[dlmarquez]

Living in the PNW (land of eternal mist!) requires a rider to either be willing to ride in the rain, or else spend lots of time daydreaming.
Any of you have any input on riding the Burgman 650/400 in the rain?
On another subject, any of you seen the prototype of the Aprilia ditech 500 scooter? It's a 2 stroke single!

 

[migz123]

As yet I have not ridden the Burgman in the rain...

And yes, that Aprilia scooter is awesome. I owned the SR50 DiTech a couple of years ago and I tell that was a great engine. Lots of two-stroke power with LESS emission than 4-stroke and twice the gas mileage!

Not sure how that would behave on a 500cc version as you would probably need to revv it high, and it probably won't have a lot of the low-end tourque that we all like, but I sure would like to test drive it one day. The design is VERY nice too ...

 

[Jim]

rain

Yup, I picked up my 650 in the rain, I drove my Burger 400 in the rain to trade in at the dealer, and drove the 650 back. 35 miles one way in the rain on each machine. There was about a 25 mph cross wind with moderate rainfall. I felt a lot safer on the return trip, excellent in crosswind situations and I was wearing a full rain suit and a face shield on my helmet. It was ok but I won't ride in the rain on a regular basis, saftey and all. At speed (60ish) with a GIVE or other after market windshield, I don't think you would need a face shield for rain protection. I have driven in a misty situation without my face getting wet.

You may want to check out my review 650 vs, 400 in the General Discussions.

Hope this helps.

 

[mick6502003]

Lemme tell you about rain

Picked my B'man up on a friday evening in a light shower. Rode it 94 miles home. More nervous 'bout a new bike and not having ridden in three years but the B'man handled it better than I did.

I made an appointment to have the 600 mile service done the following saturday, 8 days away. Rode to Jacksonville the morning after I picked it up, 250+ miles. Rode home on Sunday. Rode to work all week.

Saturday morning, 5AM, morning of my 600 (850 mile) service, WOW, monsoon! Suited up, rode from Charleston to Sumter, SC.... 94 miles, hard rain every inch of the way. Did it in 1 hour, 50 minutes. The bike has no problem with the rain. The tires are excellent in the Rain. But the windshield wass a little low, rain came off it, right onto my helmet visor.

I have since changed out the windshield to a GIVI, and it took care of the blow back from the windshield. I would venture to say that I am more of a liability in the rain than the B'man. It handles the rain fine! Me, my knees hurt.

 

[roy_ryall]

My 650 handled well in the rain, but I always slow down when the pavement is wet. They have good radial tires on them. It had good leg rain protection from the front. Spray over the windshield was not very good. I put a taller GIVI windshield on mine and it was still about a 1 1/2 short for me. You can now get a taller Clearview if you need a taller windshield than the GIVI. But the windshield height depends on your size. I am 5' 11'' with 30" pant inseam. The 2003 650 has a road spray problem on the left side floor board were the side stand is. It blows road spray onto the underside of your left leg and hip. Someone posted that the 2004 650 has a plastic piece mounted to the left side to stop the spray problem, but I have seen the 2004s yet.

The 400 has more air coming around the front leg area, so I would assume more rain. In some other countries you can get leg air deflectors that mount on the sides of the front fairing to move the air away from your legs, but I have not found a way to get them "yet". I had a set on my Silverwing and they helped keep the cold air from blowing on your legs. The GIVI windshield has plenty of height on the 400. My riding friend and me cut his off to lower it so he could see over it. He is taller than me. I am going to do the same on my 400 when it comes, unless I can get a Clearview for it. He is a new MC rider and rides in the rain. He has not mentioned a handling problems.