Fully Fledged Member

Hello folks,
I've been on this forum for a while now as I've always considered getting a Silverwing. I had arranged to go to Manchester (England) on Friday to arrange the purchase of a new one, along with my riding mate who was thinking about getting a VFR1200. Looked at Hunts website and saw this 2008 model:-
A VERY SPECIAL FJS600 SILVERWING ABS! - JUST 1491 MILES FROM NEW and had a fortune spent on it including Ohlins shocks (£600), Arrow Dark exhaust can, J. Costa variator, Power Commander (with rolling road set up), Hyper Pro fork springs, K&N air filter, heated grips, Alarm system, Givi screen, DataTool alarm system and Honda colour coded top box. Looks, sounds and rides superb.

So I spoke to John, the owner of Hunts, on the phone and we did the deal, paid a deposit and will pay the balance when we go down on Friday (my mate still wants a VFR), plus the fact I haven't told him yet I've bought this one. John did say that someone had spoken to him about it yesterday and would have to consult his wife before buying it, luckily I don't have that incumberance. Tip for you married guys - Buy it and park it in the garage so the 'little lady' will see it when she goes to the freezer. Then say it has always been there!

Only downside to this scoot is that the colour is silver. No disrespect to owners of silver Silverwings but it wouldn't be my first choice - the blue is a tremendous colour.
It fact I may even get the scoot wrapped.

Website link http://www.huntsmotorcycles.co.uk/UsedBikes.htm

Anyway we have our transport for a run to France, Andorra and Spain, just hope I can keep up with a VFR1200 - apparently they go like s**t off a shovel!

Just got to tell the Burgman that it is going to have to share the garage with another scooter

VFR1200s look good in the rear view mirror of Silverwings.
I think you will see it there many times.

Dan

That Silverwing will go plenty fast to put you in jail, so I wouldn't worry too much about staying with the VFR.

Really looking forward to giving it a good run somewhere.

Whilst I'm happy with the performance and handling of the Burgman I didn't feel totally comfortable at motorway speeds (70 - 75 mph as indicated by sat nav). I think the Silverwing will have the edge on the Burgman when cruising down the middle lane.

Cheers,

I can deffo vouch for the way a SWing handles on the motorway, I had to pick my Silver (the ONLY colour a SWing should be lol) SWing from Essex and rode it back to Exeter - via the M25-M4-M5.

Surprising -maybe no so - the M25 was choc-a-block, mainly static in places which gave me loads of time early on filtering, learning the weight and balance of the bike. As I left that behind on the M4/M5 I was able to blitz the bike along at some very impressive speeds, including a long burst at 90+ - the only thing that caught me were 3 BMW cars and a very badly driven Nissan GTR!!!! What did sort of catch me, was the speed at which the fuel disappeared at that speed but thats about it.

I haven't ridden a Burgervan, but the SWing felt very planted on the road to me, and only started to feel out of shape at speeds over a ton - an area that I doubt I shall ever vist again on a SWing...... BTW at the time, I discovered later, I actually only had oil in one fork leg as the other had blow the seal and lost all the oil. Apparently the previous owner didn't seem to think it was to much to worry about!

Since then I've fitted new seals, uprated the fork springs (even better road holding now), a back rest and arm rests for my Pillion Sally. Next inline will be a Stainless Steel aux light bar and a Givi Air Screen. I don't think I need much more as the bike is pretty much perfect other than that .

Actually went out for the first proper ride this afternoon. About fifty miles in total, a mixture of 'A' roads and motorway. If the GPS tracker has worked then later I'll post a picture of the route (I don't think the forum allows .kml files to be uploaded).
Two things I noticed, one was the back pressure on the motorway (75 mph - TomTom) and the other was the cold draught on the lower leg ('s' missing on purpose there!). The footboard is slightly narrower than the Burgman's and it doesn't offer the same protection. I'll be ordering some of those 'wings' to widen the fairing a bit. I have already ordered a Givi Airflow so until I fit that I won't be able to see how much of a problem the bp is going to be.
Basically, very happy with the Silverwing's general performance and handling. Won't be selling the Burgman though as I like them both.

Cheers,

Congrats on the new SWing and hope you enjoy it. I had the Reflex (250cc), Majesty (400cc), and now the SWing for almost 4 years now..and it seems that their was a difference in how all felt on the interstate. The Majesty was much nicer than the Reflex in terms of stability and power, and the SWing is more stable than the Majesty. I do think that the minimum for interstate travel in comfort is the Majesty (or Burgman 400). The Majesty was a huge improvement over the Reflex for staying at highway speeds.

Keep us informed on the SWing and how you like it. I have 33,000 miles on mine and still really enjoy it.

Hello JeffR,

I have promised a write up to compare the two scoots when I have had chance to evaluate them both, same roads, same conditions etc on the BurgmanUSA forum. I would think it will be of similar interest to users on this forum.
Initial thoughts are pretty obvious, the Silverwing has a lot more power (as my riding mate found out when we were 'making progress' through some traffic. He was a bit surprised to find me on his rear tyre after passing some cars).

Cheers,