www.BurgmanUSA.com

by **Cheekygrin73** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 18:00 18

1) Frankly pathetic clutch system, which requires at least 4000 revs to even start to move smoothly.

My Honda SH300i engaged more quickly, and with less juddering if done slowly, unlike the Burgervan.

Resolution - fit a better clutch - there is NO good reason why such a wasteful amount of fuel is used to slowly engage the clutch.

2) The screen. The original screen on this, looks to be made of the same sort of material as contact lenses. The soft ones.

They are so pathetically made, that when you put on polarised sunglasses (yes, do check this out) in the curves, there is strong bi-refringent shadowing indicating that even stood still, the frankly unacceptable material is suffering under its own weight / poorly fabricated tolerances.

3) The fuel cap.

Seriously? Poorly laid out.

4) The plasticky side pockets on the dash. About as much use as a piece of string to a man with diarrhoea. And I do not think they are robust enough, they appear to be made from the same chinese low grade plastic that the nasty plastic trays that come in cheap chocolate boxes.

5) The plastic on the bars.

What on Earth for? Really, I do not understand.

6) The weird hump in the main luggage compartment, and the frankly cheap light as well.

7) The bulbs, all being cheapo 20th Century incandescent ones (SO wasteful and last millenia), and therefore as pointless as an ashtray on a motorbike, in any sort of bright or sunny conditions.

Solutions? Seems like a number of minor bodges to fix the penny pinching cheap ar5e designers in Suzuki, et voila, spending a few pennies here and there and .... ta da - the perfect scooter!

by **Mike337** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 21:36 21

I know this is an old post, but why on earth would you buy it then?

by **v8eyedoc** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 8:48 08

Mike337 wrote:I know this is an old post, but why on earth would you buy it then?

Perhaps the OP never bothered to even look at the 400 closely enought to discover all the things he is complaining about - BEFORE - he signed on the dotted line.!!!!! :lol:

by **Daboo** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 10:13 10

I smell a troll...

Chris

by **dsfraser** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 13:16 13

Better sell it right away then, eh?

Scott Fraser
Calgary

by **blackcat54** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 23:48 23

Is there any merit to the accusations made regarding the clutch?

by **Daboo** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 0:49 00

Not really. He's right in one respect...you need to rev the engine to 4000 rpms to get the clutch to engage properly. It'll start engaging at 2800 rpms and slowly engage at that rpm, but will overheat if you let it slip a lot. (It uses centrifugal force to lock the clutch pads to the clutch bell. No rpms, no centrifugal force.)

But what do you expect with a 400cc single cylinder engine? :roll:

This isn't a car engine strapped to two wheels. It's made to engage at that rpm and does so smoothly. Engage it at a lower rpm all the time, and you'll be prone to clutch squealing.

I have 70,000+ miles on two 400s. If something happened to this one, I'd be looking for another.

I think the OP was just having a bad day.

Chris

by **Deedah** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 9:28 09

I don't know what he is talking about with the comments on the cheap plastic and luggage comments. Yes there was some truth to the clutch comments, but I think the OP was probably a loyal Honda person who test drove a Burgman looking for reasons to dog it.

Earlier this year I was on a ride down in Townsend, TN (Deals Gap Area with others from this board), It was a wonderful ride and I loved it. However there was one section back in a nature-preserve type area in a park that took us about an hour+ to get through at 5MPH. I burnt clutch just about the entire way, I had no other option because it was bumper to bumper.

I still have no squeeling and the clutch is right at 20K miles.

by **blackcat54** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 13:23 13

About the 4000 rpm clutch engagement .

Can it be translated into descriptive language that will give one a sense of how it affects drive-ability?

1) Entrance ramp to highway 0-60 mph.

2) In town 0-45 from a stoplight.

3) Highway 45-65 mph.

by **Daboo** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 19:38 19

blackcat54 wrote:About the 4000 rpm clutch engagement .

Can it be translated into descriptive language that will give one a sense of how it affects drive-ability?
1) Entrance ramp to highway 0-60 mph.
2) In town 0-45 from a stoplight.
3) Highway 45-65 mph.

To try answering your questions...
1) I've never stopped on a freeway on-ramp to test the 0-60 mph speed...but I've never had a problem merging either.
2) You won't beat any motorcycle in a drag race, if that's what you're concerned about. However, you won't find a problem out pacing the normal speed of anyone leaving a stop light.
3) Never had a problem. What's your expectation though?

You'll find some slippage of the clutch from 0-15 mph. That's because of the design of all centrifugal clutches. Think of it this way... Your bike weighs 470 lbs without fuel. Add an average 200 lbs of rider and gear. Add another 10-15 lbs of stuff you're carrying around, like a laptop backpack, etc. Now you're up to close to 700 lbs. The initial slippage is while the clutch pads are trying to grab onto the clutch bell, just as if you had a manual transmission and were slipping the clutch to get a smooth takeoff from a stop. If it is that much of a concern to you, buy a Dr. Pulley HiT clutch. It has a unique design that locks the clutch pads into place with a cam. It's also very pricey.

Most of us never worry about acceleration times. I find that even when I'm accelerating at a "easy" pace, I'm still leaving everyone behind at the stop light. It's not my intention...just what happens. And once you're rolling, there is no clutch slippage, so you twist the throttle and the bike responds. Will it put you off the bike? No. It might dump a passenger if they weren't holding on though. The CVT also varies the "gearing" so smoothly that unless you are looking at the tach, you'd have no idea what rpm you were doing. It'll also surprise you because with no jerk from a gear change, you find yourself going much faster than you expected. Enough faster, that you can easily get to the point of having your bike towed away from a traffic stop.

As one person so eloquently put it, "It'll get up to killing speed. What you do with it once you're there is up to you."

Chris

by **blackcat54** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 12:38 12

My expectation (wish) is for a modest & smooth performance envelope.

I'm not a drag racer or high speed thrill seeker, just looking for smooth efficient power to get me going with no fuss so I can enjoy the great outdoors.

It sounds like this scoot will satisfy with ease!

by **Bluebottle** » Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:45 09

Its a single cylinder engine dragging a large bike and it's torque and power curves are optimised for it's automatic transmission without the need for gears (ie wide bands that pull well at low road speed and still pull well between 50-70mph).
The design philosophy leaves you with a high revving engine that uses a fair chunk of revs at take off - don't wory about it, it's the nature of the beast, it makes sense and it works perfectly well.

by **v8eyedoc** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 20:01 20

Bluebottle wrote:Its a single cylinder engine dragging a large bike and it's torque and power curves are optimised for it's automatic transmission without the need for gears (ie wide bands that pull well at low road speed and still pull well between 50-70mph).
The design philosophy leaves you with a high revving engine that uses a fair chunk of revs at take off - don't wory about it, it's the nature of the beast, it makes sense and it works perfectly well.

AMEN & AMEN.............. :thumbup: