Burgman 650

[XP500FUN]

Hi I think I am maybe considering a Burgman 650 now possibly as seems to be hard to find an OK affordable majesty 400 .

I think they are the same size seat wise as the B 400 ( I know a 400 is probably better really )

But appreciate any thoughts, and any one on here got a good one for sale please.

Anyway many thanks in advance and please tell me if I need to get a grip and get a 400 or similar !!!

[Stephen]

The Burger 650 is a decent machine,but i am biased as i’ve had a few during my riding career,i guess the first question must be what is your budget,it got a major facelift in 2013 so a model 2013 onwards still appears to be fetching good money,i guess you are hands on with spanner’s & screwdrivers,so servicing should be ok for you,the service intervals were 4,000 miles which i always thought was ridiculously short,are you a young whippersnapper or one of the Governments OAP’s because they are a heavy old beast to move around,once moving they are ok,like the silverwing a great mile munching cruiser.

Not wishing to stereotype a newer one would of generally been owned by a more mature rider,garaged,riden in a sensible manor,milage probably wouldn’t be overly high,early models suffered with the wheels scabbing badly,i got a couple of mine 650’s fixed under warranty at the dealer,wheels were powder coated,dealers didn’t like that job as it left the workshop blocked with a bulky wheeless burgman while the wheels were sent to the powder coaters.Although i believe the belt was said to last the life of the machine,if it did snap i think it finished the engine,i have heard of some belts going at 50k miles,some still going at 75k miles,i have also owned a couple of 400 Burgers,nice bike but more of a commuter,so milages could be high and if it was city bike it may look a bit unkempt.

Just my thoughts

Steve

[MrGrumpy]

As Stephen says, they are/were a big old beast! Kind of like a Pan European, disguised as a scoot! I had one for a bit, did the job, but wasn't as much fun as a Tmax. My main gripe was that the ride was fine on main roads, but it felt totally out of place on bumpy back roads, very cumbersome and the ride deteriorated badly. The availability of 'Power' mode (ie a lower ratio) was very useful going up and down hills (huge amounts of engine braking), but I never mastered the semi-auto option! Mine was pretty reliable, though it was quite new and I didn't keep it long - the major annoyance being that there was some sort of 'garage mode' switch on the centrestand that would keep it in the lowest ratio, and the switch kept getting gunged up with road filth, meaning that I'd set off stuck in bottom gear, and I've have to grovel underneath the scoot to free it! Very Executive!
The electric screen and mirrors were nice, but the screen wasn't quite tall enough for me.

[knight2]

I've got a 650 Burgman which I've owned for a little over three years part exe'd a honda NT 700 Deauville for it. It's a 2012 model which has the old style with the new engine. The plusses are many, heated grips and seats, electric screen and mirrors etc which I'm sure you know. The belt for life thing nearly put me off as there are some horror stories but you only hear about them not the others that go on for miles. I came to the conclusion that it was mostly the early models that had the problem and some of them were down to poor maintenance. Some of the 650's on the BurgmanUSA site have done impressive miles. As Grumpy says the switch on the mainstand can be a pain I keep mine clean but if the bikes been stood it still sticks some times but it's a thirty second fix at the side of the road. The power mode and the gears are impressive when I used them but in the real world I don't use them cruise control would have been more use. All in I like the bike a lot.
But, there's always a but and it's a big one as Grumpy says it can't handle bumpy roads and I don't mean potholes just bumpy. So my pillions don't like and my wife rarely goes on it any more. On a half decent road it is a real pleasure to ride and it handles well and leans over further than my old Deauville but as soon as it gets bumpy the handling goes to pot and it becomes unconfortable.
See if you can get a decent test ride, it might not bother you.

[poo]

Tested a 650 the other week in my ongoing efforts to find a maxi that doesn't leave me cold. In describing my experience I said the Burgman does potholes like a filing cabinet does stairs. Coming home I was a little despondent - I'd really wanted to fall in love - and wondered if my backside had been wired up wrong, or maybe struck by lightning like Johnny 5 in Short Circuit. It's been reassuring to read that it's actually a common complaint and that my arse is just fine. But I still view the thing with suspicion, given the ride was all-consumingly bad and something no UK owner will be able to overlook.

Though if you otherwise liked it, there must surely be a suspension upgrade.

[knight2]

This is a link to one of the threads on BURGMANUSA about the 650 suspension if you search around you will find others. There are many varied attempts to improve it with many varied results. I some times think it is such a good bike in other ways it makes the suspension seem worse.

https://www.burgmanusa.com/threads/burg ... de.128937/

[MrGrumpy]

IMHO In some ways, its not that the ride on bad roads is unbearably harsh, its just that the whole thing feels so uncomfortable and ponderous away from its preferred habitat of fast main roads.

[Bellman]

I'm curious to why anyone would be interested in buying the long discontinued Burgman 650 in 2025.

I had a Burgman 650 Executive for a couple of years back when a lot of maxi riders like myself aspired to the Burgman, Silver Wing, or the TMax after riding smaller Burgmans and Majesty’s. The Burgman 650 imade an excellent solo and passenger carrying motorway mile muncher at home and abroad. Apart from that there was nothing outstanding to say about it.

It was far too heavy, ponderous, and over complicated. Multiple buttons and switches on the left handlebar cluster which were a disadvantage at night. It was also a dirt and road salt magnet and took ages to clean. An absolute pig to move about manually especially with a cold engine, and the wide passenger seat didn't suit everyone.

It squared off rear tyres very easily, home servicing was complicated as it had a lot of plastic had to come off the front. Some owners suffered problems with the stopper bolt wherever that was Then of course there were the well documented cases of total transmission failures. They soon got rid of the owners Burgman Grin.


With the excellent current tech loaded 300 and 350 maxis available, the Burgman 650 is an overweight and outdated fossil from the early 2000's.

[poo]

Americans. It's Americans. I know it's the fashion to blame Americans, but this one is definitely on them. The Burgman 650 is a big, fat, homely looking, comfort oriented, strictly straight line whale of a thing and Americans loved them because that's what Americans love. The enthusiasm over here is entirely misplaced.

Don't know US sales figures, but can guarantee they're a magnitude larger than the UK numbers below (Motorcycle Industry Association, YTD 2007 to end of June)

1: Burgman AN400 - 128 units
2: Silverwing FJS600 - 77 units
3: AN650 Burgman - 68 units
4: X8 400 - 60 units
5: XP500 T-Max - 44 units

No wonder you don't see any on the road!

[MrGrumpy]

Mr Bellman - one the one hand, there is nothing in your post that I would say is wrong - in fact its all true! BUT part of the idea of maxi-maxi-scoots was to combine the convenience and comfort of a scooter with the dynamic abilities and engineering of a motorbike, especially in regard to chassis and suspension. In general, the Tmax (and its Taiwanese clones) have managed this, whilst the Burgman and the Silverwing tried bu had their failings in this department.
However, the reason for this is that the engineering of midi-maxi-scoots is a big basic, of the engine mounted on the swingarm type, which is fine round town, but can be a real handfull out in the sticks. I know, I've tried some, which is why I had two Tmaxs until recently!. Now there are some 'adventure' style midi-maxis coming out, notably the Honda ADV350 which have better suspension which can make up for the general deficiencies of the underlying engineering, but most of the standard midi-maxis aren't things I'd consider for trips to the sticks - they are great in many ways, but have their limits. I'm considering an ADV350 to replace my recently deceased Tmax, but there aren't many viable alternatives if you want to leave reasonably flat tarmac!