Entry level sports oriented motorcycles have a great fan following in developing nations like India and other South East Asian countries. However, Europe, which is more of a big bike territory, has been opening up to the idea of smaller capacity motorcycles. Success stories sketched by the KTM 390s, Yamaha R3 and others. Soon to be added to this list is a single cylinder Indo-German motorcycle, the BMW G301R.
As per a recent claim by a BMW Motorrad dealer in West Midland county in Central England, the G 310R will be priced at 4290 pounds (Rs 3.9 lakhs). That puts it as the cheapest offering, except Honda, among its rivals with an engine displacement above 300 cc. So how close is the race? Let’s have a look:
The KTM Duke 390 is manufactured in India and an import for other countries. That’s why despite having a price tag of 4,495 pounds (which translated to more than 4 lakh rupees) in the UK, it is available for a little over 2 lakhs in India (on-road, Delhi). Just like that even the BMW G 310R is to be manufactured in India (more on that later). However, the Duke 390’s naked rival, the Kawasaki Z 300 is cheaper at 4,349 pounds, despite being a parallel twin.
The Ninja 300 is the most expensive offering in the UK with a price tag nearing the 5000 pound barrier. following that is the Yamaha R3 and MT 03 which are priced at 4,799 and 4,499 pounds respectively. The G 310R though is priced cheaper than all these. A single cylinder 313 cc mill powering out a humble 34 bhp of power which is lower than all the products priced above it.
The single cylinder CBR 300R though is a faired offering cheaper than the naked Beemer. Kawasaki’s quarter litre single pot (Ninja 250SL) and its naked counterpart (Z 250SL) are priced at 3,849 and 3,649 pounds respectively. Undercutting all the motorcycles in the list is the naked 250 cc, Inazuma by Suzuki which is priced at 3,599.
BMW Motorrad, thanks to its alliance with TVS, will be manufacturing the G 310R in India and just like the Duke 390, it too is expected to be priced aggressively. While the KTM’s pricing is almost half of what it is in the UK it would still be foolish to expect the G 310R to follow the exact same logic. Pricing of a bike has numerous factors which manufacturers have to consider before coming up with a number.
We expect the G 310R to be priced here slightly at a premium due to the BMW badging. Our best bet is a sticker price anywhere between 2 lakhs to 2.4 lakhs. What say guys?
