[burgerman]

saw these at oneida, must be legit. looks like minor changes is all...

I was hoping for a red burgman!

 

[mupp]

Ooo ! That's good, it hasn't made the earler ones look out of date all ready.

Is that a vent above the lights on the 400? Anyone spot any other changes?

 

[CINCNORAD]

Ooo ! That's good, it hasn't made the earler ones look out of date all ready.

Is that a vent above the lights on the 400? Anyone spot any other changes?

I don't see much of a diff in the '05 400s. My '04 has a vent above the headlights as well.

 

[Chief_O.]

Well I am a little let down. I was hoping for some exciting new color to come out. Oh well can't always have everything.

 

[roy_ryall]

I was also hoping for a new color. I guess if we want a new color, we will have to paint one.

I spoke to a dealer yesterday and he said the Suzuki's that do not have major changes should be available in Oct.

 

[wilder days]

How could onieda have pics of '05, but suzuki still does not?
It would seem to me that the manufactures website would be the first place pics of new bikes woule be found.

 

[billmeek]

It's very likely that Onieda has "jumped the gun" and put out the pics before Suzuki wanted then too.

 

[NormanB]

Am I missing something here - but what exactly indicates these are the 2005 models with any provenance?

 

[billmeek]

Norman,

Check the URLs to the pictures.

 

[NormanB]

Bill - I did that - but a file name or path is hardly 'provenance' it is just what their web guy chose or a straight reflection of their file structure. The 2005 bit may just be them moving their site info to a new folder. :?

 

[billmeek]

There's no proof positive that they are the 2005s. Oneida is the one claiming they are preview pictures of the 2005 models. Go to their homepage and you'll see the link Suzuki 2005 NEW MODEL INTRODUCTION. The images are from there.

 

[pauljo]

The Kawasaki Concours will hit its 20th year of production in 2005. Other than color changes, the motorcycle was functionally updated just once - in 1994 (different dash and floating disk brakes). That 1000cc sport tourer was way ahead of its time when it came out in 1986. Since Kawasaki paid for the design and tooling costs long ago, they keep the cost constant at just under $8,000. It is still a very capable sport tourer today, and a hell of a bargain at the price. Kawasaki's dual sport KLR650 is a similar case. Not quite state of the art these days, but a heck of a deal at just under $5,000 brand new. Both bikes have a loyal following, and Kawasaki sells enough of them to warrant keeping them in production.

Now, I'm not saying that the Burgmans will end up that way. But until the scooter market heats up significantly, and until the competition threatens Burgman sales with better machines, the number crunchers at Suzuki are probably not going to divert funds into significant upgrades for the scooters. The contest between the Suzuki Hayabusa and the Kawasaki ZX10 is much more crucial to them, because it effects sales of the entire sport bike line - and the Hayabusa is currently loosing. Same can be said for the battle between the 600cc crotch rockets - it is a heated contest every year. Then there are the cruiser bikes. As dull as many of us find them, their sales numbers are huge - and Suzuki is trailing many of the others in popularity.

World wide, the market differs somewhat from the USA. Scooters are more popular in many countries, cruiser bikes are less popular. But the overall sales numbers will determine where the development funds go, and the key "image" bikes will always receive attention. It's business, and it is corporate survival.

All considered, I won't find it too surprising if a color change is all we see for 2005. I'll be happy, if we see a significant upgrade year before I am ready to trade my 650 (2007 would be good :wink: ).

 

[dancote]

Changed front garnish?

Hard to tell from the pictures but the silver 650 appears to have either a color matched or "chrome" nose piece that was black on my 2003.

Regards,

Dan

 

[ksmall1998]

If these are 05's, at least they had sense enough to bring back BLUE :thumbleft:

 

[wilder days]

I'll second that on the color blue...YAHOOO.
If they didn't come out with blue, I'd buy a black, but that blue is awsome...IMHO.
If I'm going to ride something way different then anybody else has, then I'd like the color to be different also. I dont' see many blue bikes, 'cept for sport bikes.
come to think of it, the front of the burgman looks like a sports bike, so I'd fit right in.

 

[roy_ryall]

My guess is the blue is the 2004 400 blue, not the 2003 650 blue. The pictures look like it is, but we will not know for sure until they hit the showrooms.

 

[roy_ryall]

Dan, I think you are correct the Silver and the Blue 650 appear to have matching painted windshield garness.

 

[roy_ryall]

The seat looks a little dished by the butt rest? That would be a nice change.

 

[pauljo]

Oneida also had put up pics of the new '05 V-Stroms. Some one posted a link on the V-Strom forum yesterday showing a DL650 V-Strom in red and black - pretty attractive. I think yellow was also back for the DL1000.

But I just went to the Oneida site and I cannot find the '05 pics for either the Burgman or the V-Strom lines. Maybe Suzuki made them take them down for now?

 

[wilder days]

Pauljo,
go here
http://www.oneidasuzuki.com/img/2005img/index.html

the link on there site is on the lower right hand corner of the main page.