• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

How does the G310GS compare to an F650GS thumper in a practical sense?

66789

New member
I own an F650GS thumper.

I saw a G310GS at the local dealer the other day. It's winter, and I haven't ridden the G yet. Considering the snow and ice, I probably won't get to ride one anytime soon.

On a practical level, how do the two compare? On street, light-duty off road, comfort, handling, mileage, etc.?
 
The 310GS has its place. It isn’t a bad bike. I toyed with the idea of a new or nearly new G310. I ended up going with a 2005 F650GS. It has the panniers and some more giddy up. I am glad I went with the F650GS.

To me the displacement and extra giddy up is better on the highway. I have had mine just over a month. I have managed a couple of short rides before Christmas and last weekend. That is part of the fun living in the north or upper Great Plains.
 
We both had original 1997 F650 Funduros and I also had a 2001 F650 Dakar. We now both have G310GS bikes. Voni put 28,000 miles n her Funduro and rode about 8,500 miles on F650s touring Africa and New Zealand. I rode my Funduro about 66,000 miles and my '01 Dakar 37,000 miles. We now each have about 25,000 miles on our 310s.

The G310s are lighter and more nimble and more pleasant on unpaved roads. The 650s are more powerful, faster, and more capable with headwinds. I prefer a 650 in West Texas and Montana and other places where the speed limit is 75. But in the midwest or east where speed limits are 55 or 60 or 65 you won't tell much difference. Our 650s had larger fuel tanks: I find the 2.9 gallons on the G310GS bikes a bit small.

But to illustrate the capabilities of the 310s, in 2019 we rode from New Mexico to Tennessee and then to Virginia. From there we rode to British Columbia and then back home to Texas: on the G310s. So touring on the little bikes is easily doable but not what the bikes were built for.

The single downside I see is that in headwinds the bikes run out of horsepower fighting wind resistance. So a down shift to 5th is needed. They run well but the ride can be a bit tiring.
 
You two are amazing. :bow

Thanks for the info, everyone. I'll take one for a spin when riding weather improves.
 
Agree

Your experience mirrors my own with my G310GS and my brother in law who has a G310R. We are in our 70’s and have downsized from larger BMW’s to these which we have been using for touring with no real problems other than the headwind issue you mentioned. Recently I read a Facebook post which indicated that you and your wife both had catastrophic engine failures with your 310’s and the poster said, “another guy knows of three others”. I am always skeptical of the third party “knows a guy” reports, but I would be interested to hear of your experience, particularly of any reasons you know of which caused the failure ,
John Rice


We both had original 1997 F650 Funduros and I also had a 2001 F650 Dakar. We now both have G310GS bikes. Voni put 28,000 miles n her Funduro and rode about 8,500 miles on F650s touring Africa and New Zealand. I rode my Funduro about 66,000 miles and my '01 Dakar 37,000 miles. We now each have about 25,000 miles on our 310s.

The G310s are lighter and more nimble and more pleasant on unpaved roads. The 650s are more powerful, faster, and more capable with headwinds. I prefer a 650 in West Texas and Montana and other places where the speed limit is 75. But in the midwest or east where speed limits are 55 or 60 or 65 you won't tell much difference. Our 650s had larger fuel tanks: I find the 2.9 gallons on the G310GS bikes a bit small.

But to illustrate the capabilities of the 310s, in 2019 we rode from New Mexico to Tennessee and then to Virginia. From there we rode to British Columbia and then back home to Texas: on the G310s. So touring on the little bikes is easily doable but not what the bikes were built for.

The single downside I see is that in headwinds the bikes run out of horsepower fighting wind resistance. So a down shift to 5th is needed. They run well but the ride can be a bit tiring.
 
Back
Top