends is no surprise and should be sufficient for casual off-road work as long as you don’t try to jump with it.
Up front, a four-piston caliper bites a single, 300 mm disc with a single-pot anchor and 240 mm rear disc. It’s all under the vigilant watch of Beemer’s proprietary ABS feature that’ll let you get the most out of the available brakeage.
BMW lowered the price of its G 310 GS for the 2023 model year, making it the second least expensive model after the G 310 R. The 2022 BMW G 310 GS costs $5,695. This year, choose from Cosmic Black, Style Sport Polar White/Racing Blue Metallic, or Style Rallye Kalamata Dark Gold Metallic.
|Warranty:|Up to 3-years or 36,000 miles | |Colors:|| | └ 2021:|Kyanite Blue Rally, Polar White, “40 Years GS” yellow/black| | └ 2022:|Polar White, Style Sport Triple Black, Style Rallye Kyanite Blue Metallic | | └ 2023:|Cosmic Black 3, Style Sport Polar White/Racing Blue Metallic, Style Rallye Kalamata Dark Gold Metallic | |Price:|| | └ 2021:|$5,945, 40 Years GS: $6,195| | └ 2022:|$5,954 | └ 2023:|$5,695
Small-displacement adventure bikes aren’t quite as prolific as their beefier brethren with apparent holes in many major manufacturer’s lineups. Kawasaki was my Huckleberry with its Versys-X 300.
Right out of the gate, the Versys presents a very adventure-tastic profile to the world. Kawi’s front fairing eliminates the duck bill favored by the Beemer for a snub-nosed look up front that gives the overall panache a streetwise bent.
The Versys carries more bodywork to leave more of the underpinnings to the imagination. This leaves a slightly more finished, less industrial look overall.
Like the Beemer, the Kawi rolls with stock ABS, slipper clutch, and tunable rider’s triangle. It also adds a Dual Throttle Valve feature that is a definite step up from the BMW’s Idle Speed thingy to gain a slight edge in the electronics.
As for output, the Versys’ 296 cc parallel-twin falls just a skosh short at 19.2 pound-feet of torque. However, it’s far too small a difference to even be a blip on the old heinie-dyno.
Kawi offers its Versys-X 300 in but one color package with a starting MSRP of $5,899 to fall within the Beemer’s price bracket. Price will not be the deciding factor here.
“BMW has a reputation for quality amongst the world’s bike builders, and it doesn’t disappoint with this newest G 310 GS offering. Fit and finish are top-shelf, just like with its more noble models, and anyone looking for an entry-level commuter ADV bike would do well to take a test ride on Beemer’s newest small-displacement Gelände-Straße.”
My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, “The G 310 GS is not really powerful, but when the bike weighs less than 400 pounds, it doesn’t really need to be. The riding position is comfortable and overall, the bike is obviously pavement-oriented and not really meant for anything close to serious off-road riding. I give it thumbs up as a commuter.”
2022 Kawasaki Versys-X 300 - Performance, Price, and Photos
2021 - 2022 TopSpeed 2020 BMW Buying Guide
2017 - 2020 BMW G 310 R / G 310 GS
2018 - 2020 BMW F 850 GS Adventure