Possible new Swing owner

Hi all,

JeffR invited me to join as I currently own an '04 Suzuki Burgman 400 and may be purchasing a brand-new '08 Silverwing. My dealer has a great deal on a never-ridden Wing, putting the price just about $500 more than a new 400 ABS model.

I've been riding for 5 years now and live in west central New Jersey. While I'm vertically challenged (5'1"), I seem to be able to manage the height of the Wing.

If you could describe your favorite thing about your Wing, what would it be?

Thanks and ride safe,
GratefulGrrl aka Bry

Bry,

My favorite thing is the reliability. Rock solid and that means a lot to my wife and I when we set out on a 2,000 mile trip.

Esoteric - I like the look of the SilverWing. It is big, but does not look large. It's not svelte by any means, but seems narrower than it's closest competition.

Thanks Jeff! Reliability is important. We're a two-Honda car household in part because of those vehicles' trustworthiness and legendary longevity. I'll admit I'm somewhat partial to the new '09 Burgie 400 lines but the Swing is growing on me. Love the color, storage, instrument panel (really is nicer than the Burgie's).

Ride safe,

Bry
P.S. 2000 miles! Cool! Any place in particular?

Bry,

No plans for a long trip this year - no vacation due to job change :-(

But, last May: https://www.silverwing600.com/rides-and-stories-f10/skyline-drive-blue-ridge-parkway-part-1-t175.htm

Last September: http://tinyurl.com/plwpbz

Next summer we plan to ride from Huntsville, AL to the Columbia River Valley in WA then home. Should rack up about 5,500 miles. Kim rides her own SilverWing.

Sorry, Dale, for calling you "Jeff". (Or are you one and the same?) What lovely photos and great descriptions of your trips. We'll be going to Roanoke, VA this fall with a group of women riders to which I belong. So I'm hoping we'll hit Skyline Drive and other beautiful roadways.

We are a two-bike household, too. Lynn (Tall Woman on the Burgie forum) also rides an '04 Burgie 400 but may move up to a 650 Executive this summer. (She's not vertically challenged, far from it! LOL) My Burgie aka Sushi has been to TN and back. Lynn hasn't done a long tour like that but now commutes several days a week the 80 miles roundtrip to her office.

Thanks again,

Bry

Bry,

Thanks for joining and hope you enjoy this site. I didn't send you a "PM" on the other site to convince you to buy a Silver Wing but so you can ask the members here about the Silver Wing. If Lynn might buy a B650 one day, you may want something that will keep up too, but I feel all of the bikes out of Japan are top quality bikes. The members here will give you good answers to your questions and we have a member, Coralee, that is only about 5'2" and she loves her SWing.

I hope you find the information you want here to help you decide what your next bike will be. And if you do decide to buy the Burgman 400 please don't feel you need to leave. We have members all over and you might be able to find riders in your area here too. And we would all like to hear about the other scoots.

As for the Silver Wing; the things I like:

I think the SWing is a very smooth bike and very reliable too. It is easy to do maintenance on and I have had not one problem since buying my SWing. Mine is just a tad over 2 years with 22,000 miles and it rides like brand new. If you ride conservatively you will get 50 mpg or more if riding the slow curvy roads. I also feel much more relaxed after a long ride compared to the Reflex and Majesty I had. It just handles nicer.

The only things you may want to do, is to get a Clearview screen and maybe the Hyperpro front fork springs. These are not things you need to do but the Clearview gives better wind protection, and they make many different sizes too. The Hyperpro springs just give it more of a motorcycle feel which is nice. Again, you don't need it but the springs only cost about $150 plus installation.

Please look around the site and we have many "Pictorials" on how to do modifications and maintenance on the SWing. They will give you easy step-by-step instructions on how to do something.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy the site.

Ride safe,

JeffR

GratefulGrrl wrote:

Hi all,


If you could describe your favorite thing about your Wing, what would it be?

Thanks and ride safe,
GratefulGrrl aka Bry

For me it would be versatility. Comfortable enough to ride two up on cross country trips, sporty enough to have fun through the twisties. Fast enough off the line to give most bikes a run for their money, and enough storage to run errands and go to the store. Nimble in town, running errands, and parking. Comfortable and stable on the highway. All this with decent gas mileage.

Thanks JeffR and Mike H, for your comments and insight. No worries, Jeff, I didn't feel pressured to join this forum--you were simply gracious enough to invite me in and I took you up on that.

I do like the ideas of the springs. I tend to like the look of the existing windscreen but I'll see. Assuming it is the Swing I get. Sure looking like that now! :bounce1: Mike, it's good to hear that the Swing is nimble for in-town errands and such. I commute about 15-20 miles each way to work and often do errands now with my 400.

Thanks again!

Bry

Favourite Thing about the Silver Wing....

Versatility, tweakability, and reliability.

As stock it is a great machine, but depending upon what you want it to do, and how much you are prepared to pay for extras, there are a whole load of after market goodies that can make it more comfortable, faster top end, quicker acceleration, better handling, more luggage capacity, more economical, or a combination of all these.

After having mine a few months, it became a bit of a project for me, and I ended up spending more money then I should have I suppose, but its been a whole lot of fun!
If you're interested in more details, I wrote up a review here.


https://www.silverwing600.com/silver-wing-accessories-modifications-f5/comprehensive-review-honda-fjs-600-abs-silver-wing-t144.htm


Oh and welcome to the site by the way!

Bernardo

Hi Grrl,
Welcome to the site. At age 63, the SWing was my first ever motorized 2-wheel vehicle. It has proven to be everything great that I thought it might and what everyone else says it is. You just can't go wrong with the Honda.

Hi Bernardo and DickO,

Bernardo, that was a very impressive and thorough review! My compliments on your content and writing (as a former newspaper writer myself). I've actually bookmarked it to review again for the tips therein.

DickO, thanks, too, for your input--and for being a Patriot Guard Rider. Thank you for your service, both in the past and the present! I'm glad you're enjoying your beautiful ride!

Bry

Hi Bry

Glad you enjoyed the review......

I'm just finishing off an Open Univeristy degree covering a variety of subjects, but the core is creative writing.... I'd love to have a newspaper column one day.... It's been great writing stuff about scooters and bikes having recently

Anway if you want a maxi that is a good jack of all trades and easy to tweak and personalise, then the S'wing is perhaps the best, but then I'm biased!

You should also look at the 650 burgie, lovely but heavy, big, and a bit too much on the engine braking, though that is just my opinion. The yamaha T-max also lovely, probably the best handling maxi I've ridden, but feels quite light, you sit a bit too high up which can make paddling around difficult, thus negating some of the advantages of the lighter weight. However I found it a bit slow on accleration, especially 0-30mph. The GP800 Gilera is great too, very fast though not as comfortable with quite a hard suspension, the seat's not right for me, and luggage space is more limited. The one I test rode developed a weave at high speed 105mph. I did some reviews about a year ago, though I think I posted these on a different site. I will see if I can find them againg, and dig them out.

On a final note, Kymco have a 700cc scoot the "Myroad" I don't know much about it, but the specs and initial indications were favourable. Also check out the three wheelers Piaggio MP3, and Fuoco, though these don't offer quite the same performance as the other maxis, but by virtue of their three wheels are very stable, with good handling.


Happy Riding.

You will see a big performance jump from the Burg 400. The SW being a twin cylinder bike is way smoother over the R.P.M. spectrum then the 400 Burg. I also like the styling lines of the 400, but in the end it's just not a Honda.

This is my first scooter, having ridden four different motorcycles previously, one of which I still own (BMW F650GS dual sport). I'm about to send the Silverwing seat away to be shortened at least an inch, but the more I ride this thing, the better I like it.
I especially like being able to stuff my "stuff" (often including a laptop in a backpack) under the seat. My husband often borrows it to go on a short grocery run (holds a lot of ice cream under the seat!) and he keeps saying he wouldn't mind having one of these himself.
I got 50 mpg on the first tank of gas, so you can see my riding style is pretty conservative. My BMW gets 60 mpg, but it's also a single, so it's a bit too buzzy for trips.
My goal for this summer is to get more comfortable on the twisties, of which we have a great abundance in my part of NC. We've been having rain for the last solid week, so today's the first day I'm able to ride and it's a beautiful day for that.
The Silverwing is very solid on the freeway, big trucks and all.

churchlady53 wrote:

My husband often borrows it to go on a short grocery run (holds a lot of ice cream under the seat!)

Under the seat can get a little warm for ice cream, if you can pack the ice cream in a top box it will stay colder. In fact I carry a collapsible insulated grocery bag under the seat for when I get the call ... honey can you pickup some ice cream . We like to eat our ice cream the same day we buy it

Bernardo, a tip of the writer's pen to ya. I think that while I could handle the 650, the seat height would require work before I'd even try it. Tried it a few years ago but couldn't reach beyond tip-toes on the test ride. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that wasn't an issue with the S'wing. Still might shave the seat a bit but could ride as is.

Thanks, Gene. I do think it would indeed be a step up in performance and comfort.

Churchlady, thanks for the comments and for sharing your experience. Are you taking it to a local auto upholsterer?

Ride safe and enjoy the ride,

Bry

Going to Spencer's in FL if I can get it off the bike before my husband swipes it again!

Good luck with that! The first summer we had our bikes, we just had mine (I bought it that May). So one of us would ride to a destination with the other following in the car. Then we'd trade. So pathetic! But then that September, Lynn got her own Burgie 400 and we got to ride together. Made it much more fun!