The New BMW G 310 GS Thread~

Recall and Stop Sale

BMW has issued a Stop Sale order on all G310GS bikes. There are substantive reports, according to my mole and ADV, that side stands have been breaking. Worse, it’s not the side stand itself that fails, but rather part of the frame and/or the pivot tab that holds the stand. I’ve heard reports that, instead of snapping off at the frame, the failure is actually taking a part of the frame tube with it.

Bear in mind, apart from the Stop Sale, this is rumor mixed with what we think are facts

The failure are apparently caused by folks stirrup mounting and dismounting (placing the left foot on leftfootpeg and mounting or dismounting). Another cause would be spinning the bike in the garage by pivoting on the sidestand, or sitting on the Moto while it is on the sidestand.

Rumor has it that BMW may not honor warranty claims; the G310GS Motorcycle Owners Manual states that the sidestand is not intended to bear any weight apart from the motorcycle itself. Rumor has it that BMW has honored some claims, has replaced the entire frame of one bike, and replaced another owner’s bike entirely. Now they (rumor, remember) apparently state that they will not honor claims. They claim there is no fix or repair, apart from a new frame. I don’t know what the Stop Sale is intended to accomplish.

In any event, if one is stirrup-mounting or dismounting, one may wish to quit doing it until this matter is settled. I suspect that failures are occurring on machines that have the rear shock jacked up to provide high ground clearance or, mostly, to look cool; stirrup-mounting and dismounting a Moto that is leaned over, due to lots of rear stock/strut preload, makes for a big angle between bike, ground and sidestand and the big angles puts too much stress on the sidestand.

My $0.02

I don’t have time to read all of this thread right now but has anyone brought up Jenny Morgan’s thread on ADv? She is cross crossing US/ CAN on and off road this summer including some pretty technical terrain. So far she’s been having fun according to her RR on ADV. She is working with Rally RAID in the UK for some good aftermarket upgrades, the beta stuff is on her bike. Her RRis a good read and she is giving a presentation at the MOA about the bike and her ride at 15:30 on Friday. I’ll see you there.
http://http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/beemer-beemer-chicken-deener.1294883/

WooDmEn said:

In any event, if one is stirrup-mounting or dismounting, one may wish to quit doing it until this matter is settled. I suspect that failures are occurring on machines that have the rear shock jacked up to provide high ground clearance or, mostly, to look cool; stirrup-mounting and dismounting a Moto that is leaned over, due to lots of rear stock/strut preload, makes for a big angle between bike, ground and sidestand and the big angles puts too much stress on the sidestand.

My $0.02

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I'd think not using a kickstand or a center stand to bear weight of mounting any motorcycle is common sense. It just doesn't seem to be a good idea in general to do this.

I do however keep mine down and the bike upright when the old lady mounts the bike as a failsafe to her getting on, in case the bike leans to far.

WooDmEn said:

In any event, if one is stirrup-mounting or dismounting, one may wish to quit doing it until this matter is settled. I suspect that failures are occurring on machines that have the rear shock jacked up to provide high ground clearance or, mostly, to look cool; stirrup-mounting and dismounting a Moto that is leaned over, due to lots of rear stock/strut preload, makes for a big angle between bike, ground and sidestand and the big angles puts too much stress on the sidestand.

My $0.02

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Due to my 30" inseam I've been mounting and dismounting like that for 45 years. Never had a problem. And on the GSA, with Kriega bags in place of the pillion seat, there is no way short of bringing a stepladder with me that I can mount any other way without risk of personal injury. How about BMW just admit that's how many do it and engineer the darned things for the real world?

Pete

Center stand no issues but I won’t sit on the bike on my aftermarket side stand on my main bike. I pretty much won’t sit on any of my bikes on the side stand.

skibum69 said:

Center stand no issues but I won’t sit on the bike on my aftermarket side stand on my main bike. I pretty much won’t sit on any of my bikes on the side stand.

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Sitting and mounting are two different animals. Sitting on a bike with the stand down is just bad mojo. Mounting using the left peg is very common practice, so common that (especially tall) bikes ought to be engineered for it. The way I do it - using it as a step and shifting the bike off the stand even before my bum hits the saddle - means the weight is on the stand less than a second.

Pete

Side Stand

glenfiddich said:

Sitting and mounting are two different animals. Sitting on a bike with the stand down is just bad mojo. Mounting using the left peg is very common practice, so common that (especially tall) bikes ought to be engineered for it. The way I do it - using it as a step and shifting the bike off the stand even before my bum hits the saddle - means the weight is on the stand less than a second.

Pete

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Yeah, that’s how I do it. And yes, a tall, light and small moto designed for beginners, short-inseam folks et al should have a side stand suitable for stirrup mounting.

it will be interesting to see what the recall and fix will be.

I suck at that trick and no option loaded to tour.

Try mounting from the right to keep your weight off the stand? I've tried it on an RT without any indication it will tip over, not sure about the balance point on a lighter bike.

EDIT: Tried mounting from the right peg of a CB175. Works fine. If it feels like it wants to tip right, just lean over and add a little weight to the left handlebar. This method does not add any weight to the sidestand.

BMW has issued a Stop Sale order on all G310GS bikes.

BMW has issued a Stop Sale order on all G310GS bikes."

I was wondering if BMW NA might need to offer some $$ incentives when the Stop Sale Order is lifted?

The 2018 model year is coming to a close and BMW might need to do something to move the unsold inventory resulting from the Stop Sale order.

Just wondering?

Just got word ours is in NJ and is not subject to the recall. Woohoo!

Back in the '70s when cast wheels were first coming out, I REALLY wanted a bike with them.

Now that cast wheels are the norm, guess what? Those Rally Raid wheels look very tasty.

And they're available sealed for tubeless tire use.

glenfiddich said:

Just got word ours is in NJ and is not subject to the recall. Woohoo!

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I saw some pics on the G310R (and GS) forum of both the reinforcement and new style. The "fix" for the older bike has a thick machined part bolted to the stand's support. The redesigned stand has a fork at the top slotting over a robust tab on the frame. Pics of both here:

https://www.g310rforum.com/forum/194-bmw-g310-gs-general-discussion/7500-side-stand-issue-3.html

1074 said:

Great! So when is BMW going to make a bike designed for less than premium, high octane gasoline?

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They did. It's called the 1980 R80G/S which had an 8.2:1 compression ratio and was designed to run on 87 octane fuel so you could go around the world and run whatever you found. I know a guy who was forced to run his on diesel for quite a few miles during a world tour on his R80. It ran like crap but it got him to some actual gas!

happy wanderer said:

They did. It's called the 1980 R80G/S which had an 8.2:1 compression ratio and was designed to run on 87 octane fuel so you could go around the world and run whatever you found. I know a guy who was forced to run his on diesel for quite a few miles during a world tour on his R80. It ran like crap but it got him to some actual gas!

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The Owner's Manual for my G310GS says AKI 87.

happy wanderer said:

They did. It's called the 1980 R80G/S which had an 8.2:1 compression ratio and was designed to run on 87 octane fuel so you could go around the world and run whatever you found. I know a guy who was forced to run his on diesel for quite a few miles during a world tour on his R80. It ran like crap but it got him to some actual gas!

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I'd be interested in that diesel story. Last I heard of something close to that was "depression era" operation of a gas engine on Kerosene. The engine had to be started on gas and once it was hot....it could be switched to kerosene. Before stopping, the engine had to be switched back to gas so it could be sorta "cleaned out" and having the combustibility to restart the engine.
I have no doubt that an older, unsophisticated engine could be run on 50/50 gas/diesel but not sure it would start.
OM

Another accessory video, this one from Twisted Throttle-


I have some SWM parts on the F800GS, been satisfied.

OM

Well, yesterday I finally bit and purchased the bike I said I was going to buy. I managed 85 miles of blissful riding in the Black Hills and have nothing but good to say about the bike. I am tickled pink. C'mon Spring, where are you?