The Suzuki Burgman 650 is my very first motorcycle/scooter I have owned. I looked at the Honda SilverWing and the Burgman 400 before deciding on the 650. Normally, I would have never imagined riding a 2-wheeler... but the endless California traffic jam (Los Angeles area) caused me to temporarily lose my sanity, forcing me to walk into a Suzuki dealer and grabbing this bike, and I must say that I think I made the right decision. My motorcycle riding friends all were pushing me to get a "crotch-rocket" or a cruiser with at least 500cc engine. So, here's a "motorcycle" with 650cc, automatic transmission, full fairing, storage space, etc... etc. I told my friends that I bought a "scooter" and they nearby laughed to death until they saw the Burgman 650. They don't laugh anymore. I (and they) am impressed with the size of this thing. The engine is quite powerful (at least for me, cause I don't have a frame of reference to compare to), gives very good wind protection, can actually carry my soft briefcase, can carry two people comfortably, has very comfortable seat, and just plain looks awesome. The bike felt fast during acceleration, and it was confirmed to me by my friends that indeed it was fast. It handles very well. Althought I am about as novice as you can get, I can feel how tight and balanced the bike feels while taking curves in the hills and in traffic. The automatic transmission shifts very smoothly; in fact, I don't even notice that the transmission is shifting as I accelerate. Storage space absolutely amazes my friends. When I pop the seat open and show them the cavernous storage area under the seat, their jaws drop in amazement! They got a kick out of the trunk light under the seat. I also love the "glove compartment." I have just over 300 miles on the bike as of this review and have not had any problems at all. During the 300 miles, I have tried to be as gentle with the bike as I can but did occasionally drive it into the 3 digit speed range (grin from ear to ear). It reached 110 MPH indicated on the speedo and was still accelerating before I chickened out and slowed down to a more reasonable 70 MPH. My friends (ok, I let them ride it to get their opinions) tell me the engine is very quiet when idling and the brakes are very very responsive. I love the digital display, but some of my friends didn't. They preferred the analog display like that on the Burgman 400.
Being a novice rider, I was startled by a few things initially. Fortunately, I have several friends who are whom I consider to be motorcycle experts and they are bring me up to speed, so to speak, quickly. For one thing, we were all surprised at how heavy the Burgman 650 was. At about 600 pounds, it's kind of weird to refer to it as a "scooter." It took me several miles of slow to moderate speed driving to get a feel for the weight of this scooter. Also, I am still getting used to how the automatic transmission won't allow the bike to coast. As soon as you release the throttle, you start to engine brake rather quickly and abruptly. In slow moving traffic, I have to keep the throttle open a bit to keep the bike moving, otherwise it slows down too much, so much so that I'm afraid someone might come up behind me and tap my rear end. Also, the suspension is very tight. At street speed range, the bumps and irregular road surfaces are absorbed pretty well by the suspension, but at freeway speeds, the suspension feels like it's not absorbing any bumps at all. At 60+ MPH, the bike bounces at times after going over bumpy irregular surface. I watched other cruiser type bikes going over the same road and I can see that they looked smoother. Then I watched my friend's crotch-rocket on the same road and saw how the headlight beam bounced, just like mine does. Aside from these minor nit-picking, I am very impressed with my Burgman 650. And I guess my friends were impressed too.... they invited me to go riding with them. Imagine a scooter in a formation of Harleys cruising down the road.
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