New Burgman 650 Executive

The Burger 650 Executive officially launched on the Suzuki USA site yesterday:

http://www.suzukicycles.com/Products/AN650AK6/Default.aspx

They couldn't let Honda have the most expensive scooter, could they?

Oh my lord :eek1

I payed $500 less than that for my Strom 1000 before taxes and stuff. Brand New.

I kinda want a scoot. But not that bad.

Apparently there's a market. :eek1 I guess. :eek1

I wonder what the research showed? Re-entry riders? Noobs? Older riders? People wanting an automatic? The euro market?

Apparently they are people with bigass limits on their VISA card.

Looks like it was designed to eat Silverwing market share. Looks just like one to me.

Why surprised about the price? The Burgman 650 Executive's liquid cooled parallel twin DOHC motor is only 350cc smaller than your V-Strom's, and it's mounted in a rigid motorcycle-style frame, just like your bike. It has an aluminum swingarm, just like your bike. Dual discs up back and a single disk in the back, just like your bike. Radial tires/aluminum rims, just like your bike. But unlike your bike, the Exec comes with ABS, a multimode transmission, a 500 watt alternator, an electric windscreen, retractable mirrors, a full fairing and about 70 liters of built-in, waterproof storage. And you never have to worry about lubing or changing chains -- the Exec's drive belt is rated for the life of the bike.

BTW, I'm sure some dealers will sell it for less than MRSP

Wow...cool!



Burgman engine.

Yea, all of that is cool.
And I understand the point.
And it would work fantastic for street touring.
But I doubt they sell many.

And that last one is just my opinion,
But I bet it turns into a fact.

If gas prices keep going up I bet they'll sell plenty. The ABS Burger rocks both as a commuter and a weekend tourer.

I dunno.

I'm skeptical, too.

But lately we're seeing a lot ot technology being put into scooter design. The number of scooters sold in the US ain't huge right now relative to, say, motorcycles, and there's been a dip in UK sales...haven't looked at Germany, etc. From those numbers, I'd think that they'd hold the line on what's out there and just make incremental changes.

But--damn--look at the Honda Griffin. And this Burgman. And Kymco is doing well from what I've heard, and TnG is beefing up their marketing.

It's got me wondering if they're anticipating something we don't see just yet, or if these maxi's are selling better than we think

I think we'll see a fuel-related spike in scoot sales--but I'm thinking those will be 250 and under bikes.

I just wonder what these manufacturers are up to with pouring money into the maxis.

It's all good...

Jeebus, zook, lay off of the steroids. 518 LB dry weight??? That's not a scooter.

It won't be for the mileage. It gets the same as my Strom as well as just about any other bike.

I'd rather have one of the 150cc scoots for commuting. Now I think that this thing is really cool. I just don't understand how this gets the OK to produce and other jap manufacturers don't bring bikes to the US that would sell that are already produced for distributing in other areas.

As a business owner I just don't get it.

I'd love to try one, though.

What's the top end?

I've heard they're plenty fast.

I don't think they will have a lot of trouble selling them. Here in Seattle, my local Suzie dealer never has B 650's on the floor long, but they always seem to have 2 year old Silverwing trade ins. Suzuki has a few years of sales history for the regular B 650 model in the USA, and I am sure the numbers support the move. The Exec has been on sale in Europe, Japan and Canada for awhile too, so its not entirely a flying leap...

There are plenty of guys on the burgmanusa forum that want one...

Yep, it wouldn't be for the mileage compared to other bikes -- though it's not bad, I get about 52mpg on my Exec. It would be for the mileage compared to cages that get 15mpg. I'm guessing that people who wouldn't consider riding to work on a motorcycle would consider the Burger because of its automatic transmission, decent power (particularly compared to other scoots) great weather protection and large storage capacity. That's what's been happening in Europe. Suzuki is the most miserly of all the Japanese makers. It wouldn't introduce the Executive if it didn't believe it would sell. North American sales of the standard Burgman (as well as the Exec in Canada) probably convinced it to make this move.

Regarding top speed, a bit over 100mph.

The burgmans have a nice forum too. I think you'd be quite surprised of their sales. Heck, I want one, the dealer says that they will go 119mph too. My DR650 won't do that. If it had very good cornering clearance I'd probably already have one. Imagine all the goodies you could hook up to this bike, heated everything, computer while you ride, tv, run your house even.

The cornering clearance isn't bad. I have a friend (Lycheed on the Burgman USA site) who rides his very fast and manages to keep it from scraping in the corners.

I think the "why not just get a Strom?" folks are missing the point. It assumes a motorcycle is fundamentally more capable that an equivalently priced and same-technology scooter. And in preformance that's generally true.

But in many areas, the scooter is fundamentally a more capable vehicle. It has more storage, more weather protection, and more comfort. In short, it has more utility for many applications, particularly for urban environments. They're easier to live with and use day to day.

With the gas prices staying high, we should see people start to view motorcycles as a practical solution to transportation needs, not as simply sport and recreational vehicles to have fun on. As this occurs, the scooters should be able to support higher and higher price points.

- Mark

Hey, get Lycheed over here on this forum. I like to hear about more JDM big scoots besides Burgmans...

I'll let him know the scoot forum's been opened. If you have any specific questions on Japan-market scoots I might also be able to help.

When Yamaha brings the T-Max over to the US, then we'll truly know its "game-on." That thing is cool.

Jon