Suzuki Burgman 400 AN K7

Summary: My first impressions about the Suzuki Burgman 400 K7 (model 2007), which I bought in August 2006 to replace the Honda Foresight FES250 (I had for seven years), after its engine died unexpectedly

Since Aug 10^th, 2006 I am a proud owner of a Suzuki Burgman 400 K7; the first in Queensland actually; both, Queensland Transport and the insurer had to update their databases, before being able to register the vehicle.

On July 26^th 2006 the engine of my Honda Foresight 250 died on me. Repairing it proved too costly. Loving to drive two wheels, I figured it was about time for a replacement.

Update: (February, 27th 2009) After totalling my much loved Burgman 400, I tried to replace it with a new Burgman 400. Unfortunately there were no Burgman 400s and I had to "involuntarily" ugrade to a Burgman 650 Executive.

Preface

There are all sorts of types of motorcycles to choose from. I am not prescribing a scooter as the be all and end all… the choice is a matter of taste and personal preferences.
My requirements though are: I need a practical, day-to-day, cheap-to-run, weather-protecting and (legally) fun-to-ride two wheels. For me, a scooter seems to incorporate all these attributes very proficiently. Considering the (generally) 100-km-speed-limit in Australia, as well as the distance I travel daily (20 km one way), and the mix of roads (suburbia, freeway, city), combined with best engine performance at 3/4-throttle, I always felt that a scooter with a top speed of some 130 km/h, and some 25 kW is the right thing for me to ride.

Information

Information, more so detailed information, seems hard to come by; at least here in Australia. Yes, the  Suzuki Burgman 400 website lists most information, though in a rather unlovingly fashion. It lacks performance details, and has only one photo of the scooter (when I compiled this page originally in Aug 2006).

I have therefore put my own technical specifications page together, providing you with much more detailed information (compared to Suzuki or any other sources) about the scooter's specifications.

Making a Decision

My main criterion was, whether my notebook bag would fit under the saddle. Why a notebook bag? It is my mobile office, and has to be transported without being squashed. The Burgman 400 has 61 litre of boot space; Phenomenal!

There was more to it. As a lifetime fan of Honda motorcycles and scooters — since April 2006 even owning a Honda Jazz  — it was disappointing that Honda had no Maxi-Scooters in Australia at the time.
My second choice: Yamaha; they have the Majesty 400 and the T-Max 500, but none of the Brisbane dealers had one in store to have a look at it. Well, nothing else left so it seemed, until I googled for "scooter"… and up came Suzuki. Feel free to read the full story.

Breaking in

What a feeling! Driving the Suzuki Burgman 400 off the shop yard was a bag of mixed feelings: excited about the new bike, but also driving like on eggs, because of the new tyres, and certainly because of the new feeling of the handling of the bike, which is more motorcycle-like.

A new bike needs to be run-in, handled differently, compared to normal riding mode; the process is called "break in".
Read the manual! It outlines the mode of riding during the first few hundred and couple of thousand kilometres. Try to obey these rules for you own good, own safety, and longevity of you scooter. Tyres, brake pads, and more so the engine need a running-in period. It is worthwhile to pay attention; you will get the benefit of lower fuel consumption, and a well-performing scooter in the long run.

What a Ride!

I have listed the sales rap on my description page. I put it in there for completness, and hardly read this stuff myself (hence, why I basically overlooked that the Burgman 400 has fuel-injection; it was listed under the sales blurb, rather the Tech specs section), but…

… after deliberately overlooking the sales blurb in the first instance, I have now read it. And it is only now — I have to admit — that the sales rap actually describes reality; yes, there are still surprises in life :) … the Burgman 400 is a smooth ride!

In short: It is a smooth, comfortable ride with ample performance, strong acceleration, crisp throttle response, and sticking stable — like on tracks — on the road.

The default suspension setting of "3" was too hard for my weight of 75 kg, and was adjusted to "1". This change made the difference. I exclusively ride alone, meaning without a pillion passenger, and therefore also decreased the rear tyre pressure from 250 kPa (36 psi in old money) to 200 kPa (29 psi).

What I like about the Burgman 400

Fuel Consumption

What struck me most was the fuel-consumption. My previous Foresight 250 constantly chewed up 4 l/100 km on average, ranging from 3.8 to 4.2 l/100 km over the seven years and 48,000 km I rode it. Considering the 400 ccm of the Burgman, I estimated it would need five plus litre per 100 km.
When I hit 3.3 l/100 km on the third day, I simply did not believe it! "The sensor must be wrong" was my first thought. The average consumption was 3.8 l/100 km over the first 1,000 km.
So how could this be? Given the sparse information, and my ignorance, I did not realise — despite having read the manual from front to back that the Burgman 400 has fuel injection. Now the consumption of 3.3 l/100 km made sense. Though surprising at first, it turned out to be a real (and pleasant) experience.

• Aug 26^th, 2006: I now have a value for a mix of city and suburbia riding only (not country/sticks): 4.2 l/100 km.
• Sep 23^rd, 2006: The 3.3 l/100 km are repeatable as I have experienced today. I filled her up, rode across town, out in the sticks, even gravel roads, all up 111 km in two hours, and 30 km at 110 km on the highway.

Dashboard

Compared to what I had before, the Burgman 400 has it all: not one, but two trip meters (not sure yet what I will do with the second one), temperature gauge, a prominent placed fuel consumption display, the obligatory odometer and speedometer… yes, indicator lights, oil change indicator, hand break on light, fuel-injection fault light, high beam on light, and the security system light.

May 7^th, 2007: Now I know how what to use the second trip meter for. I did a trip to the inland north-west of Brisbane (Crows Nest, Nanango, Kilkivan). I used the first trip meter as usual: between petrol stops. I used the second trip meter as a total trip meter. Sorry, sometimes it takes a bit longer to find enlightenment 

What I did not like

Is there such a thing? Well, for completeness the section should exist :) but there is one thing that could be better: the windscreen does not do a good job regarding wind protection when riding faster then 110 km/h; wind noise increases too. This is something the K7 shares with the previous model(s), based on what I read on European and US (forum) websites. Since we have a general speed limit of 100 km/h here in Australia, it shouldn't matter too much ;-)

Do I like the Burgman 400?

After what I said earlier, and how I arrived at this particular scooter, one would have certainly doubts, if not mixed feelings.
After 1,000 km in four days (Saturday had me going for 600 km) I can truly say: Yes, I most certainly like the Burgman 400!

When I drove off the yard at Brisbane Motorcycles, I drove like on eggs, a bit wobbly, new tyres you know, feels like having no friction. It felt different regarding weight, compared to my previous scooter. The first 50 km took some getting used to. On Friday I had no time to take the Burgman 400 for a spin :( … but on Saturday, hey this was great! Up and down the mountains, facilitating a nice break-in, constantly changing speed and load on the bike, just like the manual says :). After that ride I felt 80% comfy as far as the handling goes. The next 400 km made it 90%. I would say give it another 1,000 km and I have this thing checked out.

So far I have nothing to complain whatsoever; no rattling or other strange noises; all good! I booked it in for its first 1,000 km service on Tuesday (Aug 22^nd, 2006), and since I am not allowed to have more than 1,200 km on the clock at the first service, the weekend is off for a ride-out; what a bummer!

Update; April 15^th, 2007: I have now 8,200 km on it, and I am still very happy.

Well, it turned out to be a very nice scooter indeed.

Read about experiences with service and general matters on my Burgman 400 log file.

Read about my Burgman 400 riding experience on this continously updated page.

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