310 GS Questions (planning for Iceland and Norway) lightweight focus

Hi everyone hope we are all well, laid up at the moment with a bust shoulder (not bike related) so doing a bit of bike research while going absolutely stir crazy

Anyone that has seen my Hilleberg thread will know I'm looking at doing a 2 month trip with my dad to Iceland and Norway which has lead us on to considering new bikes my dad's never had an ADV bike as he's always rode superbikes.

I've had a 1200 GSA TE 2014, F800GS 2015, 1000XT and currently on a V-Strom 650 XT which I did a 600 mile day on in absolute comfort n worked out the fuel economy from receipts at 68.6mpg and has been absolutely brilliant.

I initially started looking at the Himalayan but with already having two longstrokes a 1944 16H Norton and a 1927 16H flat tank which I rode through winter I came to the conclusion it might be to much of the same although I can appreciate the benefit of a long stroke for it's tractability.

Not had the Vstrom off road yet as it's not got a skid plate etc.

The main aim I'm trying to do is achieve more of a lightweight setup as we want to explore the F roads.

The V-Strom is 216KG, Himmy 205KG, 310 175KG, Rally 300 153KG

Then with the power an torque the 310 seems to be a bit peppier spec wise, it's a shame they don't have the spoke wheels as standard. One thing that did surprise me when sitting on a Euro 4 310 was the step through height on the seat quite similar to the vstrom infact I'd say the strom is a bit better with the front of the seat seeming narrower.

Anyone ridden a 310GS that's Ridden a rally 300 or Himalayan be interesting to her your thoughts. My dad really likes the idea of the Rally but they are hard to find currently good thing is there's no rush as the trip is next year.

what are the 310's like between 60-70mph any high frequency vibration was looking at the ktm390 and a few people said they can send your hands dead.

Would be looking at the new one with the fixed stalling issue on the 310.

At the moment the lead choice is the 300 Rally but thought I'd explore a few other options to.

Thanks in advance.

The 310 sits very happily at 70mph, no vibes. Get some bar risers on it and a spoiler on the screen and its very very similar to the 1200gs riding position and feel.

Front suspension is very soft and needs stiffening up if you’re going to do any bumpy off-road stuff. Rear is a bit soft also, although I guess it will depend on your weight, how much luggage you’re taking and the type of offroad riding you’ll be doing (if any) to decide if it’s worth spending the money on upgrades.

The cast wheels are plenty strong enough . Don’t waste your money on spoked wheels.

Sorry, can’t offer any opinion or comparisons on the others you’ve mentioned.
I had a 310 for a little while and did a fair bit of green laning plus a 2000 mile trip to Italy and did some of the TET. Good little bike.

The 310 engine has two distinct characteristics, quite docile at lower revs and then a screamer when you rev it out, which is fun. The back to front engine is useful at it moves the exhaust to the rear and out of the way. It does place the airbox under the front of the tank and the intake can make a racket! I ride mine on Salisbury Plain fire roads, Indian style (sat down) and when doing so the soft suspension makes sense. I have never bottomed it out and I am a bit of a lump. You can cruise at 75 indicated and not that vibey, but no big bike cruising here. I like the little GS and as mentioned the stock wheels are supposed to be pretty tough.

well its a small cc bike can handle off road and motorway . improved with a few mods front spring is a bit soft for off road. as for stalling a 15 tooth front sprocket helps and a 140 rear tyre make very little difference to top speed . wheels are good to go . just buy near new 3yr cover . been to morocco and back with no problem sat at 70 mph all day .4k gets you a near new bike .

Thanks everyone very interesting as always to tap the collective knowledge on here was having a look at the price on the cast wheels on the EPC not bad really cost wise if one did get trashed.

Pop down to North Devon and ride all 3 back to back:
https://www.dorothysspeedshop.com/

soon as my shoulder is right again Nathan's is gonna be my first point of call

steele01 said:

soon as my shoulder is right again Nathan's is gonna be my first point of call

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We stayed here: https://www.thebrookfield.co.uk/
Right in the centre of Braunton and only a few minutes from the speed shop. Some lovely places to eat in the town too.
The area is excellent for riding

Cheers mate that's really handy to know I'd say I'm 50/50 split at the moment between the himmy n the 310 gonna get a look at a 310 tomorrow all being well.

gspod said:

Pop down to North Devon and ride all 3 back to back:
https://www.dorothysspeedshop.com/

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and whilst you’re there, ride Nathan’s Rally Raid CB500x then buy one. Knocks all the others on your list into the proverbial cocked hat…

steadysteve said:

The cast wheels are plenty strong enough . Don’t waste your money on spoked wheels.

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This is good advice, right up to the point where you break a cast rim. Have you ever tried repairing a dinged cast rim with a hammer?

There’s a reason why adventure bikes intended for stuff other than tarmac have spoked wheels…

richardbd said:

and whilst you’re there, ride Nathan’s Rally Raid CB500x then buy one. Knocks all the others on your list into the proverbial cocked hat…

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or just buy a 10k bike instead of a 12k bike, instead of a 7k bike with 5k of upgrades.

Thanks everyone yep I've been looking at the himmy n crf300l which are a bit more ready out of the box keep thinking about the 1200gs 2014 as well as i had the gsa but do fancy something lighter this time round so the himmy seems to stand out the most currently.

Unless you want something newer you could also consider a G650 X Country. 52bhp and 140kg. Took mine up to Nordcap last year through Finland and back through Sweden. 5000 miles, no issues.

richardbd said:

This is good advice, right up to the point where you break a cast rim. Have you ever tried repairing a dinged cast rim with a hammer?

There’s a reason why adventure bikes intended for stuff other than tarmac have spoked wheels…

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I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that the OP and his dad wouldn’t be going bananas off-road as his dad as only previously ridden super bikes..

The 310 isn’t intended to be hardcore off-road in the same mould as more expensive machinery is it?
My opinion is based on a fair few miles of the Italian tet fully loaded with tent and luggage over some bloody awful trails with rocks and cobbles.
I put a Rally Raid rear suspension unit on mine because I was loading it up with the same amount of stuff I would throw on my 1200gs. The suspension was bottoming out frequently but the rims didn’t suffer any damage.
I would suggest that anyone hammering this particular bike enough to do some serious damage is on the wrong bike in the first place… There’ll always be companies willing to take your money for ‘upgrades’.

Maybe the CRF 300L would be a better bet if spoked wheels are on the wish list.

Thought I'd just give this an update still not riding with the darn shoulder but it's getting tons better.

Yep wouldn't be going mad Steve off road just navigating the F roads in Iceland up to the west iceland and a month + in Norway.

Spent quite a few days this week looking at the bikes,

actually ended up quite liking the 310GS but wasn't sure about what I've read regarding the vibration on them at motorway speeds being more than the himmy. If anyone could chime in between 65-70.

Dad struggled a bit with the Hondas as the narrow seat's were putting pressure on his back quite a bit an the initial swing over with the leg was a problem for him to. Which ruled our initial choices out.

Had a look at the 390 Adventure the footrest position was a bit different an dad didn't find it to comfy I quite liked the bar sweep n reach n the seat.

Bmw 310 both loved the seating position very comfy on the E5 quite like the changes that Nathan showed in his latest video to it not stalling on now
wasn't to sure on the sound (but I've been riding tons of deep sounding Norton's n the 650xt) Loved the looks just a shame with the small tank and the wheels if only Bm had stuck them on as standard,

Was a bit taller than the himmy but you could feel how light it is, when you tot up crash bars, skid plate, centrestand ,wheelset, and fuel difference weight wise it actually narrows the weight difference a bit.

Which leads me onto the Himalayan both liked the seating position got to hear one running loved the sound reminded me quite a bit of my Longstroke 1920s Norton. The seating position was great for both of us which was good dad didn't have any greif with his back getting on an off which was great and I'm a big fan of the looks.

Been doing the costing as well trying to sus out which one it has to be said out of the box the Himmy seems to tick most of the boxes good wheelset as standard simple to work on good tank range compared to the 310 GS which I quickly got up past 8k on if new + suspension an wheels to get it how i'd like.

Lots to think about but at the moment the himmy is edging it to the point I can see one coming into the fold soon to run along side my vstrom which I'll let dad have an maybe let his gsxr750 k9 go which seems to make sense rather than parting with the Vstrom 650xt that way it gets him off the superbikes and onto an ADV bike an we can run the two back to back.

I'd say its deffo between the Himmy and the 310GS.

Have you considered a G650GS. Its not full on Off road but has the pep to do the miles. We have one that might be on offer. Pm me if you want pictures.

well the gs will run at 65/70 all day vibes are not bad tank range 150-170 miles ,seat is good forget the wheels and ride it 150 £ sump guard and off you go . after riding a himi it flat and no go just chug along . the bmw stalling is not a problem if you can use a clutch 15 tooth front sprocket helps . for a report on one . type in beemer beemer chicken deener full report . j mo and piglet

Cheers mate really appreciate the reply actually spoke to quite a few people today and got another look at the bikes going to look at the 310GS again tomorrow ruled the Himalayan out so now it's pretty much a choice of two the 310GS with a guard on it and the 500x which I wasn't considering.

it's tricky trying to find the right sort of compromise for what we fancy at the moment we are just popping to a few dealers and getting a feel for different bikes and getting a few prices on dads GSX-R 750 k9. Which is the plan to let that go now he's had my 2020 Vstrom, hopefully I can find something which will still handle some of the road sections and 600 mile trips I do

Quite an interesting day today.

A thread is nothing without pic's so here's a few on the various bikes from the past few weeks got to spend a bit of time looking at a demo 310GS today liked the seating position an was easy to push about with my shoulder which still isn't right so that was nice. pushed it up a hill to try it an it was really light.

I also had dad sit on a F850 and 1200 gs so he could feel the difference in top heaviness vs the boxer which was why I let my F800 go although one of my mates loves his.

The 500X seems a good option but again the price is very close to the Strom's which have a better wheelset as standard an the Vtwin engine so that's a weigh up looks tasty with the rally raid kit though.

It really feels like there's still a huge gap in the lineups of alot of makes. small cc to a big jump to 200KG plus bikes with nothing inbetween.
Bar one or two options.

All would probably do it but all different flavours.

I'm tending to rule the Himmy out as I've already got two long stroke Norton's so tending to lean towards something a bit more modern feeling.

Certainly think I'm not gonna rush it as I keep bouncing back an forward between the bikes choice wise so it's good to get everyones opinions

At the moment the 310 is leading the way.