[Bevan]

Hi there,
I have just joined the forum - my name is Bevan and I live in the Black Forest in Germany.
For those of us here who's car drivers licences date back to April 1980, we can drive scooter/bikes up to 125cc without having to take out a motorbike licence.
In April 1996 I bought an Aprilia Leonardo 125.
It looked good and it was fun to ride - then the realities of life set in. I was the slowest vehicle in traffic, top speed was 103km/h, the buses do more than that here. So I decided I needed to move up the scale to be able to get away from trucks, vans and such likes.
So I had to go and get a motorbike license (at this point I was 56) – compulsory attention of theory classes with an examination at the end. Compulsory riding lessons at a drivers school with X number of hours at the parc- cours and mandatory trips on the Autobahn and night trips.
Well I got through the whole lot in one go and bought a Honda 250cc Foresight.
Big improvement on the Aprilia – after the initial thrill had passed the realities of life set in again.
I had moved away from the buses and trucks but now I had the Ford Fiestas, Opel Astras, Fiats all breathing down my neck – by law we can go max 100km/h on roads out of town, on the Autobahn the speed is generally unrestricted. So on the Autobahn with my Foresight I was a danger to myself.
Well I bought a BMW R1100RT – a huge flagship, it was great but in many ways unwieldy.
Then Suzuki came out with the Burgman 400 cc – I got rid of the Foresight and bought the Burgman.
Later that year I got rid of the BMW R1100RT and bought a BMW R1100RS which had less weight than the RT.
A year after the Burgman 400 I upgrade to the Burgman 650 – this was a brilliant choice. It can do everything my BMW does (except top speed) and with far less hassle. I ride my Burgman and BMW often and am continuously comparing both of them. The area where I live is very mountainous so agility is of importance.
This year I have done 9000km on the Burgman and 7000km on the BMW.
The situation at this point is this: if Suzuki comes out soon with let’s say a Burgman 1000cc then I will get rid of my motorbike.

There is lots more to say about the Burgman but let it keep for another day and I hope I haven’t bored you all to death.
Take care and ride safely.

 

[allwalk]

Welcome again Bevan. So do you keep the BMW mostly for Autobahn trips or do you favour it in other scenarios as well? I notice you did put 2000km more on the Burg ,but still put decent kms on the BMW.

 

[migz123]

Hello Bevan! Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Burgman. It's especially very interesting to me because one day I hope to buy a 1150RT. It is very interesting to hear that you are preferring the Burgman over the BMW!

Perhaps you are right. That if they are able to produce a 1000cc Scooter then maybe that will be a better choice over a lot cruiser bikes out there!

 

[mistergib]

drawing the line...

1000cc Burger......where does the line get drawn ??? Why not call it
by its correct name.....at that size, it becomes an "automatic motorcycle"
or a "junior automatic Gold Wing". The distinction of it still being called
a scooter is gone. It would probably weigh in the neighborhood of
700+ lbs., people, you can call it many things, but a scooter would not
be one of them. Think about it. The Gold Wing has alot of plastic body
around it too...the dividing line sure gets blurred.....

 

[Edwljoseph]

I have a 650 Suzuki Bandit, Yamaha Venture Royale and now a burgman 650. This season I put 2,500 miles on the Bandit and 2200 miles on the Venture. along came the burgman. The Venture is for sale. I will not use it to its capabilities. The Burgman does almost everything. Once I sort out what radio intercom system to buy, it will be a more than adequate replacement. In fact, I expect to put most of next years miles on the Burgman.

Welcome to the group. You made a good choice. A 1000cc Burgman is not needed.

Eddie

 

[Jcsn]

Willkommen Bevan, zu dieser Seite des Atlantiks.
Der Canuck Anschluß
Jcsn
Ontario, Kanada

A rough translation ....
Welcome Bevan, to this side of the Atlantic.
The Canuck Connection
Jcsn

 

[Bevan]

Hello @ all,
thanks for the welcome and a big hello to Jack (please don't let this stop our other mails).

Well most of buying decisions are emotional rather than rational (even though we kid ourselves that we are rational creatures). When the 650 came on the market here (picture wise) I decided that was what I wanted to upgrade to. Between January 2002 (pics only) and August 2002 (first deliveries took place) I don't know of anyone here that didn't order based just on a gut feeling. There were no demo models to test drive, dealer info was very sketchy, the Internet was full of highly questionable stories.
But just by the look of it and relying on Suzuki's quality of the Burgman 400 - this had to be good and if the specs were true it could only be better.

When I took delivery of mine at the beginning of August I was thrilled to see it live and have it under me. The first rides were a dream come true - everything worked so smoothly - the feeling of power to come when the engine was run in was there - the road holding was beyond all doubt.

Well the kilometres climbed on the clock so did the speeds - old haunts on my motorbike were re-visited, comparisons were made. More and more I preferred going out on the Burgman for all sorts of reasons – mentally it was “just a scooter” with “real motorbike capabilities”. Then there was all this extra storage space which a “real bike” simply doesn’t have. I did my first trips into the Swiss Alps – corners by the thousand, 180 degree serpentines by the hundred, up to the 2700 meter elevation mark on some of the passes. The Burgman took everything in it’s stride. I could go on and on and bore you all to death with stories about the thrill of riding a Burgman – but heck you know all that.

Do I differentiate between Autobahn and other routes for the choice of machine – NO.
All bikers avoid the Autobahn’s because apart from straight line speed they are very boring and chew up tyres and can be dangerous.
We just use parts of the Autobahn when there is no better route for a given part of a trip – the real fun is on the tiny twisty winding side roads with great scenery.

So bearing this in mind as to how close the BMW and the Burgman get for most trips, I prefer the Burgman because it’s more relaxing to ride – the automatic gear shift with it’s hi-tech features is a big bonus. I can concentrate on other things rather than “what gear, what revs for which curve”. I can concentrate more on taking the bend and lining myself up for it knowing the Burgman technology will give me the exact gear ratio needed and the right amount of torque to go with it. This at the end of a days driving makes the difference as to wether you are shattered or not.

Like all things – once you get used to them you start looking for more. So if and should Suzuki come up with a 1000cc Burgman I will be on the ordering list. I have written all of the above bearing in mind we have different conditions and regulations in our different countries which affect our choices. If I lived in another country where the top speeds etc were strictly regulated I would certainly have a different approach to things.

Here’s wishing you all a super day and stay upright