Sold my Royal Enfield Meteor and brought home a BMW G 310 GS

Test Ride:

KTM Showroom is very near to my home and the BMW showroom is outside the city. But still, I made up my mind to first check out BMW during the weekend as I can visit KTM anytime whenever I get time. On Sunday, I reached the showroom. It was empty, understandably. One of the desk executives told me that the bike sales representative was gone for lunch and would be back in 30 minutes. I agreed to wait and spent time walking around gazing at the new BMW cars lined up.

Poor guy came up hurriedly and enquired about my intentions. Then after some discussion, I asked about the test drive. Had to fill up a form and provide my ID for the same. I was to ride till the bridge ended and then return. It was hardly a 1 km ride. After I came back, the first thing I said to him was I could not make out and I would need more distance and time for the test ride. He said he would talk to his lead and arrange.

Eventually, I did get another chance to do a test drive, and this time I had my wife in a pillion, and we took it out for a spin this time we did a quiet distance, but only on the highway.

Test-ride Verdict:

• Very smooth ride, neither bumpy nor too numb
• The riding position was upright, but not aggressive.
• The throttle response was very good and in no time the bike was at cruising speed.
• Suspension was a pleasant experience, we could not feel the jolts on the flyovers and bridges that we rode
• Pillion seat height was a concern for my wife

In all, the test ride was very satisfying, and I discussed it with my wife as well. She also felt happy about the bike’s comfort and ride quality. We decided to go ahead with the booking.

After getting the bike delivered, again went out of the station on official work. Returned a week later. There was a long pending ride promised to my daughter on the Meteor which never happened.

Since this was a good opportunity and she liked the bike, we decided to do a ride to Ooty via Kotagiri. Initially, I had planned to drive her to Pykara and come back. But, ultimately returned from Ooty due to heavy traffic all the way. A week later, went for another ride, this time with their wife towards Valparai. Both my rides were on twisty and curvy roads with some decent tarmac. I am writing this after reaching 500KM.

Verdict after 500KMs on ODO:

Dislikes

• Breaks: Rear break: I really need to get used to it. The lever goes down a bit and then bites the disc. Though it has the required bite during high speeds, still it does not give me the confidence similar to the front.
• Gear Shifts (Upshift/Downshift): Lots of concerns here. I have to get this checked during the first service. Below are my issues, when I checked reviews online, suggested that it should be fine after the first service. I will wait till then.
• False Neutral: I have heard this on many RE bikes, but I never faced it on my Meteor. But I am surprised to see it on GS310. First of all, finding neutral is tricky, have to get used to it. But even when I get it, the vehicle jumps once I leave the clutch lever.
• Upshift: From 1st to 2nd. This has happened to me more than a couple of times, the gear does not up-shift from first to second and stuck at neutral. So, I had to again put it to first and then to second.
• Downshift: From 3rd to 2nd. However I did not encounter this on my second trip. But this occurred to me during the first trip. From 3rd it goes directly to 1st.

Likes

• Breaks: Front brake: Spot on. period.
• Handling: Very impressed. The Hand-bar position is very convenient and light and it was easy to handle at any point. Be it in busy traffic within the city or through the winding roads with sudden turns, it was very good
• Suspension: SMOOTH SAILING. Eats out everything on its way. I have done more than a couple of times towards Pollachi in my Meteor. The Cement tarmac is a very bumpy ride and while returning I felt the rumbling of these cement roads. But on GS, it was smooth, real smooth. It eases out all the bumps and undulations on the road.
• Power: READY to REVVVV! Open the throttle and there she goes, grunting. It takes a while to notice you are doing 3 digits.
• Vibrations: Nothing concerning till now. The mirrors are useless and shake even on city speed limits. I do feel numbness after some time but I don’t know if it had anything to do with throttle level padding.
• Efficiency: Did not checked yet. I am planning to observe after the first service.

Having said all this, do I like the bike. ABSOLUTELY, YES!!. I am happy with the Bikes overall performance and Ride Comfort and everytime i ride the bike, it gives me more confidence that I have made the right choice and brings on a smile

Booking experience:

Since it was March end, we were given some discounts and offers if we closed the deal by March end, for their financial year-end targets. After some contemplation, we went ahead and booked the bike on 28-03-2024. I was told the bike of my choice was available and could be delivered in 15 days.

The delivery process is a bit complicated. The bike will go all the way from Hosur to Chennai, where they will do a Temporary registration, then it will be transported to the delivery location, then again, the permanent registration. There were a lot of teams involved in this entire process. They were very professional, but it made a more cumbursive process for all to work seamlessly and yet to be aligned.

However, there were no hiccups in my case. The execution process was very sequential, invoicing team, verification team, insurance team, and RTO team, calling and confirming the set of activities from time to time. The one activity that I had to do related to temporary registration, is to take a print out of Form-30, sign it, and send it along with my photographs to their Chennai office. Apart from that, to attend the call from the RTO team promptly to share the OTP during the temporary registration process.

The waiting period:

Once the temporary registration is completed, you never know when it will be transported to the actual delivery location. My bike registration was completed on the 8th of April but got transported only on the 15th. It entirely depends on their logistics planning. During this waiting period, there is no communication at all. When I checked on most of the vlogs, it was suggesting 5 months, some were saying 1 month. This was worrying me. There are no SMS or notifications sent on the status of their bike delivery. I did try to be patient till the 15th, but since I had to travel in the coming weeks, I had to call them and enquire. Fortunately, my bike was transported the same day.

Bike Arrived:

The bike arrived and the executive called me to inform me of the same and enquired about the delivery time. Still curious, I requested him to share photographs of the bike so that I can decide on the delivery dates. I received a bunch of photos on my WhatsApp that finally brought a big smile. After discussing with my wife, decided to take delivery on the 18th evening and duly informed the executive.

Three-Quarter View

Side-View-1

Side-View-2

Front-View-1

Front-View-1

Side-View with Aluminium Engine guard and Bash plate. Company Accessory

Delivery:

On the delivery day, I called to confirm the delivery. Fortunately, they had a showroom opened near to my home the previous week. So, the executive asked me if I was willing to take the delivery from there. I readily agreed as it was just 10 minutes from home. He said he will plan to bring the bike there and complete the delivery formalities. I went and brought a cake and snacks to distribute. All set!!! Now waiting for my daughter to return from school, she was one person so excited and curious about the bike.

We arrived on time and upon arrival, we were told to wait for 20 mins. We agreed, 20 became 30, 30 became 40, and 40 became 50. No sign of our executive. Till then we were checking out the other bikes on display – GS 1250, G 310R, and G310 RR. Done with the waiting, I did give him a call but did not pick. Understood, he might be on the way, I did not call him again. So, finally, the bike arrived around 50 minutes after we reached the showroom. He explained that since this was a new showroom, facilities for washing and cleaning were not yet available and that he had to give it to another place and bring it back.

Bike ready for Delivery