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My Newest Ride

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 11:20 pm
by flyingzonker
I gave up on the 01 Burgman that I had posted about here a few days ago--too old and too costly, or should I say: too costly for so much age? Anyway, I gave up on that machine--really, the seller was the one who did the giving up when he didn't even deign to reply to my bid (which, to tell the truth, might have been described as "lowball" in the most perjorative sense of that term), but I did not give up searching for a Burgman--and I found one! At a dealership in Elmhurst Il--a small city a few miles west of Chicago. I had to ride 80 miles to get there on my Reflex--and my Reflex did the work powerfully and without strain--but get there I did and found a beautiful 06 Burgman 400 sitting lonely as hell among about a million sportbikes and cruisers in a huge warehouse behind the dealership showroom.

The salesman asked me what I wanted for the Reflex. Like a complete simpleton I told him. I said I wanted 1500--I had paid 2000 about a year and a half ago. He said he could do that--after all why should he not have been able to? The Reflex had a beautiful Givi windscreen and top box. It had a little cosmetic damage but nothing terribly eye-catching.

When he agreed so readily to my figure, I started hedging and said something like, "Well maybe 1500 is not exactly right for this machine." He pressed me: " Well, what do you want for it then?" In the end I left it at 1500--this ask was conditioned by the fact that a few weeks earlier a Honda dealership had offered me 1200 in trade for it on a 2011 Yamaha Majesty that they in their parking lot.

What I should have done is this: I should have said: "No, you tell me what you are willing to give me and I'll tell you what I'm willing to take."Well, maybe not...

So, to abruptly shorten a long story: Here it is:

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 11:22 pm
by flyingzonker
Sorry for the shitty photo. I should have brought it out in the light.

The only thing I regret about the deal is I had to let go of my sweet little Reflex. Only a scooter lover knows how I feel about that loss.

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 12:09 am
by you you
Looks good. What are your initial thoughts on how it rides?

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 12:38 am
by chicaboo
It looks great, maybe just add Batman's tonsils sticker and you will be ready to roll.
Have you got any more pics from different angles?

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 1:53 am
by flyingzonker
you you wrote:Looks good. What are your initial thoughts on how it rides?
It is quiet. Good low end torque. Feels stable at freeway speeds--I have only had it to about 73 ( I don't like septuagenarian speeds on two wheels no matter what I'm riding, but they come in handy sometimes) but I had plenty of throttle left.

This thing is not really a scooter--it is a motorcycle with an automatic transmission.

Suzuki did a nice job with the exterior too. The finish has a sparkling depth to it and all the panels fit together very snugly. My Reflex, much as I loved it (still do, though from a distance), makes the Suzuki look good in the context of sheer appearance.

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 1:59 am
by flyingzonker
chicaboo wrote:It looks great, maybe just add Batman's tonsils sticker and you will be ready to roll.
Have you got any more pics from different angles?
Batman's tonsils? He doesn't have any; the Joker ripped them out long ago.

I am looking around for an appropriate between-the-bars emblem for the Burgman. I will know it when I see it.

Yes, the photo doesn't do the bike justice. I am going to upload some better pics by and by.

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 2:11 am
by flyingzonker
Excuse the masked license plate--it is an identity theft prophylatic-- but now that I think a little...well, it's not as if it makes sense to mask a license code that by law has to be conspicuous each and every day of its working life. Might as well mask on my face, like the Lone Ranger.

That's next.

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 5:26 am
by fish
Did I miss the part where you told us the price and mileage of the Burgman?
Stock screen?
Your height ? Impressions of stock screen at 60mph?
I am 6'3" and have never felt worse turbulance than I got from stock Burgman screen!
Thsnks
Fish

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 1:21 pm
by flyingzonker
fish wrote:Did I miss the part where you told us the price and mileage of the Burgman?
Stock screen?
Your height ? Impressions of stock screen at 60mph?
I am 6'3" and have never felt worse turbulance than I got from stock Burgman screen!
Thsnks
Fish
It is NOT stock screen. They had one other Burgman 400, a later model than mine, with a stock screen--a nasty little piece of slanting plastic that looked like it was designed to give the wind a ramp up which it could rush straight and with main force into the rider's face. The one I bouught has an aftermarket full sized Givi screen that does a wonderful job keeping the wind off my head, body and hands. I am 5'7", but I know the stock screen would let the wind blow my head off, so I can imagine your predicament.

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 12:31 pm
by WhiteNoise
Congrats Fly! Excellent machine. Enjoy it in good health.
Bidding farewell to a bike you're so accustomed to is hard. Emotions Do play a role. I've cried watching them leave my sight. Several of them. But when the Newbie arrives and you start dating, whoa....you'll be engaged b4 you know it.
So enjoy, get familiar and ride on :P safely.

"I like the Burger!"


Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 12:41 pm
by WhiteNoise
Awaiting Brighter pictures...... Purdy Pleeze?

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2016 12:59 pm
by Ishkabibble
flyingzonker wrote:
chicaboo wrote:It looks great, maybe just add Batman's tonsils sticker and you will be ready to roll.
Have you got any more pics from different angles?
Batman's tonsils? He doesn't have any; the Joker ripped them out long ago.

I am looking around for an appropriate between-the-bars emblem for the Burgman. I will know it when I see it.

Yes, the photo doesn't do the bike justice. I am going to upload some better pics by and by.
I can pretty much guarantee that anyone under 40 wouldn't have any idea what this was:
Image1.png
Image1.png (9.86 KiB) Viewed 5027 times
Image1.png
Image1.png (9.86 KiB) Viewed 5027 times
This might be your new emblem.

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 8:51 pm
by flyingzonker
Ishkabibble wrote:
flyingzonker wrote:
chicaboo wrote:It looks great, maybe just add Batman's tonsils sticker and you will be ready to roll.
Have you got any more pics from different angles?
Batman's tonsils? He doesn't have any; the Joker ripped them out long ago.

I am looking around for an appropriate between-the-bars emblem for the Burgman. I will know it when I see it.

Yes, the photo doesn't do the bike justice. I am going to upload some better pics by and by.
I can pretty much guarantee that anyone under 40 wouldn't have any idea what this was:
Image1.png
Image1.png
This might be your new emblem.
I am well over 40 and don't know what it is either . So...what is it?

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2016 10:00 pm
by GatorGreg
Very nice! And the paint matches your cars 8)

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 11:40 am
by Mel46
I had a Burgman just like that one, and I noticed right off that the windshield is a Givi. That bike is a beautiful bike and I had zero problems with mine. I added a Givi tailbox. Note that it has a passenger back rest. It was the only year in which they gave that to you for free. After that you had to buy it as an extra. It is an outstanding extra because passengers love them. In fact that bike is great for two up riding. I did that with my wife a few times before she wanted her own bike, though she was quite comfortable on my bike.

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 12:51 pm
by you you
flyingzonker wrote:
I am well over 40 and don't know what it is either . So...what is it?

Me neither

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 1:30 pm
by WhiteNoise
I'm up n over 40, and no idea. Ish,....do tell....What are we looking at?

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 2:44 pm
by flyingzonker
Mel46 wrote:I had a Burgman just like that one, and I noticed right off that the windshield is a Givi. That bike is a beautiful bike and I had zero problems with mine. I added a Givi tailbox. Note that it has a passenger back rest. It was the only year in which they gave that to you for free. After that you had to buy it as an extra. It is an outstanding extra because passengers love them. In fact that bike is great for two up riding. I did that with my wife a few times before she wanted her own bike, though she was quite comfortable on my bike.
I love the Burgman but have one problem with it--I can't fit a full face helmet in the trunk without leaning hard on the seat to engage the latch. Was that your experience?

I am adding a top box but for now, I want to tell the people who write the ads foir this machine that, no, a full face helmet won't fit in the trunk unless you muscle with the seat.

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 2:53 pm
by flyingzonker
WhiteNoise wrote:Congrats Fly! Excellent machine. Enjoy it in good health.
Bidding farewell to a bike you're so accustomed to is hard. Emotions Do play a role. I've cried watching them leave my sight. Several of them. But when the Newbie arrives and you start dating, whoa....you'll be engaged b4 you know it.
So enjoy, get familiar and ride on :P safely.

"I like the Burger!"

Watch this vid and you know why it is almost impossible to speak a foreign language pronouncing it like a native--unless you are brought up in a family that spent half the year in the home country and half in the country where the second language is spoken. In which case both languages are first languages

Re: My Newest Ride

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 3:14 pm
by Ishkabibble
What you all are looking at is the emblem for "The Science Patrol" otherwise known as "Science Special Search-Party" which is the name of the organization which seeks out hostile monsters and aliens in post-war Japan. One of the members of the Science Patrol, Shin Hayata, was secretly the human host of Ultraman.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraman

Who is "Ultraman" you say?

Why, this is Ultraman...

He's only the greatest science-fiction superhero of all time!