I bought a new scooter today

For the past few weeks, I have been thinking hard about getting a Burgman 400. Kate vetoed that movement, but yesterday, had a moment of weakness and said I could get it. I also had to get rid of one of our present bikes, I was informed.

We both decided that it could NOT be the FJR, as we just like it too much. It is fast, smooth, comfortable, and sharp-looking. And fast.

Sadly, that left Bud. My Genuine Buddy 125 has been a great little scooter. Completely reliable, and starts right up every time. But since I have really taken a liking to scootering, and since I live in the far north suburbs where the speed limits are 45-55. I rode it like crazy for the past couple weeks, and the miles kept going on. But I would often get back-aches, as the small wheels make for a harsh ride if it is going to be a longer one. No biggie, it's just not tour-worthy. So it's going on the block. I'll really miss it.

This morning, we arranged financing at a local credit union (whose rates were 2.25% lower than Suzuki's, and the differenc adds up to about $500 over the life of the loan. While we were there, we also re-financed our Matrix though them, as they had 6.75% APR as opposed to the 8.3% that we had through Toyota. This will save us about $1200 over the life of the loan. Nice.

After getting a cashier's check, we headed up to Midwest Action Cycle, in Lake Geneva, WI to buy the bike. Retail on Burgman 400s is $5,900. Since this was the last of the '07s, they were offering it for $5,072; dealer cost, they told me.

Long story short, we bought it and put nearly 100 miles on it already. Kate said I was speeding like crazy on the way home. I had forgotten the license plate from Bud, so that would have been hard to explain to the cop, had I gotten caught.

Here are my first impressions of it, compared to the FJR and the Buddy 125:

• It's much more stable than Bud at speed. Due to the long, raked out geometry, it holds a line like nothing I've experienced. For example, if I was riding through a long, sweeping turn on Bud at about 50 mph, then hit a decnet sized bump, the front wheel would start wobbling back and forth. Not so with the Burger.


• The build quality is slightly better than Bud; on par with the FJR. In other words, more thought has been put into the little details. Comparing the controls and compartments in the showroom, the Burgman 400 seems even nicer than the Honda Silverwing.


• I just love this storage. If you ride bikes long enough, storage space becomes your nicotine. The more you have, the better. The more you have, the more you want.


• The Burgman 400 has much more passenger room than both the Buddy 125 and the FJR.


• Much lower speed maneuverability is lost for that smooth stable ride. The Buddy 125 is clearly the better choice for city or more dense suburbs.

Without further ado, I'm just going to post my initial photos. I'm too tired to think any more, so I'll post more about it later.