I'm considering one of these with low miles at a good price. It's easy to find the positives, what are the negatives? Sorry for the duplicate post...
Well, first tell us what your fixin to do with it? Like what kind of riding? Is it be your primary bike? For around town, backroad crusing, and some Interstate the Burgman 400 shines. It will do just fine on the Freeway, many tour the highways on them without problems at all. BUT, one big negative is the speedos on the Burgmans is known to be as much as 10% optimistic, so it reads 10% higher than GPS/Radar true speed. So the comfortable 70 MPH is really about 63 MPH!:eek1 65 MPH is 58.5 MPH! 75 MPH is 67.5 MPH! 80 MPH is 72 MPH and so on, gets worse the faster you go. So, to do an actual 70 MPH or so, you'll be doing about 79 MPH! Which isn't overally comfortable on the Burgman. It runs at extremely high RPMs on the highway is another negative. It is a single so it's gonna be buzzy, at like 75 MPH its not far from redline at like 7K RPM or more. If highway is what you's doing it'll do it alright but you can't go wrong with a 600-650+ cc.
Looking at it for a commuter, 38 miles, about 14 freeway. Speedo error is not an issue but thanks for the heads up on that. I'm concerned about possible mechanical problems that may be a regular occurance on the early models. Maybe the fact that I don't find any (Google search) means they are pretty solid.
There is an oil consumption issue (at high speed) on the pre-07 Burgman 400s. See this thread for more info: http://burgmanusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22922. There is plenty more info on burgmanusa.com. I have no personal experience with the 400, but do own a B650
One problem that I have read about on pre-07 models is the frequency of valve checks. I think they are expected at about 4000-6000 mile intervals. From the removal of plastics to checking/adjusting the valves it might take a few hours. If you are paying someone to do it, it may become expensive. If you are doing it yourself, it might be an annoyance. Other than that, I have also mostly heard good news about them.
I don't know about the 2003s. Mine was a 2007. Weaknesses? It won't take abuse. It's "bulletproof" in the sense that it always starts and - when everything is right - works reliably; but I cooked bearings on an extended flat-out run to get across the wasteland that once was called Detroit. I didn't get stuck; but later the bearings on the variator and in the front hub both failed...separate times and places, but close together and still on the trip. Electronics on those things are involved; are tricky; and if you have a shop that doesn't know, they can really mess the bike up. Getting a rear tire replaced, involved pulling the exhaust; and in so doing, the shop I found (a Suzi franchise) bunged up the feedback sensor in the pipe. That caused the engine to go into fallback mode; lost half my power and a third of my mileage. When I got to another shop (wasn't practical to return to the shop which screwed up) I learned the sensor was back-ordered with a 30-day wait. I needed to be home, 2000 miles and six days from then. Little things can cost. I hooked a rabbit crossing the road at night; caught him with the fairing around the radiator. Broke a corner of it right off. I disremember the price quote to replace; but it was not cheap. Other than that...it was a good ride; a pack mule with personality. Economical and fast. Just remember; it's not a low-maintenance machine.
I'd say that the MAJOR negative (in your pick) is that its a pre-2007 version. Up till the 2007 model was released with several changes- even the engine was smaller, the front wheel was 13"(?) with single disc, and even the underseat volume was less. MOTORCYCLE REVIEW: Suzuki Burgman 400 This report mentions the various changes. Majesty vs Burgman 400 pre-2007 In this forum comparison the Majesty is given higher marks over the Burgman. After the 2007 Burg-400 makeover that all changes . . . . now its harder to pick between!
I'll probably let this one go, the price is attractive, but doing my homework here shows it's a bit labor intensive for what it is. I'll keep searching for something more turnkey.... Thanks for the reports.