[nitinkbhaskar]

Introducing latest member to the family - BMW G 310GS aka Reyah !!

Likes:

1. Great looks - Nothing else comes close in this segment or 1 above.
2. Robust build (barring some small design flaws) & decent quality of cycle parts - Have covered approx. 3k kms and I still don't hear any odd rattles after putting her through whole lot of dirt, muck, rut, rocks and what not.
3. Well-tuned suspensions - It gobbles all the undulations on road and has not yet bottomed out.
4. Comfortable seats (both rider & pillion) & riding dynamics - 2 up touring all day long is definitely doable.
5. Wide service intervals (10k Kms or 1 Year) - Spend more time on road than service centers.
6. Powerful headlights - Totally satisfied with the illumination. For someone like me who will rarely ride in pitch black night, the stock setup performs really well.
7. Did I mention great looks ?

Dislikes:

1. Dated instrument console projecting limited information - It just doesn't belong to a machine of this day & age.
2. Clunky gearbox - Decent upshifts but downshifts are not smooth. Finding N is a task.
3. Meek horn - Highway rides demand an upgrade (There are some scooters out there which has better set of horns).
4. Low fuel capacity - 11L usable capacity means you will have to visit fuel stations frequently.
5. Zero protection despite ADV moniker - All you get from factory is a plastic bash plate. No hand guards, no crash guards nothing.
6. Non-switchable ABS - Dropping a major feature while upgrading the bike. Seriously ??
7. Side Stand Design : The long stand is a headache in congested city parking as one has to tilt the bike in opposite direction to get out of spot.

Disclaimer : This review is compiled by a person whose experience with motorcycling is limited to single cylinders i.e. CBF Stunner, Unicorn & Classic 500.
Also, you won't enjoy my photography & writing skills , but I will try to share my experience so that potential owners can gain something out of this ownership thread.

P.S : Those wondering about the name - Reyah is an Islamic name which roughly relates to "winds" / "strength". Hoping that I ride with the winds to explore places and keep my riding passion alive for many many miles.

[nitinkbhaskar]

Thread Index :

1. Buying Decision & Dealership Experience
2. Knowing Reyah

• Quick Look Around
• Instrument Console & Switch Gear
• Lights

3. Ride Review
4. Maintenance, Accessories & Wrap-up
5. Tips & Tricks - Ongoing placeholder for quick hacks which has made my life easier with Reyah.
6. Important Updates - Ongoing placeholder for anything crucial which I feel should be shared with potential owners for informed decision making.

[nitinkbhaskar]

Buying Decision & Dealership Experience

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rdeEL1cU_c

Wait, that's not BMW, that's a Kawasaki. Heck, that's not even an ADV but a sports tourer. What is this video doing here ?

Well, this is the video which made my better half believe that I will go mad if I don't get a bike for myself. Since I sold my C500 in Delhi and shifted to Bangalore, she must have seen me watching this (among other videos) at least twice daily (for 2 years). And then one fine day she blurted out - go get your Ninja. I suddenly opened T-BHP classifieds, OLX etc. to look for a pre-owned Ninja. Why preowned ? - Well blame Team-BHP

Anyways, nothing came close to my expectations in the pre-owned market. What did come close was Athek's Ninja 650. Had a good chat with him but then a quick look at my finances made me realize that the 650s are still a distant dream.

At that point, BS6 version of RR310 launched and that was a really serious contender. Add to the fact that N300 BS6 was not in sights, I was tilting towards matt black rr310.

However, just when I was about to transfer the token amount, the below image popped up my feed.

And I was hooked.

Until now I was just thinking from the heart (motor heads will get this ), but now I tried to bring in some logical aspect. And when I really thought about it, the ADV made so much sense. The below spec sheet matched my requirements (weekend riding, exploring places and touring) to the T.

Also, the revised pricing helped the cause and 2.91 lakhs ex-showroom looked very tempting. With this, I co-ordinated with Gopal from Tusker BMW and I must say he handled my case very professionally.

Even though the delivery was delayed due to high demand (especially of Rally E edition), the communication from Gopal was very prompt and assuring.

Finally got the delivery of my bike on 24th Dec (Christmas Eve gift, eh ??) against the booking done on 20th October. Have ridden approximately 3000 kms since then and now I feel that I can do justice to adding an ownership review on Team-BHP.

[nitinkbhaskar]

Knowing Reyah - Quick Look Around

One thing is for sure - the Rally E edition is an eye candy. I know that its no sports bike with all those curves and hues but not a single day has passed when I parked Reyah and then didn't look back to admire her beauty. And in my books that's the top requirement.

Looks killer. Right ?
Notice how the gold shocks pop out with all the blue, silver and black accents around.



The rear left has a very clean look without the saree guard. Silver rear footpegs are quite functional and look classy.



BMW folks want this bike to scream of her lineage. Check this collage which captures BMW branding all around the bike.



And if these brandings were not enough, you also get the complete BMW moniker - Bayerische Motoren Werke AG




Rider foot pegs do the job but are too narrow for saddling / off roading. You can remove the rubber inserts for better grip in rough terrains. You also get a side stand switch which cuts off the ignition if the side stand is deployed mid way.



Quite functional luggage rack. Have placed a sling bag for your reference.



Rear white shocks on left and front golden shocks on right. Also, note the exhaust pipe from reverse inclined engine behind the rear shocks.

Some pics of underseat area. The fuses and their details are well laid out. Service manual is nicely tucked in a compartment in the belly of seat. Also, I was not expecting TVS medikit

There are 2 design flaws which I have noticed:

1. There rear part of seat does not fit the main body panel completely. There is a minute play of around .5 cm which makes some noise while going through potholes. Nothing major and you can't hear this within the helmet. With 2 up riding this is sorted on own due to pillion weight.
2. The number plate and rear fender rub together and hence tend to rattle. Again, can be fixed easily.

All in all, very happy with the build quality of bike.

[nitinkbhaskar]

Knowing Reyah - Instrument Console & Switch Gear

One can toggle through the console to view following information:
1. Date
2. Overall ODO
3. Trip 1 ODO
4. Trip 2 ODO
5. Engine Temp
6. Trip 1 Mileage
7. Instantaneous Mileage
8. Average Speed (Overall ODO)
9. Range
10. Setup (to change date and time)

*Rant Box*

I just have 1 word for the instrument console - RUDIMENTARY.

And no, I don't have sky high expectations like TFT console, Bluetooth connectivity, Navigation capability etc. I just expect that important information is shared in a clean layout in 1 go. Let me list out the issues:

1. The mileage is not shown as kmpl but l/100 km . BMW - you don't need to show European measurement standards. Everyone knows that this bike is made in India !!
2. You get option of Trip 1 kms log & mileage but on different toggle screens. Why can't I have all the information related to trip in same screen ? Also it wouldn't have hurt to provide the time spent, average speed etc. for individual Trip.
3. For Trip 2, you just get kms log. Nothing else. NADA.
4. The average speed you get is for the overall ODO reading. I really don't understand the logic behind this functionality

To be quite frank, instead of this good for nothing dash, I would have preferred analog dials. At least I would have needles

The saving grace is that I am able to easily read the dash while riding. The screen is legible and sunlight does not impact the visibility of dash.

The range toggle is automatically activated once range drops below 100 KM. There is also a white tell tale light which lights up when you hit rpm limit i.e. 10400.

Thankfully, the story takes a nice turn on switch gears. All the buttons feel very premium to touch and operate. They provide a very tactile feedback and no complains here. Since there is no cruise control, mode selection or other fancy features, the layout is quite simple.

The clutch and break levers are 4 step adjustable and that's a good thing. Slipper & assist clutch is quite light and the break levers provide decent progression.

Top row is right side switch assembly with starter and engine kill switch.
Bottom row is left side switch assembly with horn, lights and pass switch.

[nitinkbhaskar]

Knowing Reyah - Lights

One of the major upgrades in the BS6 version of 310 GS is the all around LED lights. And I must say I am thoroughly impressed. Usually I ride within the time period of 4am till 5 pm and for this use case I really don't feel the need to add AUX lamps. I will let pictures talk on how good the stock setup is.

From top left in clockwise direction -> No lights, DRL, DRL + Low Beam, DRL + High Beam



LED DRL looks really beautiful in my opinion.



Dashing LED blinkers and tail lights.

The blinkers have been picked straight from the F900 series and hence I foresee the huge cost of replacement in case of a fall.

[nitinkbhaskar]

Ride Review

Let me just address the elephant in the room first -> the nature of engine is GRUFF. This is something which is inherent character of this machine. My unicorn and stunner were much more refined than 310GS at similar RPMs.

To mount the bike, you need to be vertically proportionate or simply "climb" up using the sturdy foot pegs (i do recommend that you get a side stand extender if you use this method quite often). The manageable weight does help in pushing around the bike but its always better to park in way which enable you to throttle away later on (i.e. nose towards the exit or the incline). 1 thing to note - please "educate" the pillion to sit on bike properly as they may hurt their leg through the luggage rack.

Moving on, to bring her to life you need to press the starter a bit longer ~ 3 seconds. Once its alive, the RPM hovers around 2100 mark. However, as soon as the engine temp crosses 30 degrees, the RPM settles at around 1200 - 1400 mark. The light clutch enables you to move swiftly. However, until the engine reaches optimum temperature, the gearbox is bit clunky. Things start getting better as you progress through ride but downshifts will not be butter smooth especially around 1-N-2 gears. The only silver lining in this aspect is that the gearbox seems to have sorted out slowly as I pile more kms.

Though I stalled the bike during the test ride. ride by wire tech & enhanced low-end grunt has really taken care of the stalling issue by and large. Its all about understanding the bike and adjusting your throttle modulation. On top of that there is GTT feature wherein the bike would move at crawling speeds without any throttle input. This really helps in traffic or when you just want to relax your right wrist. The rough crawling speeds at individual gears are :

1st Gear - 9 kmph
2nd Gear - 15 kmph
3rd Gear - 21 kmph
4th Gear - 25 kmph

The meat of the power lies within 3.5k - 7k rpm. The bike pulls really clean in this band and more often than not you will always be ahead once the traffic lights turn green. Again its not going to scorch the streets but its no slouch either. And to check the speeds the steel braided brake lines, disc brakes, tyres and ABS system do a good job. No drama and no slides under hard braking. I just wished that the rear brake also had a good progressive bite for those rare situations where you need them too.

And finally, the suspension - they have been praised ample of times by n number of people. In summary it just soaks up everything our Bangalore roads have to offer and it works even better when riding 2 up. Also, the bike handles beautifully and is quite nimble.

The fan kicks in whenever the temperature hits 100 degrees and then switches off at 90 degrees. The heat management is decent and you won't face issues until you are in your night suit (or knickers + chappals ).

Therefore city riding performance - 7.5/10

Cross the city limits and move towards the highway and you will realize that this is where the bike truly shines.

The perfectly balance seat cushion, wide area and sorted riding dynamics (owing to wide handle bar and well contoured tank shape) makes it a true mile muncher. On top of this, the engine hums at humble 6k rpm while you are at 100 kmph on 6th gear. This leaves you with ~4.4k rpm for overtakes and higher cruising speed. One can easily cruise at 100 - 110 kmph all day long. Its only when you cross 7 - 7.5k rpm, you will feel a bit of vibes on the foot pegs and as you push harder, some amount of those vibes do creep in to the rider seat & rear view mirrors. Though the visibility through rear view mirrors is not impacted by huge margin, but its not going to be 6/6 if you know what I mean.

The stock windscreen will tire you out during prolonged period of high speed runs. Changing to a larger one is recommended if you are going to tour often. The exhaust note is nothing to write about but with decent helmet insulation and ear plugs, the riding experience will be pure bliss.

The only fly in the soup is small tank. Even with a decent mileage of 29 - 32 kmpl on highways (at around 6 - 6.5k rpm), the 11 liters of fuel capacity will force you to take fuel breaks every 280 - 300 kms.

On luggage carrying capacity, the humongous rack plays an important role and with saddle stays + luggage systems you can easily tour the length & breath of our beautiful country.

Highway riding performance - A solid 9/10.

Once the road ends and you encounter the trails, you will be happy to know that this bike can take you through those tough sections with ease. I mean its not out and out adventure dual sport bike but you will be able to explore places which you never thought were approachable your car or that faired super sport or sport tourers. This bikes really encourages you to explore trails. Quoting my own post from another thread -

Originally Posted by nitinkbhaskar

A big point is that with Reyah I just drift away from my end destination a lot. I tend to get into some small trails, then spend good amount of time there and then realize that I am late for my actual ride !!

With a bit of tweaking in your stance, you can also saddle easily. However, handle bar risers will make things better.
The low end grunt help in these situations and you will rarely stall the bike. In my experience, you can manage the trails (light to moderate level) without multiple gear shifts with decent clutch control and throttle modulation. 2nd and 3rd gears are your friend here. However, the mileage in such situations will be around 24 - 28 kmpl.

The suspensions do a fine job along. However, with higher speeds on the trails they will be slow to absorb the undulations and your best bet would be to use your bent knees and elbows as a fall back option.

However, all is not bling here. For starters, the foot pegs are really small and one needs larger foot pegs for better comfort. Also, the weight does start showing up in such sections and you need to be more careful than someone riding an impulse etc. On top of that, there is no switchable ABS (therefore no more intentional sliding).

However, for me I feel that I have not yet exhausted the capability of bike in these terrains and there is a lot of learning to do. Sharing a pic, gif and video (Holy moly I covered everything there ) which shows the baby GS can really keep up with purpose built bikes like xpulse.

Basking in morning breeze at Panchapalli Dam. Reyah is second from the left.



Having some fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTYVdWeX0tU

A video by a fellow biker of our Kailashagiri climb. Reyah completed the whole trail without any issues !!

In short, you can use the bike for off roading but don't expect that you will be jumping the logs & achieve Jordon like airtime. Just be realistic with your expectations and you can have immense fun.
But for something serious, get an xpulse and slap the rally kit.

Off roading performance - 7/10.

[nitinkbhaskar]

Maintenance, Accessories & Wrap-up

Being a father of a hyperactive kiddo, devoting regular time for buffing and elbow greasing is out of question for me. However, I have found a decent balance for the upkeep of Reyah. I stick with following:

1. Super Ceramic Coating - For hydrophobic properties. 2 coats every 6 months
2. Proklear Wash Concentrate - For washing every weekend
3. Jopasu Duster - For daily wipe.
4. Gear Oil - Chain lubing every 500 - 700 kms

Also attaching the service manual for 310 GS + snippet of service schedule

Cost of first service - 5800/-

On accessories front, I have bought the following:

1. Venom Crash Guards & Handle Bar Risers - 19k
2. Barkbuster hand guards - 11k
3. Motographix Tankpad - 2.5k

For folks who wish to know more on accessories front, sharing video of another owner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o5b3QZNZJc

Finally, I would say that I am glad I picked up this bike. For my use case, nothing comes close. This is a true do-it-all bike in my opinion. I really look forward to spending good time with Reyah for many miles.

Wrapping up, here's my son expressing his emotions on a recent ride to a nearby lake. A biker in making perhaps

Thanks for bearing with me guys and I wish every motor head a safe & pleasurable ride / drive with their steed !!

[nitinkbhaskar]

Tips & Tricks - Ongoing placeholder for quick hacks which has made my life easier with Reyah

1. Facing rough ride quality ? - Please check tyre pressure. For couple of days, I was baffled at the ride quality after I took delivery of the bike. When I got it checked the readings were 35 PSI both tyres. Immediately changed them to recommended - 26F & 28R. My spine thanked me immediately post that.

2. Khad Khad noise from chain roller area while going through potholes ? - Just oil those chains. I faced this initially. However, after liberally using gear oil, have never faced this issue.

3. Rattling sound from the rear area ? - Check if the number plate and plastic fender are coming in contact. Apply a double sided tape or just bend the number plate a bit backward.

4. Save your fork seals. Installation of Kreiga seal covers (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5126451 (Reyah, The Lady of Bavaria | BMW G 310 GS BS6 Ownership Review))

[nitinkbhaskar]

Important Updates - Ongoing placeholder for anything crucial which I feel should be shared with potential owners for informed decision making

1. ODO Reading 400 Kms - Off road training with Reyah and quick observations of bike from the trainer (2020 BMW G310R and 310GS facelift)


2. ODO Reading 3200 Kms - Storing Reyah for 7 weeks (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5051376 (Reyah, The Lady of Bavaria | BMW G 310 GS BS6 Ownership Review))

3. ODO reading 5900 Kms - Battery recall for 310GS (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5209915 (Reyah, The Lady of Bavaria | BMW G 310 GS BS6 Ownership Review))

4. Odo reading 6700 km - Second service update (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5272329 (Reyah, The Lady of Bavaria | BMW G 310 GS BS6 Ownership Review))

5. Odo reading 10500 - Third service update : (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5469516 (Reyah, The Lady of Bavaria | BMW G 310 GS BS6 Ownership Review))

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[tanayr]

Originally Posted by nitinkbhaskar

The blinkers have been picked straight from the F900 series and hence I foresee the huge cost of replacement in case of a fall.

That USED to be the case. With the bikes being made here in India, what actually has happened is that the common parts' cost has gone down for bigger bikes. Right now, very few parts are common but these indicators are approximately Rs 1550 per piece. These will also be used in the next year R1250 GS/GSAs and other bikes too (probably same price too)

The next time I need to replace indicators on my GS, I will be picking up these only.

[rarkit]

Your review was very interesting to read. Now I really want this bike but mileage and tank capacity is an issue. Maybe if petrol prices I went down a bit I would consider.

Where did you take the photo that just below your rating for city riding performance.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by nitinkbhaskar

Facing rough ride quality? Please check tyre pressure. For couple of days, I was baffled at the ride quality after I took delivery of the bike. When I got it checked the readings were 35 PSI both tyres. Immediately changed them to recommended - 26F & 28R. My spine thanked me immediately post that.

Congratulations and all the best Nitinkbhaskar! Superb review/ownership thread, please do keep updating us on your adventures with Reyah.

Excellent accessories video by Nomad Sam, very, very tasteful stuff he has added to his bike.

The 26F and 28R air pressure is it for solo riding only? If so, what is the recommended air pressure with pillion?

Ride safe.

Cheers

[shree_shell]

Congratulations! Love the size of the bike for a 310.

I am really curious why BMW didn't go with spoked wheels on an ADV bike?!