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Pics of my Maxi Scooters

Dao

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Location
austin
My scooter fascination started in 2011 after having spent a couple months on vacation touring Vietnam.

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I saw 1st hand all the wild stuff those locals were hauling on theirs, so right there, I knew I had to have one. Once i got back home, I immediately went looking for a scooter. It didn't take long, a couple days really for the first one
to cross my path. So I bought that sucker.

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My family thought I lost my mind when they saw it.
The only one who approved was my
dog, that cute lil' terrier mix I rescued from the shelter right before I left for Asia.

Once I started showing it off, I began to see the stigma...

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Anyhow, over the years, I learned to appreciate the marvels of this 650, especially its fantastic electronic automatic transmission. You HAVE to twist the throttle on this bike for yourself to fully understand. Words just can't describe how marvelous this tranny is.

As much as it is revered as one fantastic touring machine, I used mine almost exclusively around town, and the fests and fairs.

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I did take it from Austin to New Orleans for a couple Mardi Gras Festivities. Under that gigantic seat, I stored several bottles of top shelf booze, mixes, ice, everthing needed to live off the streets for 3-5 days, catching all the uptown and french quarter parades. Parking was effortless as I could cut through barricades, ride and park right next to anywhere along the parade route that I wanted to go during Mardi Gra, including deep inside the quarter. What an eye opener.

One thing I did that, if I were to do it again, would be to retain the passenger back rest and ditch the top box on the 650. The 650's a perfect 2 up toy. THere' more than enough space under the seat to swallow everything needed for say, a hill country weekend getaway.
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Perfect way to take my pooch out to all the cool parks around Austin.

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Meet our dog, miss T-Bone.
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she has a younger brother, Bubba...
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and her younger sister, Nugget...

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She is pottie trained, well mannered and completely docile. So she is
a perfect companionship on many of our roadtrips.

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For christmas, she got her very own goggles!
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which comes handy for some riding time up front.
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So, by the 3rd yr into my Burg 650 ownership, my 1st son started college.
Prior to that, at 16, he rode his old dirt bike, this CRF230F, to/fr school.

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A yr later, we got him this new street bike. CBR250R w/ ABS.
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In his senior year, I brought home a nice Harley Roadster for me to go bar hoppin' on, but he sweet talked me out of it. So I let him have it as his early graduation present.
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WHen he took off for college, he wound up using the Burg 650. The Harley stayed at home.
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Ahhh, all's well that ends well.

Right ?

Wrong.

Couple months later, I started getting scooter withdrawals.
The Harley is a nice ride, but let me tell you....
there's no substitute for a scooter.

The locking trunk, the leg pass through design, the two hand brake levers, the automatic trans, the full frontal wind and rain guard "tupperware"=-they all just make it so effortless to use on a daily basis: easy to ride, easy to park, easy to scoot through gridlock.

So, I caved in....

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and got me another Burgman scooter, this time, I went w/ a 400. Found one online, gave the dealer my CC, and a week later I met her for the 1st time. Ahh, Love at 1st sight.
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I took a peek under the seat, just to remind me as to why I'm
so enamored over scooters vs street bikes.

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My goodness, such a huge trunk space! I can sneak a small youngin' inside there past border security if I wanted to.

So right around its 600 mile initial break-in, I threw on a top box and took it out on the hwy and spent a couple weekends hitting some music fests and fairs.

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Then I started gathering some camping gear that we kept around from the days when our boys were hot and heavy w/ the Boy Scouts, and just piled them into the scooter and took off and explored all the great state and national parks along the way.

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Nice to be on the road again...and such a nice set of gauges and instruments
on this 400. So intuitive, so easy to understand

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The scenery gets better and better the farther east I went....

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I'm sure alot of riders' been here, but this was my 1st time here.
And, on a scooter too.

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I found this place by accident, and to my surprise, I liked it so much I spent the next several days base camped here while I rode the wheels off my scooter exploring all the cool twisties from Robbinsville through Arden, NC.

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I eveh tagged along w/ like-minded maxi scooterists along the way.


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So, after that long trip, I found out that I was reaching for stuff under the seat alot more than I thought. The cargo bag that I strapped down on the seat just made this more of a chore than necessary.

So I looked into side cargo boxes. It took me about a yr to find racks for the 400. Fehling, a german mfr, shipped me a set. Theirs have hardware to snap givi monokey side cases to. So this is what I wound up doing.
Also replaced OEM w/ Givi air flow windshield.

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And replaced smaller 40L w/ a 55L Givi top case..
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As for the Burg 650, my son's funds ran short while attending UT. So I told him to sell the 650 to hold him over. These were the last pics of the bike, used in the CL ad.
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It sold w/in two weeks of putting it up on CL.

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I will say this, though.....
as much as I like the 400, it's a HUGE STEP DOWN from the 650.
The 400's CVT trans is one of its weak spots. After about 2000 miles logged in, the auto clutch was beginning to exhibit chatter and would judder in and out of engagement as it tries to take off from rest. I got it fixed by installing a higher performance clutch, aka a Hit-Clutch. I' ve yet to see that problem resurface again after putting in the Hit clutch. That's a really Good product!

Over the summer, my son got his finances in order, and w/ him back @ UT once again, he sweet talked me out of my 400. Says he needs a scooter to carry his lacrosse sticks to play on the Lacrosse team.
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how can I argue w/ that? I can't think of a single m/c that he can do that with.
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so there you have it...until my son graduates or gives it back to me,
I'm back to riding conventional motorcycles....
not that there's anything wrong with that....
 
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A really enjoyable read. I actually spent some time on you tube watching reviews and on Cycle Trader looking at prices and availability because of this thread. You present the maxi scooter well. The everyday usefulness and two up capabilities appeal to me. Do you work in advertizing?
 
Scooters are seriously under rated. I have liked the ones I have had over the years.
 
Awesome stuff, and your kids aren't afraid to be seen on them either. Sounds like you raised some very mature young adults.
 
Dao, you didn't sell me on scooters, but you did make me realize how much I want a small "adv dog".
 
I got a 400 Burgy for commuting and am very impressed.

Since I'm on the beltway everyday I installed 18gram sliders which really bring the Hi speed revs down and make the ride more enjoyable
 
Scooters are fun

Maybe a Big Ruckus would work for the next one, only no storage...

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Haven't heard much about Hero imports lately. I liked the ideal of a built in power generator.
 
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Scooters are fun

Maybe a Big Ruckus would work for the next one, only no storage...

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I am a bit surprised they stopped making the 250cc variant. I heard it was a really versatile scooter and decent on class 1 and 2 roads with a little suspension tweaking.

RB
 
i had the pleasure of meeting dao and his trials buddys .realy cool bunch of gentlmen and realy good on 2 wheels .good story dao now i want a scooter and trials bike LOL:rider:tony d
 
IT was great meeting you too Tony.
I'll be out there later this afternoon at City Park on the trials bike.
I think everyone will be out there later this afternoon...last mid 70's deg day perfect riding time before the dreaded rain forcast.

One more thing about this 400 scooter....the flat floorboard, and no foot controls, opens up new ways to haul long items...
I recently took my weedeater in to the shop for maintenance ....very convenient w/ the scooter I might add...
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Learned how to haul long sticks from my son...:mrgreen:
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Dao...this is AWESOME!!!!

I started on Chinese 250 and found myself on a 2007 400, then a 2007 650....and now a 2016 650. Wife rides the 2007 650.

Told myself I'd start with a scooter and work up to a motorcycle...well, I think I started at the top with the Burgman. :sun:

TWT Pie runs, those need to get on my calendar this year. Do you do those?

Glenn
Dallas, TX
 
I've done a couple pie runs in the past, but have not done one on the BURG.
Hope to hit up on more pie runs this spring.

And you must be lovin' life w/ a 2016 Burg 650!
I don't know how they did it, but Suzuki hid the weight of that 650
really well. It doesn't fee heavy at all. Effortless to flick it side to side. :clap:
 
Hmmmm, can't say I've ever seen any Burgs at a pie run....

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Nevermind the outcast in the middle, most of the scooters pictured have more cc's than it does. :D
 
I've got to put in my two cents worth. I'm spending most of the years on the 110 mile Long Island called Eleuthera in the Bahamas. My Suzuki 650 Burgman was the perfect choice for a fantastic ride here. I like this bike so much, even though I have a 650 VStrom in Texas which I will sell later this year, I bought a site unseen 650 Burgman that's waiting for me in Atlanta, GA. And Dody, (Ghost 1964) you were right. My man card suffers none when I ride my scooter.
I hope to see you guys later this year. Enjoy yourselves. Hardy
 
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