ADVrider Project / BMW G310 GS Build: Continuing Break

Aug 14, 2023

Photo: Amazon/allaroundsupplier

We return again to the ‘22 G310 GS. As I ride it more, it's breaking in and the gearbox is becoming progressively less notchy. This bike, more than most I’ve ridden, has gone through a distinct break-in period during which it feels like all the parts needed to get used to being a motorcycle.

With just a couple hundred miles on the chassis, on a downshift, the gear display would pretty regularly read "–" instead of telling me what gear it was in. No amount of tapping the shifter would get the bike to shift after that. I had to release the clutch just enough to get the shift dogs to line up with a small "thunk," then the display would show me a number and I could shift.

Now, nearing a thousand miles, all of the bike's parts are more used to working together. It shifts smoother and runs better every time I ride it.

Now I need to concentrate on maintenance. It's due for its first maintenance interval. While I have done all of the maintenance from new on my other bikes, this one had trouble from birth, so I’m inclined to bring it to the dealer that sold it to me for its first maintenance. I’ll report back on how that goes.

Some maintenance needs to be done early and often, and includes chain care. Chain final drives still need maintenance, despite what BMW ever claimed about their "lifetime" chain. When you own a chain-drive bike, regularly cleaning and lubricating the chain is a must. And if the bike has no center stand, that maintenance is a kind of a pain.

I have chased bikes around my driveway to clean and lube their chains. I have fitted spools to my SV650 so I can put it on a track stand for easier chain maintenance. The G310GS did not come with a center stand. I anticipate traveling on this bike, and that means that for me, a center stand is the way to go.

There are several aftermarket center stands available for the 310. I decided to go with a cheap one off Amazon. As they say, could be meat, could be cake, right? I’m taking the bullet on this one for you, dear readers.

For $145 US I secured a center stand from the Amazon seller "allaroundsupplier" which immediately instills confidence does it not?

Literally five layers of packaging. Photo: Kate Murphy

It showed up in the most ridiculous amount of packaging I have ever seen. It also showed up without any hint of written instructions. I went on a hunt to find instructions from every other centerstand manufacturer to get an idea about how to install the thing. I was mostly successful, but had to do a little guesswork.

First, the hardware. Some was obvious and some was …not.

For the price, you get the center stand, a bag of hardware, and no instructions. Photo: Kate Murphy

The long bolt goes through the two frame mounts on the port side, and the shorter bolt goes through the single frame mount on the starboard side. The "top hat" washers seat into the stand itself, one on each side, flat washers on the outside, spacer in the middle of the double mount. Grease all pivot points liberally. Easy, right?

This is a typical setup and similar to other stands, so I was able to find instructions. Photo: Kate Murphy

Then there's a loop bolt, and that's what threads through the stand's lower crossbar and hangs onto the spring, and its corresponding washer and nut. Finally, the small rubber bumper that I think goes into a hole in the frame where the stand sits when it's retracted, with its own small washer and nut. I’m still not sure about that last one, but that's where I’ve installed it, so here's hoping, right? My only worry there is how low the stand hangs when it's not in use.

There's also a plate with a rod welded to it at a 90-degree angle. You can see it in the above photo at the top. That's where the spring hooks to the bike. There are two holes, and one purports to thread onto the chain roller bolt. Unfortunately, the threads are buried under a thick layer of textured powdercoat, and I found no good way to get that piece aligned and threaded in. I gave up on using the roller bolt, put that all back together, and instead put the stand's own mount bolt through the other hole in that piece. It's almost like it was meant to go there.

Everything involved has a lock-nut, so I’m not overly worried about proper torque. The big nuts are on there with about three-quarters of a grunt, and the small rubber bumper about half a grunt.

Now, the spring install. That's a trick. I thought my T-handle spring puller would help me out here, but I’m not working with the bike on a lift. Also, my garage has no good, strong mount points to attach a ratchet. I tried hooking the spring loop to the bike mount point and ratcheting it around the rear wheel, but that did not give me enough pull (and was like working with a live grenade).

Instead, I fired up the wayback machine and tried an old trick: pennies. I brought the spring upstairs, bent it, and tried to wedge some pennies in. No go.

Yet again, I enlisted the help of my lovely assistant, and here's what we did. We went outside, tied one end of a ratchet strap (these are rated to hold a motorcycle on a trailer, so plenty of strength) to our car's tow hitch ball. I also tied one around my assistant's belt line. The spring went in the middle. He leaned back while I loaded pennies into the now-stretched spring. (And no, he definitely did not let me take a picture of this.)

I haven't shoved pennies into a spring in decades. Photo: Kate Murphy

Did it work? A treat! Plenty of slack to hook the spring to the bike, then to the hook bolt, slide the bolt through the stand, pop the washer and thread the nut on the end. A bit of work with a wrench, pull down on the stand, and all the pennies fell out, neat as you please.

The next test: put the bike on the center stand. It popped up just as easily as any other bike I’ve ever stood up, but then settled back, suspiciously far. Getting it down off the center stand was a struggle. It Did Not Want To Leave. Maybe the rubber bumper needs to go somewhere forward of the stand, to stop the bike from settling back so much?

At any rate, all this considered, compared to a decent name-brand aftermarket center stand, was it worth saving about fifty bucks? I’ll give that question a hearty "NO."

First, figuring out all the hardware. Then, realizing the piece included to attach the spring at the bike has a threaded hole that's been powdercoated past the point of usefulness. After attaching that piece and the stand itself to the bike, figuring out how to get the spring fitted (ok, that last one is common to all spring-loaded stands). Getting the bike up on the stand isn't too hard. But that stand settles in, and difficulty comes in rolling the bike forward off the stand.

All in all, I’ll give this piece of kit a 1.5 out of 5. Thumbs down; do not recommend. Pay the extra bucks for a Hepco-Becker, or a Wunderlich, or maybe spring for the BMW-branded stand. Or maybe just chase your bike around the gas station or driveway when it's time to lube the chain.