Travelogue: BMW G 310 GS
BMW Motorrad’s baby GS heads to Mahabaleshwar
We have been living in a new world ever since the pandemic changed many aspects of our day-to-day lives. The last couple of months trapped at home on account of another lockdown did get really frustrating and little did i know that things were going to take a turn for the better very soon. The next day as i arrived at the office, a bMw g 310 gS wrapped in the special black and yellow “40 Years of gS” anniversary edition colours was sitting pretty in the Bike India garage.
i jumped at the first chance and convinced my editor to let me borrow the motorcycle for the weekend. The special part about living in Pune is that it is surrounded by beautiful mountains on all sides and the best part being that they are not too far away. i chose to visit Mahabaleshwar as i had heard it had recently opened up to the public, with the easing of restrictions imposed due to the pandemic and, so, it made for quite an adventurous visit.
The ride to Mahabaleshwar spans over 120 km from Pune and covers various terrain including highway, some twisties, and a fair share of bad roads on the way. The day began with pleasant weather as i headed out on the bike early in the morning. The route to exit Pune is via the Katraj Ghat and that is where i got my first dose of the twisties on the g 310 gS. Katraj Ghat might not be the cleanest place with garbage dumped all over, and is always flooded with slow-moving traffic, too. The climb and following descent were effortless as the wide handlebar allowed for easy manoeuvrability through the tightest of corners and the engine was always ready for times when i needed to get around and ahead of the slow traffic in the way. The g 310 gS may look like a considerably large motorcycle but it becomes one with a rider as soon as they swing a leg over it and set off. even with my short stature, the bike was not intimidating and this friendly nature of the g 310 gS made it all the more fun on such a trip.
The baby GS catches eyes just like its larger siblings wherever it goes, especially in this rad colour scheme
The first stop was for breakfast around 25 km into the ride at the first misal joint that we found open on the highway. as i got down to eating, the rain came pouring down, violently, and it was now time to gear up for a wet highway ahead. a combination of the suspension setup, brakes and the Metzeler Tourance tyres made for an engaging highway ride as the bike soaked up all the bumps and undulations from the road surface while providing high levels of grip. This is the part of the route where a lot of distance can be covered quickly and i was able to achieve a top speed of around 156 km/h when i got an open stretch of tarmac on the highway.
The next part of the route went through one of my favourite set of twisties — Khambatki Ghat. This is a wide stretch of tarmac with traffic travelling only one way and with flowing turns through to the end of the mountain pass. There is a stunning view from the top but, with roads like these, i was concentrating more on carving corners. luckily, by the time we reached this point, we had passed the rainy sections and were back to dry roads. after a few corners, it was evident what a good handling machine this motorcycle is. There is no worry about the pegs scraping in any of the corners with the higher ground clearance. This gave me the confidence to effortlessly flick the bike from one side to another with it being extremely stable and planted through the flowing corners and put a wide grin on my face. Until this section came to an end.
The next part of the route passed through wai. This is a small town and the route leading through it consists of a narrow straight road with a few bad sections along the way. This was the second-last part of the route before we got to the last ghat that would lead us straight to Panchgani. This is where i stood upon the pegs to stretch myself while i continued cruising with ease. For a few moments, when traffic came to a sudden stop, all the bike needed was one finger on the front brake as it came to a halt. From here on it was just a little while before we were getting to our hotel that was located in Panchgani.