scooter

anyone here ride or have experience with a scooter...something like the suzuki burgman 400, the honda forza 300, the yamaha majesty 400 or even a kymco?...hubby and i might be interested in adding one to our garage but wondering how they are, especially in comfort...thanks in advance!

I owned a Yamaha Majesty 400 for half a season. Comfort was pretty decent, but my problem was leg space. I'm 5'11" and was cramped a bit. Performance was surprisingly good and top speed was around 170km/h. (On a closed course...) Fuel mileage was amazing and the twist-n-go simplicity was great for scootin' around town. Once the wife was on the back the performance went down noticeably and she was never comfortable on it. I think she came for 2 rides with me on it. If you're planning on having a passenger, even some of the time, I'd go with the bigger 650cc option for both physical size and the upgraded power.
But as I said, it was great around town and a super second bike to have.

No personal experience per se but a friend had a Burgman 650. Nice, well-equipped scoot with tons of storage, plenty of grunt and nice features (e.g. power windscreen adjustment.)

Blackfin said:

No personal experience per se but a friend had a Burgman 650. Nice, well-equipped scoot with tons of storage, plenty of grunt and nice features (e.g. power windscreen adjustment.)

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Burman is fine until it needed a belt replacement.Then it was a money pit.

owned many scooters over the last 12 yrs. Piaggio Fly50. Derbi 150. X9 460
Yamaha Smax 155. BWs125. Majesty 400

A good bike in the range you are looking at is the Piaggio BV350. One thing i hated about the bigger scooters is the "rubber band" feel upon taking off from a start.
The CVT would slip the clutch until you were up to speed. People have remedied this by installing heavier clutch springs to make the clutch bite in quicker.
I had to install a laminar lip (windscreen extension) on the Majesty as the wind noise (even at city streets speed) drove me nuts.

the good thing about the Piaggio BV350 is it has a wet clutch and gives you that instant torque you get from a motorcycle. Kymco makes good bikes too. Problem there is dealer network. Only one dealer
here in Vancouver. But the Kymco 300 is a very nice bike.

the other thing that bugged me with the larger scooters is the unsprung weight. The motor is on the swing arm. Two scooters that have the motor in the frame is the Burgman 650 and Yamaha Tmax.

i have the best of both worlds now in the Honda NC750X DCT.

On second Burgman 400. No problem two up on highway or twisties and long hauls. More than adaquate performance and with anything two wheeled it steps down a notch. Only things that were ever done is normal maintainance....oil,fluids,tires. As for belt change it is not that bad as long as you understand how the bottom plastic fairing is removed and CVT covers. 400 has more storage space than 650, go figure but the newest ones they have cut that down with body shape squeeze. Look for a 2008 - 2016 unit, you will not be diappointed. Corbin makes a great seat for a upgrade but pricey.

I think macdoc had a burman 650 (or two) and loved it. Complained that it ate rear tires though.

Rode a friends Burgman 400 the wheels feel undersized (terrible on speed bumps) auto transmission was very slow to respond (is like hollering down to the engine room when you want more speed and then waiting for it) it's heavy (very heavy)
Was it comfy, yes in the plush bouncy floaty kind of way, but at no time did I feel particularly safe riding on it. ymmv.

Lots of experience on the 650 Burgman here. Stock suspension is surprisingly lousy for a bike specifically meant to carry two on city roads--pillion foot rests are sculpted into the bodywork AND it includes a dedicated backrest. Upgrades are well documented and work well. Seating, storage, weather protection, headlights and road presence are all excellent (IMO). At 600 pounds, you need to be mindful, even if it carries that weight low. Power + brakes are adequate for highway riding without drama--the 650 twin is more suitable than the 400's single. Decent aftermarket support. Smaller diameter tires will wear down faster than other moto-tires if you intend to ride long distances. Personally, I never thought about it. The internal CVT belt can be expensive to repair when it goes, but the frequency of the problem has never been documented. Still running a 2003 daily at 60 000 km, basic maintenance only. Don't get a 2003 since it has some model-year specific parts that can make repairs a nuisance (eg. wheels + rotors), mainly because nobody has inventory left. Tons of forum support (for all displacements of Burg) at Burgman USA.

100,000 km on two burgman 650s ...total issues between the bikes a battery each.

Eats rear tires which is not a cheap replacement cost ....some have gone darkside successfully.

2005 and up more reliable and any issues with the belt which in theory was designed to be lifetime seem to come in the 90,000 miles region.

Aprilla 850 mana uses the same set up but more presets. In reality it's an ECVT and is more like riding a turbine ...there are no shifts....it just goes faster. I like it much better than Honda's automatic.

BMW 650 was quite nice, better suspension and good tranny but not as good storage and very limited as to rider size. Was quick without needing a Power setting. I enjoyed the demo at Mosport but would choose the Burgman 650 over ithe BMW 650.

Not a cheap ride - $11k new



Best lights I've ridden behind.
Close to the best brakes ( CBF1000 C-ABS better )
Very good weather protection.
Marginal suspension is being kind but the bike is super stable at speed and you can really push it without suspension ever feeling sloppy ( bit afraid the CB500x will need a fork brace ) but you get your teeth rattled as very short range.
Bike does not dive and you can really nail the brakes go in and the ECVT is a treat powering out of corners.

Lots of nice bits, power windscreen, heated grips, 110 litres of storage when you have a 50 litre topcase. Does not need side bags. Weight is down low so you don't feel the 600 lb until you try to move it around by hand.
Very nice in traffic as no clutch. Two settings for the transmission - Power setting for a more aggressive acceleration and engine braking.

It will handle the twists far better than most riders including me will push it to.
This rider could and did.
http://burgmanusa.com/forums/12-general-discussion/70658-high-praise-650-burgman.html

It's the king of scoots but lots of choice from BMW to Yamaha to I think finally Honda again in the maxi category.

No experience with the 400 but aside from needing belt changes ( not expensive ) has its fans.

Only reason I moved off the 650 Exec ...doing a cross country tour with my son and needed a mule to carry gear for both of us and did not want to have a tire change in the 3 week trip. Vstrom 650 served me well.

Both the Burgman 650 and 400 are nice for errands, shopping etc as easy to ride in traffic and such good storage space.

The big Burgman is something akin to what a EV bike will be like, quick off the line and torque on demand but limited top end....it would cruise all day at 120-130 indicated but mileage dropped with all the frontage.

There are so many bikes clustered in the $4-5k range these days....you would want to analyse carefully your needs.
I had bad hands - so no clutch was the main goal...that got me into the category and the performance in the twists and comfortable ride for distance kept me there.

Oh yeah ...power mirrors than came in handier than I thought they would