A Few Days in Spain With a 310GS

The black art of moving from A to B on foreign soil
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Alun
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A Few Days in Spain With a 310GS

Post by Alun »

It’s been a good week. On Monday I flew over to Spain as a guest of BMW to ride the new G 310GS from Barcelona to Andorra and back.
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With an early morning flight, I’d arrived at the hotel with pretty much a free day until the evening briefings. Dumped my gear in the room and went down to the 2nd floor café for a coffee and a smoke on the veranda. There was one table with an ashtray which contained a still smoking stub of a Cuban cigar.
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Just a few yards away was the satisfied smoker.


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Alun
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Re: A Few Days in Spain With a 310GS

Post by Alun »

Anyway, next morning we picked up the bikes, there were quite a few.
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We split into groups of 5 and headed to the hills, stopping first at the spectacular Montserrat
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and to play on a few trails.
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More to come......
Alun
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Re: A Few Days in Spain With a 310GS

Post by Alun »

Then it was empty roads all the way to the Pyrenees
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And eventually the tax-free principality of Andorra
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Where we hit a few more trails
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Alun
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Re: A Few Days in Spain With a 310GS

Post by Alun »

At the base in Andorra we had an early dinner
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Next day it was back down to Barcelona on more fantastic, empty roads.
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Back at Barcelona there was a huge security presence at our hotel…these guys and all their entourage were our fellow guests.
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All in all, a very enjoyable few days. Oh, and the bike…. featured in the next issue of ABR
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daveuprite
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Re: A Few Days in Spain With a 310GS

Post by daveuprite »

Great pics Alun. What was the bike like off-road?
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Re: A Few Days in Spain With a 310GS

Post by Alun »

It’s lightweight and manageable and in that respect, it’s okay for slow off road stuff. Needs beefing up for anything semi-serious or trails taken at pace – I had the suspension bottoming out on minor whoops, but then I’m pushing 17st.

Let’s put it this way, if you’re looking for an off-road bike it’s not for you but if you want something you could occasionally take for a tootle down a lane without scaring the be jeysus out of you then it’s a maybe. The cast wheels tell you all you need to know about where BMW reckon you should be riding.
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Re: A Few Days in Spain With a 310GS

Post by minkyhead »

its a shame they didnt gp more seteo with it ..i guess its a entery level bike and the770ml seat height will be great for newbies and ladies but not so good for the like sof me used to 950 ml

the engine seems to be good on paper ... how was it on the road ?
whats the wether forcast ..wheres me map
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Re: A Few Days in Spain With a 310GS

Post by Alun »

minkyhead wrote: Fri Sep 29, 2017 1:17 pm its a shame they didnt gp more seteo with it ..i guess its a entery level bike and the770ml seat height will be great for newbies and ladies but not so good for the like sof me used to 950 ml

the engine seems to be good on paper ... how was it on the road ?

The main thing to understand about this bike is that it was not made with Europe in mind. This is BMW’s big push into the ‘emerging markets’ of India, Brazil etc. If they sell any in Europe then it’s more of a bonus.

It’s a 310cc so there’s no wow involved but it’s great for around town and if you ride with the throttle permanently pinned you can have some fun on A roads but that’s not what this bike is about. For long distance stuff I had it up to 147km/hr on the motorway but for any extended time in the saddle it’s comfy between 50mph and 60mph, it’s not a happy place to be for long term comfort at 70mph or above.
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Re: A Few Days in Spain With a 310GS

Post by boboneleg »

So I see there's some etiquette involved in which particular bike you get. You stick your helmet on the bike you want to ride, a bit like Germans with their towels on the sun loungers :mrgreen:

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Re: A Few Days in Spain With a 310GS

Post by daveuprite »

That's a shame Alun. Yet another bike designed to look as though it will go anywhere but can't.
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