Reupload is the only solution, this is unwatchable with headphones. Excellent job for everything else! :)

Still haven't gotten around to the body? Would love the voices on both sides.

Hi TMF, good to hear from you. Have to say, however, that we found the CRF250L to be far too weedy for on-road use, which is always a factor when travelling to and from your adventure, at least certainly here in SA where the distances can be daunting. Too softly sprung and too uncomfortable for any serious journeys. Not to mention too slow! And here, it is a good R20,000 (about 1,200 quid) more expensive than the BMW.

Yes fair point - although a number of round the worlders have/are using them (Steph Jeavons just back on a CRF, my mate Ben King currently in Iran on his). Will be interesting to see what you make of the new CRF450L when that hits the streets.... All that said, I loved the baby BMW too (and the big one for that matter!)...all the best chaps - TMF

20K more than which model? The 250L is 5k cheaper than the 310gs and the 250L Rally 5k more. Maybe ref the 310GS against the Rally next time - would be interesting!

Aah, my old area 51 F800gsa. No need to worry about it’s history (as mentioned towards the end) gents, it was well looked after and had a pampered life until I traded it on (another) R1200gsa. The steering damper on the R1200gsa makes a huge difference to one’s confidence at 60km/h on a dirt road over the 800 or previous 1200 I found with the front tire far less likely to wash out when you hit thicker gravel sections. The 310, well, I’d like to see you overtaking at 120km/h on SA country roads frequently and safely. I even battled with a KLR650 I used to own. For new or lighter adventure riders with patience and Sunday adventures and/or commuting it will be a great purchase I will admit. Hairy single tracks, as tested, will also be a treat on it, but I would still recommend rather looking at a good second hand dual sports, unless you’re 1.6m or shorter. The best adventure motorbike? For beginners, probably. For those who go on adventures frequently, probably not.

Raymond Morison the crf250 rally is about £1200 more than the g310gs in the uk. £5.5k and £6.7k. Not to sure but near enough

excellent bike friend, I have it in Mexico just a month ago and I'm doing great, excellent for uncovered roads and road. as everything has good and bad reviews, but I keep the goodness of my bike, finally it's perfect for me and it's what I really like and what I was looking for.

JUANJO REYES, I'm finding mine to carve the paved canyons better than I thought it would. Not like my Ninja did, but pretty good anyway. And yes, some of the roads that aren't good are no problem. And it's no problem when the road ends. More power would be nice, but it's holding its own with everyone I'm riding with.

I AGREE WITH YOU, I HAVE LIKED AT LEAST ONE 400 CC BUT FOR ANY REASON BMW DID NOT DO IT AS THE IDEA IS THAT YOU STAY WITH THE WINS TO GO ABOVE A 750 OR 850 CC. FOR ANY REASON BMW DISCONTINUED THE MOTOR 650CC HOWEVER IT GOES VERY GOOD FOR NOW THE SMALL GS AND IS NOT MORE THAN ENJOYING IT. GREETINGS AND LUCK IN YOUR ROUTES

Is the gs better or crf on offroad

@@niteshtuladhar9541 gs is better on road, crf better off-road.

I know, he picked the 800 up like nothing... it's harder to get up than the 1200 for sure. I didn't really like mine off road at all, very top heavy. I put 95,000km on it, but pretty much all tarmac.

I've done 90% of my miles on tarmac, too. It is a top heavy bike off-road, as you say. Quite a good road/travel bike, though.

BMW wins over crf 250 rally, but lose over KTM 390 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mdiCh8hp0tjdiIU.html

crf 250 rally wins over versys 250 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g7Z8a9Kjnse0lok.html

I actually had no idea as I was listening with one earphone anyway. When I eventually put the otherside on I thought my headset was broken. XD

which BMW GS is yours? may I know your body height?

@@the_guardians_of_the_galaxies g310gs 5'11"

gat the Versys 300X it’s a great adventure bike. I went all around Thailand and Laos with it, I had a blast! Light and powerful enough for Thai and Laos “roads”. Also Kawa reliability it’s important to mention.

Miguel aye, I'd wager that's a fair point in its favour but from what I've seen the plucky Indian ADV is quite cheap and cracking off road. I think RE are really shaping up to be a great brand for people to buy decent new bikes for comparatively not much money. It's a godsend in places that have lower wages like where I live

gat depends where you live, if you live in India that might be the case. In Thailand the RE Himalaya it’s the same price as a Kawa 300X and here Kawa it’s a bigger brand. I guess in India it’s the opposite.

Miguel nah I live in a poorer area in Europe. We only just got the Himalayan last week so it's been pretty fun checking it out at the RE dealership

Miguel in India, kawa is still the biggest. However since the Kawasaki's are imported from other countries, they are priced on the higher side. Over here the x300 is twice the price of the Himalayan. Himalayan is cheap because it's made here.

We pitted the Kawa and Honda against each other last year and, to be honest, neither can hold a candle to the BMW. The Kawasaki is to road-oriented while the Honda is a thinly disguised off-road bike, with weedy performance, too-soft suspension and too little comfort for long days in the saddle (and they would be long days...)

somehow agree to that point. However, with the kawa can do a little twitch with the bike here and there and it will be all good too.

Sorry; see my comment above!

Sorry; wrong file uploaded. We'll fix.

Jest got the 310 love it!

Could not agree more, but it's still a huge bike

Yeah, it's a 20 kg heavier than the GS for sure but it's well balanced to not feel it;))) I think in overall volume wise it's about the same bulk;)) Thank you for your reply!;))

The whole idea was to NOT be someone who could ride like a professional; after all, what would getting a Wade Young or a Sam Sunderland or Marc Coma to ride all three prove? That they could ride the 1200GS up Everest with no trouble? You missed the point, which was that the 310 will open up adventure riding to those who simply can't manage the bigger bikes.

Yes, I agree an actual professional off road rider wouldn't be the best choice of rider to show off the bikes but I think that someone with at least middling skill on adventure bikes would have being more enlightening. The long running gag of " I'm just a street rider and I'm hopeless off road " gets a little old. What you ended up showing is that beginners should stick to lighter bikes which is pretty self evident. You guys are all great road riders, why not flesh out your skill set and get better off road, maybe go do a multi day course together and film the hijinks. I'd watch it.

On the contrary, a good off road rider will be good on any of the bikes. Its with an average rider when differences become apparent. I'm very glad they chose big Don to try the bikes off road

This was a good review and test for the 'everyday' man. I would have loved to buy a 1200GS (but the price and size is offputing), the 800GS is just too tall for my little legs and I was left with the 310GS. After owning it for a week, I realise I made the right choice. It is just great fun. The fact that the heaviest rider never mentioned its lack of power shows that for most people it is just fine.

Great point! BMW/KTM/Ducati/Triumph all offer rider training academies for their big adventure bikes. I'm personally deciding between a GS1200/MSTR1260, both are amazing bikes and will be limited to just dirt roads. I'll leave the technical trails and rock jumping to my little crf150. At some point South Africa was the number 1 market for the GS model.

Lol people ride small and smaller bikes all over the world on proper adventure often times by choice. Yup the big boys can be more comfortable. But smaller cc bikes have been doing it along time in places like Asia, S.A. even Nambi I suspect. Here I. Here in the US people are discovering the little G310gs can go on long adventures. I rode a 350cc Harley some 800miles with no windshield or other comforts. Lots older now and enjoy my baby GS in many cases. The cast wheels? KZfaq has many videos of people ripping it up on the stock sheets. I doubt my skill level will destroy mine. My 125hp R1200gs does rule the high speed Interstate highways and cold weather riding. Proper comparison? Idk but it was enjoyable!!

Yes, people have to consider that first you have to ride your ADV to the off-road opportunity, which generally means you need something that will cruise on motorways with a bit of luggage, so something in 400-500cc would be perfect.

They will sell very well in countries like India but yeah, agreed the same bike with spoke wheels and 650 donk would be the business

Will Viljoen sell in India ? Not sure. G310gs bookings are open here and there are mixed opinions of the bike being too underpowered or overpriced. The KTM 390 twins are making the baby Gs look bad.

The 310 is selling very, very well. A lot of people want a 310, and it has much more speed than the usable on big cities, a lot of countries have millions of people moving about inside a city without getting into a highway all day. It may not be interesting for you, but you are minimal in the market. The 310s are going to be the best sellers for BMW, my local dealer cant believe the amount they are selling weekly. Yuu got to educate your self a bit mate. Btw, just bought mine, and they had all the sold bikes lined up waiting for the owners to pick them up, half of them where 310s, the others were variations of their 6 engine sizes. The owner told me, 310 are selling like pancakes, I am confident you are wrong lol. At least Worldwide sales, which are the ones that matter.

As a owner of the 310, you will be biased toward it. But, if sales are good, then we can expect to see many of them on the road. In SA, I have yet to see one...