Burgman 650: Modifications and Accessories

I was wondering how long it would take me to create this page, after I bought my Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive. I am not so much into modifications, but rather into practical additions and accessories.
Less than 6 months after buying the Burgman 650 the list has grown significantly. 

A Lesson Learnt

December 2009 saw the most accessories added.

The primary reason was time; the Xmas break allowed nicely for that. No pressure to get the bike back together, and taking all the time I needed for a good job.

The secondary reason was the advantage of taking a holistic approach; thinking on how I would do the lot the best way, ripping the bike apart once, and routing cables once too.
The biggest benefits of this approach were:

1. It allowed for planning, time to think it all through, including the manufacture of parts I would need for the job at hand; e.g. auxiliary fuel tank rack (which started in October and was completed a week prior to installation), the farkle bar for the steering column (coming in just a day prior for installation), etc.
2. The realisation that I needed a central space for 12 Volt power distribution, including a fuse box, proper cable diameters, relays where required, etc. It was worth my while, and everything came together nicely, and more so from a functional perspective (e.g. one space for all fuses).

In hindsight: I would not change a thing! I was very happy with my approach, and "yes", I was tempted to get the gear onto the bike ASAP. I am glad I didn't and can only whole-heartedly recommend this approach. Buy bits and pieces over a period of time (in my case 3 months), imagine and draw up how these fit together, measure, even do mock-ups where needed, and then put it all together. A week should be plenty of time without any pressure, and the freedom to be able to get some standard parts and spares if required from the local shops.

Table of Contents

1. TIRE WATCH™
2. Tent Pole Holder
3. Controller for Heated Clothing
4. Bluetooth Headset
5. Wired Headset
6. Farkle Bar
7. Heated Grips
8. GPS Garmin zumo 550
9. McCruise Cruise Control
10. SPOT II Personal Satellite Messenger
11. Auxiliary Fuel Tank
12. Headlight Protectors
13. Throttle Rocker
14. Self-made Top-Case for my Burgman 650 Executive
15. SpeedoHealer
16. Tire Repair Kit
17. Tire Pressure Gauge
18. Rubber-foam Lining for the Glove Boxes
19. Installing a Suzuki Luggage Rack
20. Removing the Back Rest

TIRE WATCH™

TIRE WATCH™ Display on my Burgman 650

TIRE WATCH™ came to mind when I reduced my tire pressure on the Birdsville Developmental Road. There was no service station in a 300 km radius (except at Windorah 110 km away), and I had to let air out to prevent getting my tires shredded on the 560 km of gravel I was embarking on.

Tent Pole Pipe

Tent Pole Holder

This Tent Pole Holder installation was the quickest thing I have fabricated in recent days. Rather than putting my tent poles into the trunk, I put this tent pole holder together. A piece of pipe, 2 clamps, two thread pieces, two caps, done!

Controller for Heated Clothing

Controller for Heated Clothing

The installtaion for the Controller for my Heated Clothing was straight forward and took less than 2 hours all up. 

Bluetooth Headset

Wireless Headset: In the Box

This wireless (or BlueTooth) headset was soo cheap, compared to the normal, run-of-the-mill equipement, I could not see doing too much damage by buying one, and trialling it.
Update March 2010: A piece of junk — I threw it in the bin; battery life: 30 minutes! Useless!

Wired Headset

Wired Headset on helmet

After some research I figured that a wired headset is better for long distance riding — no radio waves to endure and no running-out-of-battery — when compared to a wireless headset I bought later on anyway. 

Farkle Bar

Farkle Bar: Exposed

This was a key idea to solve the problem of "Not wanting to cut too many holes into the handle bar covers". This farkle bar — which I got custom machined — provides a support base for 4 RAM-Mount 1″ rubber balls, which can be used to affix all sorts of devices, such as my GPS.

Heated Grips

CLS HEAT Heated Grips Set (only one grip shown)

The CLS HEAT Heated Grips are a welcome and useful addition to my Burgman 650. The installation was straight forward and easy, so is its operation: set and forget!

GPS Garmin zumo 550

Garmin zumo 550

The Garmin zumo 550 was added after a long time of soul searching. My biggest issue was the justification of the cost of 800 AUD for the package.
I even thought of using a Nuvi in a plastic bag or AquaBox. Considering the car and bike mounts (worth some 200 AUD) and the inclusion of MapSource (worth some 200 AUD), the 400 AUD for the waterproof and ruggedised GPS unit was justifiable.
The related story can be found here.

McCruise Cruise Control

McCruise Cruise Control Parts (Wiring harness not shown)

What does a cruise control have to do on a motorbike? This was a question I have been asked… seriously… It is of course a valid question, in particular for people who do not ride motorcycles. It is even a valid question for people who do ride motorcycles, but not the "touring" kind. The "Tourer" is most often used for long distance riding. Long distance also means riding long stretches of road, both distance- and time-wise. This is when a cruise control on a bike makes the most sense.

As it currently stands, my Burgman 650 Executive is a touring bike for me. Yes, its name (translated to "city man") implies the city as a playground for the Burgman, but it has all the qualities a touring bike has, except… except for the diameter of the tires. The latter is a few centimetres less compared to a touring bike.

The related story can be found here.

SPOT II Personal Satellite Messenger

SPOT II (orange)

The related story can be found here.

Auxiliary Fuel Tank

Auxiliary Fuel Tank Location: Luggage Rack Option

An Auxiliary Fuel Tank is not really required, unless you intend to do some long distance riding, more so night riding, in particular in country Australia. My stock tank, which gives me a range of 250–280 km, does not always cater for distances of 300 plus kilometres to the next fuel stop. Hence, I devised a solution, like others before me and added another tank.
Be warned: Little did I know upfront that doing a proper job would set me back by almost 1,000 AUD.

Headlight Protectors

Headlight Protector Kit

If I would keep the Burgman (translated to town / city man) within the city fringes, I would not need any headlight protectors. Taking her out onto country roads, including gravel roads, I have seen the odd stone coming my way, which warrants the installation of headlight protectors on my bike. Off I went and got some. 64$ seems to be a reasonable expense for protecting headlights worth 1,200 AUD.

Throttle Rocker

Throttle Rocker

The Throttle Rocker a.k.a. the "poor man's cruise control" is worth every Cent! When I saw this thing for the first time, I initially thought of it as a gimmick. When I went on my first Iron Butt Ride — 1,600 km in 24 hours — I did notice at some stage that the throttle was slowly sliding shut under my hand. Almost as a "last minute" decision I bought a throttle rocker only a few days before attending the recent FarRide to FarNat '09 in June 2009.
Again, this is a worthwhile investment when travelling long distances and trying to maintain a consistent speed.

Self-made Top-Case

One day I thought I needed more storage; this is what I came up with.

SpeedoHealer

Nothing peeves me more off than inaccurate measuring devices: the factory-set speedometer being one of them. This is how I solved this problem.

Tire Repair Kit

Tire Repair Kit

There is not much to say here. Imagine you are out in the sticks — like I was on my Yabba Creek Trip — no mobile phone coverage, tens of kilometres to walk if you need help, and you have a flat tyre. If you do want to keep going some 20 minutes later — the time it takes to fix a flat tyre — you will carry a tyre repair kit.

Tire Pressure Gauge

Tire Pressure Gauge; Brand: Keiti

Some believe it is an essential accessory. I think, if you ever have a flat tire, you are able to establish the right tire pressure — also taking out the guess work. It may also prove useful, if you use only this one gauge to check your tire pressure. You will at least be able to achieve and maintain a consistent tire pressure, without stopping by at a servo and differently calibrated pressure gauges.

Rubber-foam Lining for the Glove Boxes

What I noticed almost immediately after returning from my first day trip were the scratches, both, my pocket PC and my Digital Camera experienced in the upper glove boxes of the Burgman 650 Executive. Let's face it: it is plastic on plastic, and minute dust in between, plus the constant rattling of the road, will cause these rub-offs very quickly. Off I went, bought some EVA foam sheets and I put a soft rubber foam lining into the glove boxes. I also added the templates you may want to use, as well as a "How To" description.
Hmm, I almost forgot: While I had the thing dismantled, I also added a 12 Volt outlet in each of the glove boxes.

Installing a Suzuki Luggage Rack

Burgman Luggage Rack (Original Suzuki Part)

What I will probably never understand: why are we in Australia left out in so many ways when it comes to equipment readily available in other countries of the globe? This is not only the case with motorbike gear, but with many other products, such as computer gear, or electronics in particular.
I ordered the original Suzuki Luggage Rack in the United States, via an eBay reseller. It arrived in no time, and I have now installed the Original Suzuki Luggage Rack. Very nice; Very handy. Why does Suzuki Australia not stock it?

Removing the Back Rest

I never liked the back rest that came with the 650. It seemed so out of place; and in fact it was. A normal build person would not receive any support from the back rest, because it is either too far away from the pillion's butt or the pillion has to sit so far back, s/he would sit on the edge of the rear seat — a rather uncomfortable experience. So: I removed the back rest!

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