In case you were wondering about those big scoots.....

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120 posts in the thread and he just gets around to "looks" for the Burgman
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to each their own indeed - wonder how that would fare on 1000km days and luggage for a week.

hmmmm something like this perhaps

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how elegant.:rolleyes:

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How long you gonna ride this season SB? Nice out today.
 
So you think Burgman, Silverwing, and the new Honda and BMW maxis are rebadged K ??
.....hmmm just what is in the winter koolaid you are clearly drinking.
We do however understand just who is doing the rebadging.:rolleyes:

A Kymco 300i is $5700 and when you find one that will go 100,000 miles reliably be sure to let us know.

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It might compete with the smaller scoots - it's not even close the maxi's in value or longevity or from the looks of it build quality.

and in the imitation is the highest form of flattery - Sym's 600 - yet to be seen.

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The one positive thing about the 300i is it's low weight - 200lb less than a maxi. For an around town scoot with some short touring aspects it would be okay - but hardly cheap and even published mileage of 55 miles per gallon is hardly better than the real world of 48 miles per gallon on the 650 Burgman and the published reports of 77 on the new Honda 700s.
 
Odds are that there's a lack of understanding here of the differences between "rebadging" and "contracted manufacture/assembly."
 
Could be - however - are you aware of Burgman's contracted out to Kymco to build? I'm not.
The VINs indicate Japan.

Sounds more like a confusion of "imitation" ;)
 
MacDoc said:
Could be - however - are you aware of Burgman's contracted out to Kymco to build? I'm not.
The VINs indicate Japan.

Sounds more like a confusion of "imitation" ;)
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No, I'm not aware of an actual agreement but, given the recent incidents in Japan, more and more of their production is being contracted out. It's not just in motorcycles either, as many of the camera lenses that used to be produced in Japan, are now being produced in Korea.
 
MacDoc said:
How long you gonna ride this season SB? Nice out today.
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Don't plan on stopping. My grandparents asked me to come visit them in Florida after they go down (Dec20) so if I have the cash I will end up leaving the same day. Taking detours to Barbers Museum, and various other destinations on the way :)
 
MacDoc said:
I prefer the GT look and feature set tho it's very much a duplicate of the Burgman 650 Exec.
( imitation and flattery come to mind ).
Having a matching top case on the GT would bring a very sweet mid range tourer that is much fun in the twisties ( all the CVT designs by nature are due to centre of gravity and nature of the transmission.
They hint at the Burgman grin here - fascinating - not a normal German term - seems they surprised themselves.... :D


The one real attraction is the BMW suspension is likely head and shoulders above the Burgman ( it's weakest aspect ).
Also the slight extra power would be welcome. Most else is near identical....I suspect Suzuki will respond in 2013.
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Suzuki's success has not gone unnoticed by BMW, hence the very similar specifications. They know their market pretty well--aging and well-heeled. I predict that plenty of riders will begin espousing the Burgman-style CVT once the Bavarian roundel gets stamped on the case.

As far as the suspension goes, I would have given the Burger low marks just a few weeks ago. Definitely on the harsh and jittery side when called upon, with an unsettling pitch forward on some mild downhill grades. That was setting 4 (adjustable rear). Backing the preload to 3 smoothed those tendencies out. 2 seemed much calmer again in all situations. I'm currently testing with 1, with no complaints at 220 lb + gear.

I still might upgrade the springs and shocks, but I can't say I'm unhappy at the moment. Even with emergency braking tests it felt composed.
 
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Yes I've never felt the Burgman feel unstable even tho I bottomed the shocks on the James Bay Road at 160ish. Big thump but no wobble.

On sweepers I was a bit nervous at that speed due to the severity of the bumps that sometimes lurked in nasty spots....and I was pretty loaded with gear.
The Metzlers tho were just plain superb and it's been a downer riding the rest of the summer on stock tires on the 2009.....sure were not the same and the noob who owned it before me had left them too soft and squared them off as a result and I imagine not much cornering.

Love the profile on them

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Getting the Metz on tomorrow - found a pair in the city for a great price so really looking forward to next year on them. Might get another ride or two in - will be hard to resist but with the cold can't really push. :(

The suspension is a bit bone jarring at times - not supple. Partly the shorter travel I would guess.
I do wish the seating was a little more neutral instead of rocking chair...the low CofG helps much but having a bit more weight on my hands and feet for twisties would be nice. ( so many years on an RD400 with drop bars I just automatically want weight on my hands in twisties. )

Still the bike is super stable in the twists and sweepers up to 160.
Bike is clearly better than aging rider ;)

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Good for you SB - run for the sun.
 
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[h=1]BMW Hits a New Milestone[/h]



We all knew it was going to happen eventually. At least we did since they announced that it was going to happen at the EICMA fail in Milan, Italy a little over a year ago. But BMW finally pushed out their first ever production scooters from the assembly line.

Starting out as the BMW Concept C scooter that was shown in 2010, BMW unveiled the two production models, the C600 Sport and the C650T. Come Thursday, December 1, 2011, BMW was hitting a whole new milestone at the Berlin Spandau plant when the very first of their Maxi-Scooters, a C600, was completely completed. And much of the BMW enterprise was ecstatic. Andreas Muller, leader of the Maxi-Scooter project, said, "It's a really proud day for everyone involved with the Maxi-Scooter project. This day has been a long time coming for us but everyone has been working tirelessly behind the scenes in the build-up to today's start of production... We're all looking forwards to seeing the first C600 Sport and C650GT machines out on the road from next March."
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more
http://www.bikebandit.com/community/articles/bmw-hits-a-new-milestone?WT.mc_id=2203997
 
There ARE other reasons ;)
Tho at least now with the Honda 700 series entries there are some options in the no- shifting/no clutch category. I still prefer the principles of the CVT.
 
MacDoc said:
There ARE other reasons ;)
Tho at least now with the Honda 700 series entries there are some options in the no- shifting/no clutch category. I still prefer the principles of the CVT.
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No reasons that I have heard that interest me. No clutch is definitely something that does not interest me. I went from an standard to automatic car last year, and regretting that as well. There are benefits to it I am sure, but not any that interest me. Also the height of them, I like nice tall bikes in which my GSA sits above most if not all, and the pack mule quality just cant be beat by a scooter.
 
We we can disagree about the pack mule.

Motorcycle-Ride Around Australia on my Burgman 650

Summary: Going around Australia has been my dream since I migrated to Australia in 1995. I realised this dream between April and June 2010 riding some 26,500 km in 42 days, on my motorcycle, a Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive.
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http://www.max.grenkowitz.net/?topic=840

snip


Day 28: Coober Pedy to Oodnadatta and back
What a day this has been! I had the faint hope to ride to Oodnadatta and checked out the road in the morning. The guy who does the mail run said the road is good. Well, let's have a crack at it then. The road looked good, the odd obstacle here and there, deep tyre tracks carved into the road, and from the recent rain… it would have been a mud track at best. So I was lucky! It took me 4 hours to get to Oodnadatta, some 200 km north-east of Coober Pedy. Took a few photos, and simply watched the scenery in awe go past. This is the desert after all: the painted dessert. I rode past a landscape which looked like a lunar surface; awesome! When I returned in the afternoon I learnt form the locals that this area is called The Moon Plain.

I arrived safe in Oodnadatta; the Burgman performed beautifully and I had no doubts she would get me back safely. I had a fruit salad at the Pink Roadhouse, and stocked up my water supply by 1.5 litres. And off I went…
The return trip took only 3 hours — that makes it a 65 km/h average across the gravel road. As I said: I was lucky — great conditions.

The trip was tiring due to the concentration required to stay in the tracks and to scan the "road" fist-size stones are not to be ignored; and this track had heaps of it. In particular the creek crossings were full of them. Corrugations were present, but sort of far less than expected. All-in-all a great day trip!
I closed the day with a "Burger the lot" from the Pizza Bar, and settled for the night at the same place I was yesterday: The Underground Motel.

In summary: the Coober Pedy excursion was well worth my time, and I would do it again! An interesting town, great sense of community. It seems the locals know each other across the board. The town goes quiet after dark, I mean totally quiet, much to my liking. The sunsets are beautiful, the sky is absolutely clear, and stars by the thousands, and the milky way — all clear to see.
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pack camel ;)
 
You do have a fuel tank advantage but taking breaks is vital in my view.

If you look at this page you'll perhaps understand why.

http://www.max.grenkowitz.net/?topic=928

Reliable comfortable ride, lots of storage and town, twisties or outback gets the job done very well for about 60% of the price.
And I much prefer mid range rides with the weight down low.

BMW did a bit of a tip of the hat to the Burgman Exec as their new 650 automatic is just about a twin.
I'd consider a BMW mid range as an alternative if the price was right but never the litre + machines....not my cuppa at all.
 
Scooters aren't my cup of tea but i saw this BMW Concept C (from 2010) earlier today and it looks pretty badarse for a scoot. Love the blue in the tires.

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