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Let me tell you about the motorcycle I've been riding this winter: It's fairly slow and built to be affordable. Its scratched and broken plastic, shattered turn signal lens, and scuffed hand guards show it's lived a hard life, subjected to harsh off-road duty. No less an authority than Daily Rider host Zack Courts doesn't think highly of it. You probably imagine I'm not enjoying it much.
You'd be wrong.
Some readers may imagine our jobs are an unending glamorous string of testing sport bikes on sunny tracks in Spain or adventuring to equally sunny beaches south of the border. But, especially for the managing editor, there's lots more time spent in front of a computer. And given how far north this particular managing editor lives, that may involve huddling close to the computer for warmth during winter. Which is why a far more humble motorcycle is not just handy, but beloved. A rat bike. A winter beater. Call it what you will.
For me, this year it has been the company-owned 2019 BMW G 310 GS.
Why I think you should want a rat bike
My prime directive of motorcycling is that although you may do it differently from how I do it, as long as you're not hurting anyone else, I'm not going to tell you your way is wrong and my way is right. Maybe you're the kind of rider who buys a $30,000 work of art that's the pinnacle of modern performance engineering and you only ride it 1,000 miles a year in perfect weather and keep it spotless. Whatever works for you. I'll even envy your pristine motorcycle, since my personal rides always suffer in appearance due to my "care" and "maintenance." I won't say you're doing it wrong. But for me, I want to ride more than just occasionally, and for more reasons than just fun.
That's why I present my case that every serious rider should consider owning a rat bike.
By a rat bike, I mean a motorcycle you keep in good working condition but you don't care how it looks. It's liberating. Feel like riding to work but there's a chance of rain and you don't want to spend an hour detailing your Ducati Panigale V4 when you get home? Itching to take an early spring ride but there's still salt on the road and you are afraid of pitting the chrome on your Harley-Davidson CVO? Would you take those rides if you had a well worn but reliable Suzuki DR650 in the garage? You probably would.
This issue arises for me mainly in the winter, when snow and ice keep me mostly off the road in New England. But I never go more than a couple of weeks without a ride of some kind, even if it's just a quick errand. I know I'm going to get rusty, but I'm determined not to rust solid. So I need a winter beater.
This year I lucked out and got my hands on the company G 310 GS. The bike dates back to before J&P Cycles became part of the Comoto Family of Brands, and it's still registered in Iowa, but it's been around. It's been pressed into off-road duty at three Get On! Adventure Festivals (and has the broken bodywork to show for it) in South Dakota, and other off-road rides. My former colleague Jen Dunstan affectionately named it "Baby Shark" after riding it at one ADV fest. It somehow ended up at RevZilla West in California where it sat mainly abandoned, then was shipped to ZLA HQ in Philadelphia, given the minimum necessary work to return it to running order (but not cosmetic beauty), and then I rode it home to Massachusetts in December. Just in time for winter.
In his personal tips for buying a winter beater a few years ago, Lemmy suggested a few things that generally come on bigger motorcycles: a fairing or windshield for weather protection, shaft drive to avoid chain damage and reduce maintenance, plenty of electrical power to run heated gear. But he also recognized there's the option of going smaller. That's the way I strongly lean. And the G 310 GS has the virtue of being the smallest bike that's still capable of a lot of stuff bigger bikes do.
I like a smaller motorcycle for winter beater use because while an old Gold Wing's huge fairing, heated grips, and shaft drive may be convenient, if I hit an unexpected slick spot, I'm going to strongly prefer being on a sub-400-pound bike with dual-sport tires. And the company G 310 GS has a taller, aftermarket windscreen and handguards that give me some of that weather protection of a larger ride. The top box is watertight and carries a decent amount of groceries. Unlike some dual-sports that are more off-road-oriented, it's capable of maintaining highway speeds anywhere I'm going to go and the seat is more comfortable than a typical dirt-bike seat.
It's not surprising that when Jen tested the BMW and a Honda CRF300L Rally in a head-to-head comparison, she recommended the Baby Shark for riders planning to do more street miles than dirt trails. Despite that recommendation, and the fact that the G 310 GS came up just one point short of winning the Best Beginner Bikes CTXP comparison, the smallest BMW adventure bike doesn't get universal acclaim. As alluded to above, Zack told me he'd prefer just about any of its competitors, instead.
I feel that's a little harsh. Sure, the G 310 GS is built to a price point, but I feel it provides broader capability per dollar spent than the vast majority of motorcycles. Or maybe it's because Zack has a more complete frame of reference than I do, since I haven't ridden some of the better competitors to the GS and he has. Or maybe it's just because I'm biased, and just as Jen had a soft spot for Baby Shark because it helped her ease into a new-to-her style of riding, I'm fond of the GS because it's doing just what I need a motorcycle to do this time of year: allow me to avoid total motorcycling hibernation, encourage me to say "yes" to that ride when conditions are iffy, and relieve me of any guilt when I come home and its already splintered bodywork is covered in road grime.
That's the appeal of having a rat bike. I suggest you give it a try.
