I have the same stable mates as you...
2005 Wee and 2006 Burgman.
I really enjoy riding the Burgman on the super slab, country roads or mountain twisties it handles them all very well.
I can say the same for the Wee. I would say they both perform about the same. (after all they're both 650's).
I've found shifting gears adds the the overall pleasure of riding.

The Suzuki Burgman 650 and V Strom 650 are perfect stable mates. :iagree:

 

I've had both. Well…still have the Wee. On the Burgman, spent most of my time at WOT just to get Piglet, that was her name, to move. Never had to use WOT on the Wee until I got the 16 Tooth Sprocket option. I found the Wee more comfortable and easier to ride. A lot easier. The weight had a lot to do with it.

The Wee is a very good performing bike. The 650 lb+ Burgman....let's just say I was embarrassed by the average HD cruiser. I had a higher top speed. A quicker get up and go. But light-to-light or getting up to speed on the freeway was….in the exhaust fumes of those bikers dressed like pirates.

Love the storage on the Burgman. Still do. Wish the Wee had the same. But in the end:

1. coming from a 240lbs weight lifter…the damn thing is too heavy
2. the very harsh suspension
3. the high freq vibrations that put my hands to sleep within 10 minutes
4. the premiums you have to pay the dealers to work on it (excessive Tupperware removal - dealers would jack up prices when I told them I had a Burgman)
5. lack of acceleration performance
6. Brain damaging buffering
7. too wide to lane split with ease
8. Hey…..Betcha didn’t know that when I pulled onto the scales with it…..discovered it weighed more that the reported weight of a Honda ST1300.
9. tiny front wheel that fell into ever crack
10. did I mention the excessive weight(?)
11. dangerous twitchy throttle at slow speeds that put me into the Bushes more than once
12. inability to regulate power without riding the rear brakes
13. and finally the excessive weight.

drove me away.

Well I really could have lived with most of it, including the brain damaging buffering. But the power to weight was a killer. The Burgman 650 is heavy. It was the only bike I've ever purchased that I openly admitted to everyone that I made a mistake about the purchase. Did I also mention that it weighed a ton?

I will admit though. If I had gone with the Burgman 400 I'd probably still have it. Now that machine is as fun as a Moped. But faster. It was like dating a Fat woman. Fun to ride but you didn't want you friends to see you.

True story.

I use to ride my Burgman 650, Piglet, to my sailboat every weekend. I would be so beat-up by the ride I never sailed. I just crawled into the cabin, took two Vicodins and slept for hours. Towards the middle of the sailing season I started taking my car so I could get some sailing in. I still miss the storage.

Anyhow….I wrote all of that just to say. The Burgman 650 is a fine scooter for some. And I’m jut glade I never dropped that fat ass bike.

 

My dad has a 2009 Burgman, traded his GL1800 in on it and he loves it. I think it's a great bike to ride (cannot really call it a scooter) but I'm a bit to big for it (6'4) cannot comfortably get my legs under the dash

 

This might help a bit, might not, but what the hey...

I rode bikes for years and years and many thousands of miles BEFORE I learned that the wet clutch on most bikes is different than the dry clutch in cars. Bike clutches are MEANT to be slipped a bit, and can handle it whereas in a dry clutch (car) you really should not make slipping the clutch a habit.

Probably everybody but me knows this, but it improved my riding when I stopped trying not to slip the clutch on purpose. Does that make any sense???

 

My story and impressions are very much like Saint's, except I came from a Burgman 400 and not a 650. Had it for 10 months and then sold it and bought the Wee in January. Both are among the best in their own domains.

 

what's wet or dry have to do with how fast it wears?
if it's true that bike clutches tolerate more slipping than car clutches, it's becasue of the multiple plates, not becasue they're wet.

:lol1::lol1::lol1::lol1::lol1::lol1:
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Anyway....I have always been curious about the Bergman. My neighbor keeps telling me that if I ever get a scooter, I would be a loser and he would disown me as a friend. Kinda harsh.

 

I have owned a Dr650, a Burgman 650 and Dl650. They are all top notch bikes in their environment. I place the DL 650 right between the Burg and the DR. I sold the Burgman because the roads up here beat the crap out of a bike like that. I look for the worse roads to ride on too. I really loved the Burgmans storage and the weight never bothered me at all. It seemed lighter to me because the center of gravity is lower than the Strom and the Dr. The Strom on the other hand is a beast on the dirt roads just like the DR was and that is my favorite riding area. It is comfy even when navigating a goat path while standing on the pegs. It is truly my ultimate bike. My impressions are it is a light weight, verstatile, comfy bike with plenty of power. The Burgman was the greatest pavement only bike and the DR was my poor mans Dakar replica. The Strom will probably be the last bike I buy. Unless I wear it out and Suzuki has discontinued the model. Then I will cry.

 

Goes to show how different bikes effect people differently. There was a write up of Suzuki’s 650s. The SV650, DL650 and Burgman 650. The Burgman placed last in performance and behind the DL650 in comfort. The Burgman was first in storage, naturally. The DL650 was a surprise and the favorite to all the testers.

I’m honest about what I ride. Out of all the bikes I’ve ridden, the Burgman 650 was by far the worst I’ve ever ridden or owned. In fact, I use to make excuses not to ride it. It was that bad.

I put up with it for 5,000 miles before selling it. The experience never got better. By the end of my ownership I’d become afraid of Piglet. Did I ever mention the thing was a pig weight wise? The best part about my ownership was the day it sold. It was like wakening from a nightmare. I was beaten by a scooter. Despite not needing to shift, it is a very hard and peculiar machine to master. Plus it’s heavy as hell.

If I had to do it all over again,...I'd just jump straight to the Wee. It's a much better steed...and a Hell of a lot cheaper to purchase and own.

 

i really dig scooters.


uh, i don't slip the clutch on the bike anymore than i slip it in the car...
what's wet or dry have to do with how fast it wears?
if it's true that bike clutches tolerate more slipping than car clutches, it's becasue of the multiple plates, not becasue they're wet.

i don't know though, i've never been through a clutch in almost (or maybe a bit more than) a million kilometers (broke a couple of diaphragm springs in cars, but never been through friction plates yet)

Interesting line of reasoning.

You admit you really have no idea why wet is different then dry, then 1.)you propose that if it's true, it's not because of what I said and 2.)you present an alternate theory.

All cats are mortal, Socrates had a cat, Socrates is a cat... :thumbup:

Wet has everything to do with it, if the plates or surfaces are lubricated they don't wear (as much) when they move against each other.

Knowing that you can slip is helpful compared to thinking that you shouldn't.

That is all.

 

^^^^^what he said. Also slipping the clutch a.k.a. staying in the clutch control zone is critical to low speed control.

 

I went from a Burgman 400 to the Wee. I commute to work and play on the weekends and wish I could have afforded to keep both. The Burgs storage, mpg, and dry legs and feet on rainy mornings was the PERFECT fun commute! I wanted something to really have fun with on the Blue Ridge Parkway on the weekends and the Burg 400 did fine (even 2 up) but just didn't have the acceleration factor for blasting out of the curves. I have 3 givi hard bags and the Mantis tank bag and don't have as much storage as I did with the Burg.

 

Ooops...

Fire Strom lost her virginity today. I skuffed the lower half of the left "bag" against the rear quarter of my car, forgetting my Wee's rear end is much wider than her front. If that wasn't bad enough, I shortly after..."dropped" her!

Well, more like helped her gently to the ground when I knew that the "fall" was inevitable, after committing the cardinal sin of being stopped, no brake, wheel turned, and not perfectly vertical. I was turning around in the back yard at the time, so the grass provided a nice cushion for the very slow motion lay-down. If there's a "good" way for this to happen, that was it. :bom_beatnik:

After my heart resumed beating, I carefully went my back to her top and righted her. All went well afterward, and I even did my first night ride with her.

Oh yeah, another feature of the standard I like over the Burger is clutch-coasting to shake out my throttle hand. Let go of the Burger throttle, and the engine braking almost throws you through the dash!

Bunking down,
Saint

 

Slipping the clutch is part of low speed handling and dragging the rear brake is also part of low speed handling. Being afraid to slip the clutch is the reason I dropped my bike the first week of ownership. Yup, just stall in a gravel parking lot and have your foot slide out from under you. Ouch.

 

Gotta be one with the friction zone!