When you are looking to propel a two-wheeler in excess of 600 pounds, be it a scooter or not, it’s no easy task. But with a scooter that becomes even harder, as it must make enough power to get up and going but still be able to run a clutch-less CVT transmission, and not some massively heavy car unit; something relatively light. To achieve this it gets the Suzuki Electronic Continuously Variable Transmission. This design relieves some of the stress through various electronic aids, taking strain off of the internal clutch. As an added bonus, it allows the rider the option of selecting a manual mode to ‘shift’ gears via a toggle switch on the left handlebar.
The Suzuki Electronic Continuously Variable Transmission allowed the rider to manually change gears through a toggle switch.
Creating the Burgman propulsion is a 638cc Parallel Twin. The dual-overhead-cam engine features a bore and stroke measuring 75.5 x 71.4mm. Fuel injection is standard, and while the scooters would not fit on our dyno, when it comes to acceleration numbers the Suzuki gets 0 to 60 mph roughly half a second faster than the 135-pound lighter Yamaha (8.28 sec vs 8.83 sec) and hits a top speed of 115 mph on our gps. There’s no question the Burgman engine is the horsepower king of this group, though added weight equals more inertia, which is much tougher to slow down. Even so, it’s 60 to 0 mph braking distance was a respectable 153 feet, only six longer than the Yamaha and, believe it or not, some eight feet shorter than the Kymco, a machine that weights 104 pounds less.
But while the technological wizardry and sheer numbers posted by the Suzuki are quite impressive, what truly matters is real-world capabilities, and for some of the smaller riders in our testing posse, a 600-plus pound machine, no matter how well built and designed, was less than ideal.
Despite its size the 2011 Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive had some of the best acceleration and braking of the group.
Another area hard to ignore with the Suzuki is it’s price. Though a well-spec’d Yamaha is somewhat hefty already at $8590, the Burgman is barely a shade under 10K at $9899. Add in taxes and you are well over the 10-grand mark, some even approaching 11K. Not to mention that the 37.4 mpg is the least economical of the bunch, and is actually down on what many small-to-moderate sized motorcycles make.
With the dust settled on our massive scooter shootout, the two bikes left standing were the Yamaha and Suzuki, but both for very different reasons. This is why, what it really comes down to in a comparison like this is value: Does the Suzuki provide $1500 more worth of features and amenities than the Yamaha? Associate Editor Dawes seems to think so, as MotoUSA’s man-of-many-talents puts a premium on the cloud-like ride, leisurely prowess and sheer straight-line speed of the Burg-meister.
With its cloud-like ride and strong engine performance, the Suzuki 650 Burgman proved a favorite for one of our testers.
But one out of four isn’t a majority, so while we all love that heavenly freeway ride, Suzuki’s 2011 Burgman 650 Executive ranks only the second-best in our first-ever maxi scooter shootout
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