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BMW Motorrad India has finally launched its much-anticipated "entry-level" motorcycles in India - the BMW G310 R and the BMW G310 GS. One is a naked tourer, while the other is a fared adventure tourer.
The BMW G310 R has been priced at Rs 2.99 lakh ex-showroom, while the more stylised adventure-touring G310 GS has been priced at Rs 3.49 lakh ex-showroom.
Now these bikes are interesting, just not because they are "affordable" BMW bikes catering to the aspirations of enthusiastic bikers, but because of how they have been manufactured.
BMW Motorrad has a tie up with TVS in India, and the G310 R and G310 GS are being made alongside TVS Apache RR 310 in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. The TVS Apache RR 310 and the BMW twins share a lot in common. Heck, they are almost the same bike!
The TVS Apache RR310 is a lot cheaper though at Rs 2.23 lakh ex-showroom. That's the price you pay for the BMW badge I suppose.
The BMW G310 R and G310 GS are powered by a single-cylinder, liquid-cooled 313 cc engine that puts out 34 bhp of power at 9,500 rpm and 28 Nm of torque at 7,500 rpm. The engine is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox.
Just like the TVS Apache RR 310, the BMW twins also have trellis frame chassis, although the rear portion is different, given that the Apache has sports-bike styling, while these are adventure tourers.
The BMW twins get regular halogen headlamps, but they do have dual disc brakes with ABS as standard. They feature a full LCD instrument console with standard switchgear for the segment. The GS variant comes with dual-sport tyres.
At the launch of the BMW twins, a stunt group was riding the wheels off the bikes. For 34 bhp machines, they did seem quite capable. But we will reserve our judgement for a full review on The Quint later.
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