SMALL GS BIG ADVENTURE
Can the smallest member of the GS family really deliver for on and off-road adventures? Chris Scott returned to Morocco to find out
RUNNING EASY FLY-AND-RIDE tours in Morocco, I’ve grown to marvel at the indefatigable Honda XR250 Tornados we rented in Marrakesh. Credit must go to Loc2roues’ mechanic, toiling away in his sunless basement workshop but, seven years in, with the XRS pushing 100,000 kilometres, Loc conceded they were due for relocation to a bungalow on the south coast. These air-cooled dinosaurs are now extinct and in Morocco, BMW’S G310GS was the next-best thing available —also complimenting Loc’s fleet of bigger BMWS.
Invited to try the new 310 out, I in turn invited desert-biking chums Simon and Karim to help evaluate the mini-gs. And when Loc said new, it meant brandspanking. Turning mine on, the LED display lit up with just 2km on the clock. Well, someone needs to run them in...
We rode out of the Marrakesh smog and pointed the GSS’ broad beaks towards the snow-capped peaks of the High Atlas. But as we’d all been up early to catch the Easyjet red-eye, today was a short, threehour ride to get a feel for the new GSS, backed-up by an XR with a dizzying 88,000 kms on the clock.
I led us up the familiar R203 Tizi-n-test road, savouring the lush springtime warmth and twittering birds. With its bulky bodywork and stance, the 310GS can fool you into thinking it’s a bigger bike until you try to overtake something. Then it feels little different to a 250. I didn’t have the heart to cane the new motor beyond 6000rpm, at which point it’s making about the same power as an XR. Independent dyno tests have shown the claimed 34hp is more like 30, but as the mountain road swung left and right, the GS felt at home; powerful brakes, a 19in front wheel and well-damped suspension inspiring confidence through the ragged bends.
That night we caught up on our sleep at
a cosy Berber homestay and next morning, were raring to go. Up ahead lay the 2100m Tizi-n-test pass, rated as ‘not for sissies’ by dangerousroads.org. You can only wonder what they’d make of the parallel off-road route we soon found ourselves on, clawing up the rubble to even greater heights. As you’d expect, on the rougher stages the GSS couldn’t be thrown around like the Honda, which clocks in some 35kg lighter, but as the elevation rose the 250’s spluttering carb provided its own mobility challenges. Still, as long as we maintained a steady pace the 310’s Metzeler/mitas all-road tyres, along with faultless fuelling, made for easy handling within the limits of the suspension. And at 6ft 1in, even I could stand up without too much of a stoop.
Once over the Atlas range, we found ourselves on one of the many new roads spreading out across rural Morocco. They bring much-needed all-weather access to villagers, even as they erode dirt-riding opportunities for adventurers like us. Fear not; thousands of kilometres of tracks remain and we soon hooked up with an even-better piste heading east, high above the Ouaougdimt valley. Hopping between 310 and 250, the BM’S suspension and weight held it back for sure, but it was still pretty good for what it was. In the end it was the narrow footrests (rubbers removed) that forced me back down on to the cheap foam seat, which reminded me of the equally atrocious perch on BMW’S venerable F650GS twin.
Now back on the bitumen and with the new Atlas crossing in the bag (‘MH20’; see box), we wolfed down a quick roadside lunch, then topped-up the bikes just east of Taliouine. Running–in below 60mph, the BMWS returned an impressivesounding 89mpg alongside the XR’S 71mpg, though still quite a reach to BMW’S claimed 94mpg.
From Taliouine we were following one of my regular routes into the Anti-atlas and down to the hidden oasis of Assaragh. I’ve done this route on everything from my Yamaha XSR to a Husky 701 and 650 Terra, Honda CB500X, that cheek-numbing 650GS twin and any number of Tornados. The sure-footed 310 clambered stoically over the watershed and down to the oasis. The lower-than-xr seat inspires reassurance, welcome when the 310 cut out again, this time negotiating a tricky switchback. Stalling at low rpm is something others have reported. It could just require adapting to the small, lean-running engine’s clutch and throttle, or perhaps a first-service re-map will fix it. It certainly won’t be the first GS single to have stalling issues, that’s for sure.
Our XR’S damage-and-wear profile had peaked long ago; it was as shagged as it would ever get, but outside the lodge Simon and I checked over the new bikes to make sure all was intact. ‘Made in India’ may be a millennial equivalent of the ‘made in Hong Kong’ jeer I recall from my youth but, excepting Loc’s crudely tooled improvements, this mini-gs appeared as well cast, moulded and screwed together as its legendary — and proven — siblings. The question is: how will it look seven years and 88,000km down the line?
Sipping mint teas on the terrace
“The lowerthan-xr seat reassures”
overlooking the palmerie, the three of us reflected on the BMW’S attributes. It looks great but otherwise Simon and Karim weren’t impressed. Keen off-roaders, they weren’t used to a bike holding them back, while on the highway I found it unpleasantly buzzy over 55mph. It may well loosen up or rev through that harshness, but lacking the reassurance of highway poke or the agility of a 250 trailie, the 310 seemed the worst of both worlds. But let’s face it, old hands like us are clearly not this BMW’S target buyers. Whatever obscure learners’ category the 310 slots into, they’ll happily buy into its ‘biglooking little bike’ cachet and, once loyal to the brand, will be primed to progress steadily through the GS range all the way up to a you-know-what.
We set off for the 400km ride back to Marrakesh the next day, via the spectacular Assaragh canyon, which opened out to the Saharan fringe close to the Algerian border. XR or GS, on these sorts of backroads there was little in it. But wherever we stopped for a feed or a brew, a crowd of not only kids but grown men gathered round the snazzy 310s. And for an all-important first proper bike, that’s probably a good enough reason to get one.