Should I do it..........

I've had my Swing 4 months now and covered over 3,000 miles on it,I love riding it my Harley rarely comes out of garage.A lifetime friend had an off on his 400 Burgman luckily no injuries but the Burgman sustained gravel rash on one side and was "written" off so he's buying a 650 Burgman executive.I like some of the gadgets the 650 has ie electric mirrors/heated seats etc. But not sure I'd want the  auto/manual gearbox,I believe the Burgman is a little faster accelerating with higher top speed? But heavier and not as nimble as a Swing,I believe a few forum members have and do own both scooters so what are your thoughts? I've ridden the 400 Burgman and found it comfortable to ride but steering heavy cornering,I may buy the damaged one my mate has to sell on or trade in for a newer scooter.

I had a lardass 650 Burgman Executive for a couple of years before I bought my Silver Wing. Yes it has a few more toys, those electric mirrors are ideally placed for you to get a face full of headlamp beams from cars behind you and also channel rain drops down onto your feet. The auto/manual gearbox is nothing more than a toy to play with until you get bored and then leave it in Drive. The Power mode is handy for steep hill descents, but it's too easy to hit that switch in the dark.

Heated seats and grips, they're no big deal either, our car has heated seats and steering wheel and they both are far more efficient than the ones on the Burgman where heat is reduced by wind chill.

The OE electric screen is OK, but I still had to replace mine with a taller Secdem. Servicing is a lot more complicated and requires lots of Tupperware being removed. The Burgman weighs 30-40kg more than the Silver Wing depending on what junk you've added, so with or without the added weight of a passenger this 'blasting through the twisties' nonsense requires more effort than on the Silver Wing.

The passenger seat is too wide for most female passengers, the scooter is a bugger to clean especially the dirt trap back end, it takes far longer to hose down and wash than the Honda does and longer again in winter time.The rough cast wheels are a magnet for brake dust, both wheels are hard to turn for cleaning, and you can cut your hands on the ABS ring.

It's a pig to move around especially with a cold engine, and there's this worldwide forum hysteria that's been going on for years now over a few expensive transmission failures and other problems. It's as if it's contagious and will eventually spread to yours.

The only niggle I had with my 650 was condensation in one of the twin headlights during a short break over in Northern Ireland when it rained almost non stop for a couple of days. The condensation eventually cleared up after a few months, but by then I was bored with this big overweight lump. A fine tourer but hard work in city traffic.

I know I've posted similar stuff about the 650 before, and in the last few years I've completely lost all interest in the Burgman range.

I would think twice buying aa 650 burgman. My friend's 650 had a belt failure last June at a cost of $1600.00 only to get a bearing failure on his ride home and  total the complete drive train.He is picking up his burgman today after spending the entire summer in the shop . The failure happen at 72 k kl his total cost for repairs is around $4000 + taxes.  If he decided to sell today ,he might get $ 2000.  I will stay with my trusted Swing ,At 103 k kl and going going going , Like the energized bunny.LOL

Thanks you two but keep the opinions coming,I've sort of made my mind up.Will get the 400 off my mate if insurance company let it go right price.New Silverwings still available here maybe pick up a bargain lol I fancy a blue one:lol:

Meldrew wrote:

The passenger seat is too wide for most female passengers,

Yep, [Hi bud] this has also been mentioned before on Maxi-Muppets by kayz1, who got rid of his because his wife didn't so much dismount as falloff

The Bern wrote:

Meldrew wrote:

 The passenger seat is too wide for most female passengers,  

Yep, [Hi bud] this has also been mentioned before on Maxi-Muppets by kayz1, who got rid of his because his wife didn't so much dismount as falloff

It's one wide seat bud, I had to extend the straps on my Givi throw over panniers before they fitted under the seat of Lardy McBurgman.

The woman who hangs around here (she's been doing that for 46 years) didn't like the pillion on the B650 I had for the reason Meldrew mentioned. I liked my two Silverwings and my current C650GT but didn't trust the Burgman. There were seveal people who had transmission failures with theirs which pretty makes the bike worthless. Admittedly there are probably 100 people who never had a problem for every one on their forum. If you're one of the unlucky ones...
The SW has nearly the acceleration as the B650 but it's easier to handle in cramped areas. I'd have kept the bike if it had a simple centrifugal variator like the SW and 650GT does. The Burgman might have a bit of an advantage for long distance touring over the SW but to me that doesn't offset it's variator operated by a little electric motor with nylon gears.
The Burgman 400 should be reliable because it uses the more common roller CVT design. It won't keep up with the SW though. Even with Honda dropping the SW in North America parts will be available from places such as Motogrid, Honda Direct Line, and Partszilla on line for many years.
I'd still have a SW if gravity didn't exert such a strong pull on my wife and I when riding two up. The extra payload of the GT was the reason I went with BMW. I still work on Silverwings for three friends here. If I had the room I think I'd buy another Silverwing to share the garage with my GT. Maybe I will anyway one of these days soon.

I am with Paul on this one.  Have also tried the Burgman 650 and liked the get up and go, but it is a heavy machine at nearly 300kg wet weight with a few mods. This is not so relevant when you are cruising, but it is a gut buster to move when slow or standing still. And did not like the low mirrors. Had a 400 Burgman, which was alright, but not a match for the Silverwing which sells here for the same money, second hand.
While I am waiting for a good SW to come up for sale in Oz I am riding  an Aprilia Scarabeo 500.  It has the classical Italian Vespa look, but with bigger wheels and a 500cc single cylinder engine, the same found in the Piaggio X9 and X10 but with a wet weight of well under 200kg. So easy to push around and put on the centre stand. A bit slow on take off ( will install new belt and Dr Pulley sliders to hopefully improve that), but pulls away well once it is going up to 160km/h . The seat is very good, but leg room is half of what you get on the SW. I like it for short distance riding and might keep it even when I find my next SW.
But for someone who wants to do more than 60 miles on an average trip you can't beat the Silverwing in my opinion.

The 650 Burgman has a transmission problem in some of them as noted earlier, the repair is more expensive than the bike is worth.

The 400 Burgman, prior to year 2008 has valves that need to be adjusted every 4,000 miles.  Shop price is $350.  Factor that into your miles per gallon and see what you get.  

I owned a used 400 and as soon as I read that on the forum, it was for sale the next day.  I liked the bike and the power.  I didn't like the maintenance costs.  

My opinion is this:  One maxi scooter with the step through design is enough for me.  Perhaps another motorcycle with a different style would be fun.

I just added this 2007.  It had 182 miles on it when I bought it.

I bought a 400 Burgman K6 new in 2005, IIRC it was the first to have an immobiliser and remained unchanged until the updated 400 Burgman K7 came out in late 2007. Yes the valves needed checked/adjusted at 4000 mile intervals, but that was never a problem, I rode it to the dealership and left it there overnight so they could check a completely cold engine, and borrowed a Suzuki bike from them to ride home. I can't remember the servicing costs being expensive at all. A lot cheaper than the 650 Burgman I traded it in for over 3 years later.

The 400 was a pretty good solo tourer and I took it over to Germany a few times, it handled autobahns well but used a bit of engine oil in these condition. A good solo tourer but gutless carrying a passenger, when it couldn't pull the cock off a chocolate mouse!

My swing original valve shims,never inspected burns no oil I will leave it original till it starts to burn oil and start 's to back fire . Love my swing .If it not broken don't fix it .IMO.103500.kl.

Nice looking bike! In my old age I prefer a faired machine because they're a lot easier to clean up. Some Lemon Pledge, and a rag, in 20 minutes it's all shiny and nice looking. Smells good too.

I consider my Burgman 650 as a Bic Lighter, and as a disposable item.

Where as the SilverWing as a Repairable, Tool/vehicle

Want more pick up/acceleration 24 gram DR sliders. Try to change out weights (if they can be?) on the B650.

The Burgman doesn't use weights. Instead it has an electric motor with nylon gears that moves the variator or as they call it the primary disk in and out. Take a look at the link below and then be grateful that Honda uses fly weights.

http://burgmanusa.com/bkb/650+CVT+Info