Modern Vespa

Have any of you here owned a 650 Burgman and if you have do you have any experiences or anecdotes ( good as well as bad ) to share ?

Thank you in advance.

Beast. Kinda heavy ( I know, big scooter). But twin cyl engine hauls a$$. Be careful of trans. Read up. Some yrs had issues. Not traditional variator. Has servos, and completely different type of trans. You fix trans if scoot is cheap enough.but lots of work.

From 2010-2012 I owned a lovely 650 Exec.
After researching on their forum, I purchased an extra stopper bolt upon purchasing the B650..
Checked it once a month as I was paranoid. I also mounted a car tire on the rear. And pulled a trailer. I put 30k+ miles on it touring around the eastern USA.
Never had any of the issues/problems of other online posters.
A bit heavy but very smooth. Comfy for me @ 5'10".
Plenty of storage under the seat.
The so called manual gears was nice for freeway cruising as I would put it at the top gear/setting and clip the miles with better mpg than using the automatic. Never needed the power setting even when pulling the trailer but the power setting did give a slight performance boost for sport riding. Maintenance was easy. The folding mirrors were just for show for my usage, but fun to show off when others were inspecting the bike.
Originally not impressed by adjustable windscreens but in mountainous areas I found it useful to lower in hot areas and raise it again in cool areas.
I don't remember the avg mpg now, but I do remember it used less fuel per stop than my brother on his C50.
After replacing the rear with a car tire, all I did was change the oil/filters for the rest of my ownership. Even the brake pads were still in good shape when I sold it. It was just a pleasure and dependable for my 3 years ownership.
She was at home on the freeways and surface roads but not all that agile in the mountain twisties.

I have one and love it for touring or any ride I might take out of town. I'm 6'1" and 250# and I've hit 110mph (indicated) with my big a$$ on it. (I did remove the backrest because I didn't have enough leg room.)

I did a Saddle Sore 1k with it last year and it performed flawlessly. Weather protection is very good and the stock windscreen even keeps most of the wind off my hands in cold weather riding.

I typically get 60-65mpg with it. I've done more than a few miles of off-pavement riding with it and it handles dirt, rock and gravel as well as most other scooters I've had.

It's heavy but carries its weight low so it handles very well.

What else would you like to know?

Thank you both.

What kind of mileage can you expect from a drive belt ?

Also has anything broken at any stage ever ?

I asked my buddy AZScootRN to add his impressions of his 2013 Burgman 650, but I can comment on a few technical details.

His scoot had a transmission issue right off the bat, so we did a rebuild of the eCVT. He's put over 20K on it since, so I'm inclined to say we did it properly.

On the eCVT:

- as Clampett alluded to, the stopper bolt is a wear item that keeps the front pulley properly aligned in the housing. If it gets too worn, it can introduce some lash into the gear train that positions the pulley and will wear out the plastic idler gear sets that lie between the CVT control servo and the pulley. Not fun to replace those.

- it is important to clean the CVT filter. It is located behind the right passenger footboard and can be accessed by removing the cover under said footboard. The CVT pulls air from a louver on the right side of the scoot and has a duct that screws on over the filter. Three screws to remove the duct, two to remove the CVT filter. This should be inspected and cleaned at every other oil change, at minimum. The drive belt is bound together with Kevlar bands and will overheat/stretch if the CVT air filter gets too dirty/obstructed.

- There is a module installed in the front side of the CVT case called the Pulley Position Sensor. It's just a linear rheostat that measures the sheave position. This can wear out and provide infinite resistance to the CVT controller, which stops shifting at that point; neither Power mode or manual gear selection will work either. It's not a cheap part, but much cheaper than an eCVT rebuild.

- There are steel keys in the forward pulley assembly that keep the sheaves aligned. It seems to be a problem where these keys will shear if the belt slips and gets "snatchy" or if the pulley position is off, allowing for slippage. The '03-'15 Burgmans have two keys in the assembly. The '16-'17 models have four keys, making the assembly more durable against driveline shocks. We retrofitted the late-model forward pulley assembly into AZScootRN 's Burgman to improve longevity (the existing one was already damaged anyway). Ask if the eCVT was ever rebuilt and if there is paperwork; the part code on the repair order can help determine which pulley was used.

On the Chassis:

- There are six rubber mounts in the middle of the scooter, coupling the frame to the powertrain. If the scoot feels a bit floppy through corners, these mounts may be on their way out. We replaced them and the scoot rode a lot better.

More info than I could ever ask for. Thanks again.

I'm thinking that early next year The Kymco will be returned to the dealership but I'd like to look out for 650 to replace it.

There are very few down here in the South East of the UK.

I've owned three 650 Burgmans, and my wife has owned one.

I would rate our experience with them as positive.

Bill are you aware of this UK site for big scoots ? Lots of discussions from Adv 350's through Burgmans and T Max's

https://www.maxi-muppets.co.uk/forum/

Why don't you join the forums? I would suggest given your scooter history, that the Burgman 650 is not for you. My gut feeling on it is that it is not a scooter that handles particularly well or is particularly well respected.

Like you, I think we may both be BMW boxer fans. I had an R1200GS and I really liked that. The R1200RT that I had while it was being serviced, felt rather more of a handful! Best bike I think that I owned was a Kawasaki Z1000SX (now a Ninja?) and I did my IAM test on that way back in 2014 with a FiRST.

Scooters that are better: the Honda 750s, the Yamaha TMax, especially the later ones. I toured on one of these from the UK to the south of France in a group of big bikes and it constantly surprised. I know you weren't impressed when you rode mine, but that was a long time ago and you may be surprised. Go for an ABS equipped model. Seriously try a modern TMAX before you buy a Burgman.

https://www.burgmanusa.com/threads/burgman-650-tempting-but-fear-cvt-issues.69281/

Doug agree with your comments on the T Max but Yamaha have positioned it well above even 1000 cc bikes. At £14,400 new its a fair old lump of cash, when Honda are punting out the SP Ohlins equipped 1000cc Hornet at £9990!

I had an 07 Ex. It was my commuter 70 miles a day and many 300 mile days for work. I loved it, but:

At 24K miles the clutch bearing went out. I usually don't but I had the extended warranty otherwise about $3,000.

At 37K miles I started hearing some bearing noise from somewhere and bailed out.

I traded for a new 2013 BMW C650GT. I'm at about 31k miles and so far, maintenance, tires, an airbox leak and rebuild forks.

Both have their plusses and minuses as discussed in many posts.

I wasn't remotely suggesting a new one. Far too expensive! Low mileage 2015 would be my choice!

Yeah I have heard some stories about transmission maladies on the 650's which is why I posed the question to those with knowledge of the product.

Thank you all for the experiences and info.

Doug, I can't be arsed to join any other forums because this one is easily the best and the few members of the maxi-muppets I've met have pretty much put me off.

I'd honestly forgotten about riding your T Max. My biggest fear about owning one of those would be that someone would steal it, even down this way.

I agree about your comments on the BMW R1200RT being a really heavy piece of kit but once it gets rolling the weight seems to disappear.

Joking apart that bike is probably what caused my Hernia

Putting the Burgman 650 on it's center stand can also give you a hernia.

Godammit

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Well, it seemed hard for me. Maybe it was when I took it off the stand, it's been awhile...... Still a heavy scoot, especially compared to the 400.

The Burgman 650's were 600-625 pounds, depending on whether it was the standard model or the Executive model. After the one and only 'upgrade' to the 650 in 2013, they were all the somewhat heavier 'Executive' version.

And yes, they were definitely not lightweights in either model.

Big, heavy, fast, quiet, comfortable.
Centerstand lift isn't too bad.
Eats rear tires (8K miles).

I've had my '05 (non-exec) for 20 years, under 50K miles.
Front shock seals failed after it had sat parked for two years.
Seat release cable failed once, thirteen years ago.
Need to replace the seat's gas strut.

Otherwise? No complaints.

Has anyone actually owned a 400 and a 650 to compare ?