[stellarebelman]

Just wondering. Why have you folks decided to ride a large scooter? What prompted you to made such a decision? I am just curious, because this is pretty radical, especially if you are like me and currently ride a mid or large cc cycle.
I ride a Yamaha 650 VStar Custom. Its a wonderful bike. But after test riding the Burgman 650 in Nov. I have not been the same since. Its all I think about.
Why? Its a beautiful machine, very eye catching.
Power. More power out of the hole than my VStar.
Smoothness, no vibration.
Brightlights
Comfort: Seat and riding position. Felt like I could ride all day.
Handling is super. On test ride I felt like I could turn on a dime, left or right.
Storage
Gauges. Lots of gauges. Its nice knowing how much gas you have left to empty without doing math.
Feeling of belonging. I have never pictured myself as a Harley man, just don't want to be a weekend leather warrior. Maxi Scooterman?
Yeah, thats me, dare to be different. When I ride my 150 Scooter its nice having people point at you & smile. That never happens on my VStar.

I would love for you foks to share your reasons and some of your "good" experiences.

Merry Christmas!
Terry

 

[flintbobbi]

few more reasons

Hey Terry. I've got a few additional reasons to ride a maxi-scooter:

Quiet. I hate that loud rumble of those big bikes. Always have, always will.
Smoothness, simplicity, comfort, all that and more. You just "get on and drive." No effort, no real thinking. You can focus on the vehicles around you for safety sake when needed, and the beautiful scenery the rest of the time. I live in Phoenix, and it occasionally has been in the upper 60's, low 70's on the drive home from work. Pure heaven. I used to hate the drive, but now, I get home 15 minutes early, and feel totally relaxed and ready to play with my kids or whatever.

I looked at the VStar very closely. It may have been what I bought if I hadn't literally stumbled into a dark corner of the dealership and found the Burgman (What's that I asked - the salesmen barely knew the answers to my million questions).

I also like the fact that with the Burgman, you get a lot of features that you'd have to "buy" extra beyond the VStar basic model. Storage, gauges, etc...

Merry Christmas all. I've got to get my kids to bed. I think they'll be up early.

Flint

 

[roy_ryall]

Terry from your list of things you like, it looks like your have your answer why we ride large scooters. You can also add good protection from the weather to your list of reasons.

 

[allwalk]

Well the reason I ended up looking at the Burgman are as follow:
1) People on another forum I belong to mentioned the name and I had to research it as I didn't have a clue as to what they were refering to.
2) I enjoy going for long rides and the buzz in my throttle hand made this impossible with my old bike. I would start to get numbness after 30 mins.
3) I also enjoy taking a certain passenger with me on these long rides and I wanted more comfort for them. I also wanted smoothness as I hated being smacked in the back of the head whenever I changed gears.
4) I wanted a more upright riding position with wind protection.
5) I got so tired of a backpack and carrying everything into a store when I stopped.
6) What I wanted was exactly what the Goldwing offered ,except I wanted it in around the 750 size.
Too sum it up the Burgman offered everything I wanted in a bike. Daily commutter in stop and go traffic at times. Very comfy and stylish in my opinion. Easier on insurance than a bigger Goldwing style. Easier to store and park as well. The storage is great , really great. Handling is superb and I love the machine.

 

[riderrich]

Some of this may be repetitive, but here's my take on scooters...in particular the Burgman.

I've ridden unfaired or minimally faired motorcycles for over 30 yrs. Ive gotten tired of fighting the wind, bugs and road debris. The full coverage provided by the scooter eliminates most of these annoyances. Another plus for scooters is the built-in lockable storage space. No need to attach saddlebags and trunks that often don't fit-in well with the styling of the bike....or the need to purchase a high priced sport-touring or huge full-touring machine that comes with integrated luggage. Also, the scooter's automatic trans. is a real benefit. With the ever-increasing traffic volume around here, there are more and more traffic lights going up wherever a side road intersects with the main road. It would get tiring to repeatedly shift up and down through all the gears every few hundred yards. Finally, and this is a big one for me, I would rarely use my motorcycles when there was any threat of rain for fear of the dreaded clean-up afterward ...every nook, crannie and chrome piece! With the Burgman, I anticipate that I'll venture out more often. With the full coverage bodywork, washing the Burgman should be easier than washing the car.

 

[minnmax]

Just wondering. Why have you folks decided to ride a large scooter? What prompted you to made such a decision? I am just curious, because this is pretty radical, especially if you are like me and currently ride a mid or large cc cycle...

For me, the reasons already named were why I always was drawn to scoots over cycles. Wind and weather protection, twist and go ease, storage capacity, and so on. 8)

I came at this from the otherside compared to many, moving up from smaller scooters to the Burgman 650. For years I rode a Honda Elite 250, then a couple of years on a Honda Reflex. In fact, the only time I have ridden a traditional motorcycle was during the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Basic Riders Course. Even then it was a 250cc machine, so the Burgman 650 was a major step. :shock:

The reason why I moved to the big scoot was touring. I ride two-up with my wife and we wanted a machine that could make a week of touring easy and fun. Though we enjoy our Reflex, with both of us on it, we were are at capacity. Even without touring gear, we found our speed slowing going up significant hills at full-throttle. Not fun, nor safe with impatient motorists behind you doing 55 mph going up a 60 mph hill. The Burgman resolved all this and then some!

Last year we did our first long tour, 1200 miles along part of the Great Lakes. It was grand! And the 650 Suzuki made it just one happy day after another.

 

[jb4278a]

Great Ride

Ditto All, Rich, Minn.....the 650 is a fantastic ride. The style, lighting, storage, ease of handling, the ease of oil-level checking, and now tonight I just completed the installation of Givi's 52 Topbox....stylish, safe, backrest for two up, and more storage....yes, I couldn't see myself going back to shifting....you know, when you right down to it, the Burgman 650 puts the real fun back into cycling. Just a few short years ago I took the Motorcycle Safety Course, acquired my license, and after I traded in the Aprilia 500 for the Burgy 650....that was a good move, a bit costly, but a good move.
By the way, my wife and I do the RV'ing....does anyone have any suggestions as to who might sell a type of ramp that could be fastened on the back of our fifth-wheel, strong enough to handle the 650, cause we're hoping to visit Lake George RV campground this summer.
Thanks, and take care!!

 

[SCOOTNVA]

jb4278a wrote:

By the way, my wife and I do the RV'ing....does anyone have any suggestions as to who might sell a type of ramp that could be fastened on the back of our fifth-wheel, strong enough to handle the 650, cause we're hoping to visit Lake George RV campground this summer.

I would be VERY careful before deciding to mount your Burgman on the rear of a fifth wheel trailer. I have owned campers for years, from VW Westfalia, pop ups, trailers to class B & C. We carried a small 80cc scooter on the back of the Class C and it worked great, but I would never put 525+ lbs of bike on the rear of a trailer (even a stable fifth wheel).

I'd suggest you contact a few of your local RV dealers to get their "professional" and realistic input.

Good luck & safe motoring.

-Greg

 

[Peter T.]

Why do you ride

Terry:
What do you do when you ride your VStar? Your always shifting up or shifting down. I just put my feet up and twist. With the storage I can put $20 -$30 worth of groceries under the seat. It holds 3 twelve packs, not quite enough room to get the 4th one in. You can turn it around in a whole lot less room that most bikes. People pull up beside you at red lights and roll down the window and what to know all about your bike. It is quiet. Everybody knows when my neighbor comes or goes on his 1100 VStar. Nobody knows when I come or go unless they happen to be looking out the window. Engine heat is channeled under the body so it is cool riding in the summer. How much heat do you feel coming off you engine? Front bodywork keeps your legs out of the cold wind in the winter time. Put on a GIVI windshield and your hands are no longer in direct cold wind. Those big cruiser guys have to call on all their ponies to stay ahead ouf you coming off a red light.

 

[stellarebelman]

Why the Burgman?

Hi Folks,
I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for your comments to my original post. You have just reinforced my desire to purchase this so called "scooter". I have already received a deposit on my Stella 150cc from a kind fellow from Texas. He is coming to South Georgia on business, so he is going to pick up the Stella then. I say thanks to this forum for helping me to sell this scooter. As soon as I get the rest of the payment on the little scoot, I will immediately advertise my VStar 650 for sale. It should be a quick sale. I will then buy me a 2004 Burgman 650 all dressed up in black. I will probably stop posting until that time, as I feel I have "used" this great forum enough without really owning a Burgman. When I buy mine, look out guys and girls, TRider will be rolling out the miles. Yep, at that time I want to be known as TRider. No more owning a Stella, so no more StellaRebelMan.
Until then, ride safe my new friends,
Terry

 

[Larioriders]

Hi! I'm so sorry if I didn't reply you soon but my personal computer was broken and I forget your address , and so i'll write here!
With my Burgman I ride a lot of miles ( since today 10000 miles!)
The last summer I have been in Greece...from Como to Greece and came back I make approximately 1600 miles.
With me there was a friend with burgman 400 IE and so I think that Burgman 400 is better than my 250 for this long travel...and so I think that the 650 will be the best!
I have been in Greece with my girlfriend and a lot of baggage (you can see the foto baggage here: http://www.larioriders.it/matteo.htm perhaps if I have had a 650 have not problems to drive with a lot weight.

so the 400 is better than the 250 and the 650 is better than the 400! :lol:
more speed and more power! :twisted:

keep in touch

 

[Bill Trammell]

We got the Burgman for my wife because Honda quit making the Pacific Coast. Wanted something with a decent faring and comfortable for the extended touring we will be doing. We saw the Silver Wings and Burgman scooters at BikeOctoberFest last October and became convinced that either one would fit the bill. We would have preferred the to stay with Honda and get Silver Wing but it would have been a 3-4 month wait for our Honda dealer to get scooters stocked. The local Suzuki had a blue and silver Burgman 650 is stock. We have no regrets about getting the Burgman instead of the SW. 8)

 

[Russ Schaeffer]

Burg people,

I'm a lifelong motorcyclist and I'm getting a 400 in about a week. The attraction of the Burgman is that it's a fully faired bike with lots of storage and it's big enough to go out in traffic without being under powered. I'll use mine to ride out to Willow Springs Raceway and I'll be able to put my jacket and helmet under the seat while I buzz around the pits. Also my wife can ride on the back with a seat that is bigger than any bike I've ever owned. I think she will feel more secure than hanging on to the back of my Kawasaki 1200.
This is the first time a vehicle of this type is available and Suzuki is really leading the way with the best features.

Thanx
Russ