Buy Or Hold: Bajaj-Triumph Roadster vs BMW G 310 R

Buy the BMW G 310 R now, or wait for the Bajaj-Triumph Roadster?

The BMW G 310 R, the smallest offering from BMW Motorrad, has been the choice of those looking for a premium badge, without breaking the bank. However, its privileged position will soon come under fire from the Bajaj-Triumph Roadster, the smallest offering from the British brand. 

Here we break down whether it makes sense to wait for the Bajaj-Triumph Roadster, or go for a BMW G 310 R right now:

Badge Value & Premium Looks 

Despite the BMW G 310 R being on sale for a while now, it still looks quite stylish to the average road-goer. Its resemblance with the S 1000 R  is another point to consider. The Bajaj-Triumph Roadster, on the other hand, goes the traditional route already seen on Royal Enfield, Jawa and Yezdi bikes, which may make carving a niche that much more difficult. And though the Triumph name has a decent amount of recall among bikers, but when it comes to sheer badge value, there’s no denying the dominance of the BMW roundel.

Performance 

This part is a bit tricky: we know the BMW makes 34PS and 28Nm from its 313cc liquid-cooled mill, for an 8-second 0-100kmph sprint. All we can say for the Triumph, though, is that it’ll have a roughly 350cc liquid-cooled engine making about 35PS and 30Nm. But despite not having any performance numbers, it’ll still be properly fast, as one of our correspondents – astride a KTM 390 Duke, no less – had a hard time keeping up with one of the pre-production bikes.

Price and ownership experience

While the BMW G 310 R can be had for Rs 2.85 lakh (ex-showroom), we expect the Bajaj-Triumph Roadster’s ex-showroom tag to be just a bit less, perhaps Rs 2.65 lakh to Rs 2.75 lakh. But what the Triumph will have going for it will be the ease of ownership. This is because while the Apache RR 310 born out of the TVS-BMW partnership, already isn’t the cheapest to maintain, the additional premium of the BMW badge makes the G 310 R even more of a (very costly) handful. 

Not so for the Bajaj-Triumph. Firstly, Triumph has lately been bringing down its service costs (with pre-planned service packages and the like). Now, add to this the ‘Bajaj’ factor. What's that exactly? Well, we already know how for all KTM owners, the service cost, service centre availability and overall service experience has been smooth sailing from the get-go. And that story will no doubt be repeated with Triumph!

Ultimately, though, buying a bike worth multiple lakhs is more a ‘heart’ decision, and the heart wants what it wants. So if you’re someone looking for a thoroughly modern road bike with a premium badge, and have no qualms paying for the exclusivity, the BMW G 310 R can be your pick. On the other hand, those who have a penchant for traditional designs with just a modern twist, would rather spend their cash on fuelling up rather than on service bills, and don’t mind waiting just a bit longer (till June 27, to be precise), the Bajaj-Triumph Roadster is the way to go!