Really Impressed with The SW

With advise taken from this forum, I have completed a thorough maintenance/service on my 2002 Silverwing. During my ride today, I was so impressed with the perfect way the engine was running, with the way it handled at low and high speeds, with the way it leaned and clung to the road on serious curves, with the way the wind was directed above my helmet, with the way it handles bumps and road surfaces (far better than my old Burgman 650), with the brakes and stopping capability, with the shiney, black look of this bike. After so many years and so many motorcycles and scooters, I must say this is my favorite. This Silverwing with 7,250 miles, at 8 years old, must be as good as a brand-new one. I'm going to get Pirelli Diablo tires next month---the existing tires have lots of tread and look good, but they are 8 years old---so I'll feel better with my own new ones. The cost of the tires and installation will be $285.00 at Mission Motorsports.

Everett, A lot of people on this forum share your feeling about this wonderful machine.

Everett,

I have had many bikes too and find this my favorite one. This is the only bike I have ever had where I'm not looking for my next bike. All the others bike were nice, but I also felt I needed that "next" bike. I'm surprised you think the SWing is nicer with bumps than the B650. It seems when I read about the B650 riders they like to diss the SWing.

My Swing in parked on the street in front of my apt. with snow on it. Seems to be taking it very well. Tough steed.

Everett, you're singing to the choir on this topic!

I can't imagine riding around on 8 year old tires. Even with tread they are probably not very safe to use being that old. I've had to replace the rear tire twice in the 11K miles that I have had my SW, and now have a Perilli Diablo, but I still have the original stock front tire and it seems just fine.

I bought my 2003 last Sept with the original rubber on it. Thought I would change them right away, but they had no dry rot and rode well, so I kept them on until I wore away the treadwear indicators on the rear at 7400 miles.

I replace them IRCs with Diablos, and boy, what a change! The handling is much improved. You will like them.

I changed the variator in January, and the belt also looked good. The rubber parts don't seem to be overly affected by age.

Everett, it would be good to see a write up about your experiences with the B650 and how it compares with the Swing. I am sure many of us on the forum are curious about the Suzuki.

RE: Tire replacement, I think if you replaced a worn out tire with a new tire you are bound to think the new tire is superior. Let's face it the old one was worn out. I'd have to hope the handling of the new tire is much improved over that old worn out one.

RE: The Burgman 650, don't count me among the interested or curious.

Several ex-X9er friends bought 650 Burgers.
They all like them as much as we love our 'Wings but some have had a variety of problems which are not cheap to fix.

MikeO wrote:

Several ex-X9er friends bought 650 Burgers.
They all like them as much as we love our 'Wings but some have had a variety of problems which are not cheap to fix.

I did not choose based on features or options, weight, appearance or colors. I chose based on the long term durability and history. Which is why I will stay with my Honda SWing.

I still read the Burgman USA forum to monitor the issues. Recently because of several problems with transmission failures, Suzuki found (at the expense of the Burgman owners) that a major transmission bolt needs to be replaced as I recall around ~4000 miles.

I am not sure if this bolt was the reason for the major spline failure ... otherwise this is a major issue that is cost prohibitive to repair.

The transmission belt is suppose to last a lifetime, Suzuki quantifies a lifetime as 16,000 miles and costs around $2,000 - $3,000 dollars to replace.

I have a 400 Bergie that I bought a couple of years ago for my wife to ride. She realy likes the bike but has stated more than once that she would rather have the swing. When I bought the bike it had an extended warranty from the dealer. It only had 280 miles and the price was 3000.oo so I did not get hurt. When I ask the dealer that it was purchased from about the warranty he said that I had thirty days from purchase to have it transfered from seller. That It was necessary for me to have a notorized affidavit from the seller, that i had to go the highway patrol to have the affidavit verifyed, and then send all info to Suzuki head office to be approved at the quarterly meating. He also said that sometimes the warrenty was not aproved or that it was limited and if it was aproved that each time I went to a dealer that the work had to be aproved from head office beforehand. At this point I swore to never buy a Suzuki or use that dealer. Has anyone else ran into problems with Suzuki warrenty?

My dad has the 650 burgy. I would say it runs much smoother, the forks are raked sharper wich in turn provides much sharper handling. I will say you sir whom ever was claiming the 2~3k belt.lol.. It runs a typical cvt that goes to a gear trans. lol. The 14/15 wheel set up is sweet for rolling on longer cruises.

The bike is I must admit, STUPID fast! it walks away from my swing like nothing. I do like the swing but I also like the 650 burgy. My absolute opinion is the ultimate machine was my Atlantic. lol! More comfort and better long cruise capabilities.

There is less protection on the swing, and the vibration running at speeds is annoying but I am TRYING to find a reason to LOVE this or the burgy. both are good quality, stought machines. Both can get up and go, but there is something about the dash height to seat height. I dont like to ride ON my bike I like to ride in/with my bikes. Example, a BMW K 1200LT, vs. a FJR.

DAM my opinions! lol.....

The B650 is a very nice machine. I think it is hard to go wrong with either bike. Personally, I disliked the quantity of buttons on the left grip (mostly to do with the tranny) and the amount of engine braking while coasting. It made it hard to operate at low speeds. I was also not thrilled with the extra weight of the Burger.

Regarding which is faster - you cannot change anything about the B650, but you can either replace the roller weights with 21g sliders or use a J Costa variator on the Swing to increase acceleration. Mine outran a neighbors B650- but he also weighs 70 lbs more than me. I do think, even if he weighed the same as me, my J Costa'd Swing would still outrun him. I haven't even bothered to replace the clutch - the initial take off is where the Swing is slowest. That would improve it yet again.

I bought my Swing last year because it was a great deal. I may have gone with a big Burgie, but probably would have gone with a B400 or Majesty if I had not come across this machine. But I am glad I did - the extra 180cc makes a lot of difference.

Also, what vibration are you talking about? I've read that some riders complain about vibration in the grips - is this what you mean? My Swing already had Kuryaken grips, and there is no vibration at any speed.