Burgman 400 owner, searching for a Silverwing

Hello everyone, I am new to the Silverwing Forum,
I am a 68+ Retired Electrical Designer for building construction for 20 years, 24 years previous to that a Master Electrican/Project Manager. I've been riding motorcycles since I was a teenager when I got out of High School. I got into a lot of dirt riding and racing. In the sixties, they didn't have all these motocross bikes, all we had was "Scramblers" which were basically street bikes with high exhaust pipes on the side of the bike. We used to do crazy hill ciimbing and Jumping off of cliffs and stupid stuff, but we learned to ride real good that way. We rode in a wilderness area about 50 miles north of Tampa called Croom, it had been mined during the civil war, so it was all full of big holes and big hills, a perfect place to go crazy on a bike!
But my crazy riding days are long over, but all the fun is not forgotten. I got away from riding for a while cause I was getting older and had lot of aches and pains, thought I would not be able to ride again. Then in 2013 a friend turned me onto the maxi scooters, he had a Kymco 500. So I found a good deal on the Red 08' Burgman 400, and it's been great so far. I do mostly one up riding and some two up riding, and the 400 is able to handle it well, considering I am NO lightweight, 315 lbs and my wife is over 200, I'm not allowed to say by how much! So it can carry over 500 lbs load and still cruise around town and on the highway very well. Of course I have the suspension set as tight as it will go. But it can barely handle it. I've been on it now for almost 3 years, and I ride every week with a group of maxi scooters, mostly Silverwings and some B650's and some Can Am's, and I can keep up with them no problem at all. We ride on a lot of curvey back country 2 lane roads, we don't race, but they don't go slow either. Just nice and quick through the sweepers and power out of them. So we all brag about our bikes and we all admire each others bikes. While the B400 is capable enough, I get a hankering for just a little more Ump out of my motor. I like quick starts and powering out of turns, and the Silverwing does a good job of that. The B650 is nice too, but I certainly don't like the complication of that computer controlled CVT, and the fact that it is not readily accessable, due to the fact that you have to drop the engine to get the CVT case off. I Do like the fact that the Silverwing tranny is very much like the B400 tranny and is easily accessable and easy to work on, so I am in full agreement with cliffyk and davidparker about that.
And did I mention that I do all my own work myself? Yes, I always have on everything that I have ever owned, and I am quite good at it. When I was a union electrician, and work was slack, I would go to work as an automotive mechanic to take up the slack. I was basically self taught, I spent a lot of time studying and researching to learn how to do things the right way. Even when I worked at the Engineering firm, it was an MEP Consulting Firm, so I was constantly exposed to Mechanical and  Plumbing, so I picked up a lot of knowledge in those fields also.
So nowadays, I enjoy riding the scooter, and I'm looking for a good deal on a Honda SIlverwing. I've had a few Honda's before, and old 305 from the sixties and I think it was a 79' or 80' Honda CB750, I've had Kawaski's, Yamaha's, but no big iron. So hopefully I can find a Silverwing sometime in the near future, but no hurry.
It was good to see cliffyk on here, I used to post with him on the BurgmanUSA site. I am still going to be there and here also. I guess I will transition more to here when I get my Wing.
Thanks to all of you, and good to be here!
Al
in Sunny Tampa Bay Florida

Hello E.D....Al, Thank you for your nice introduction and welcome to the forum. Good luck locating your Silverwing. While they are pretty much all the same --well there are ABS and non-ABS models--there was also an ECU change in 2008 which improved fuel economy.

It's even rumored that there is a secret dealer-stash of unsold 2013 models available that "they" are trying to unload. Dunno, but maybe they're warehoused in Area 51, or Roswell.

Tim

Hey E.D. welcome. OUr local dealer in Fort Myers is advertising new factory direct 2013 Silverwings for $8000. You can see the listing at http://www.sunsportscycle.com/new_vehicle_detail.asp?veh=332592&pov=4516172

Don't know how good craigslist is in your area. But in WA / OR, March and April we had 5 Silverwings with low mileage to pick from. Prices in $2000 - 4000 range; years 2005 - 2009, mileage 250 (no typo) to 3500. Bought our 2009 for $3500, 2300 miles, not a scratch, Shad box, Givi tall windshield, heated grips. We just changed all fluids. Hard to go wrong in that mileage and price range. Insurance and plates also cheap. There were also several with 10K - 30K miles in the $2000s. Brand new is appealing; however, used prices we have seen show these rigs depreciate fast. In our area with very low miles they seem to sell for about 75% of NADA average retail.
Good luck shopping.

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

Hello E.D....Al, Thank you for your nice introduction and welcome to the forum. Good luck locating your Silverwing. While they are pretty much all the same --well there are ABS and non-ABS models--there was also an ECU change in 2008 which improved fuel economy.

It's even rumored that there is a secret dealer-stash of unsold 2013 models available that "they" are trying to unload. Dunno, but maybe they're warehoused in Area 51, or Roswell.

Tim

Thanks Tim for the Heads up on the 08' ECU gas mileage tip. I will keep that in mind. I will being buying used to stay in my budget of under 3K. We'll see how that goes.
I just noticed something I really like about this forum, I was able to edit the messege my prevoius messege, just so very minor stuff, but nice to be able to do it. I was not able to do it on the Bergmanusa forum, unless it was within a few hours, then the post became permanent.
Thanks
Al

hankster wrote:

Hey E.D. welcome. OUr local dealer in Fort Myers is advertising new factory direct 2013 Silverwings for $8000.

Thanks hankster, but that is way above my budget, i'm looking for used, less than $3K.
Thanks,
Al

johnandcandace wrote:

Don't know how good craigslist is in your area. But in WA / OR, March and April we had 5 Silverwings with low mileage to pick from. Prices in $2000 - 4000 range; years 2005 - 2009, mileage 250 (no typo) to 3500. Bought our 2009 for $3500, 2300 miles, not a scratch, Shad box, Givi tall windshield, heated grips. We just changed all fluids. Hard to go wrong in that mileage and price range. Insurance and plates also cheap. There were also several with 10K - 30K miles in the $2000s. Brand new is appealing; however, used prices we have seen show these rigs depreciate fast. In our area with very low miles they seem to sell for about 75% of NADA average retail.
Good luck shopping.

Thanks johnandcandace, I use craigslist all the time, I check it almost everyday. My budget is less than $3K. There was a 08' Wing in there this week for $2000, and I've called many times, but all I get is voicemail, I leave messeges and get no reply.
Thanks,
Al

I would recommend looking for a Swing with ABS. Totally worth it.

hankster wrote:

Hey E.D. welcome. OUr local dealer in Fort Myers is advertising new factory direct 2013 Silverwings for $8000.

Yikes! That's a lot! My NOS 2013 SW was $5995, plus fees. I've seen them as low as $5995 including all fees but tax and tags, at another dealer.

E.D. wrote:

..I am NO lightweight, 315 lbs and my wife is over 200

You might want to look at these threads:

https://www.silverwing600.com/t4640-weight-capacity

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/silverwing-max-rider-weight-load.888265/

And, welcome!

E.D. wrote:

Thanks johnandcandace, I use craigslist all the time, I check it almost everyday. My budget is less than $3K. There was a 08' Wing in there this week for $2000, and I've called many times, but all I get is voicemail, I leave messeges and get no reply.
Thanks,
Al

That $2000 Silver Wing sounds very unrealistic. Maybe that's why there is no reply.

Good luck with your search and welcome to the forum. Thanks for the nice intro.

Bash On! wrote:

E.D. wrote:

..I am NO lightweight, 315 lbs and my wife is over 200

You might want to look at these threads:

XXXX

And, welcome!

As I had said, the B400 is managing to carry us around 2 up very well so far. It is carrying 530 lbs of load around town and on the freeway with NO PROBLEMS with handling, braking, acceleration and high speeds all day long. I keep the tire pressures to the max, 26 on front, 36 on rear, and rear suspension set as tight as it will go (setting #7). Can anyone here comment on how well that does in comparison with the SilverWing? Which do you think has the best load capacity? One thing strange that I have noticed is that the Silverwing has the SAME SIZE TIRES that my B400 has. I would have thought that the SW being a bigger 600cc scooter would have had bigger tires like the B650. The SW and my B400 have 13" on the rear and 14" on the front. The B650 and the Kymco 500 have 14" on rear and 15" on the front. Any Comments, or links to more info?

Hi Yo wrote:

E.D. wrote:

Thanks johnandcandace, I use craigslist all the time, I check it almost everyday. My budget is less than $3K. There was a 08' Wing in there this week for $2000, and I've called many times, but all I get is voicemail, I leave messeges and get no reply.
Thanks,
Al

   That $2000 Silver Wing sounds very unrealistic. Maybe that's why there is no reply.

   Good luck with your search and welcome to the forum. Thanks for the nice intro.

Yes, It does sound too good to be true. It's either a scam or it sold right away. But Thanks, I'm not worried about it, I will just take my time and keep looking
I still have questions about the SilverWing:
1. I will need to put a Top Box on the back of it, like I have a Bestem 929 on the back of my B400. What T-Box and mounting kit are good for the SW?
2. I will need a good windscreen, Who makes the best windscreen for the SW? I have a Givi on my B400 that does very good. The SW riders that I ride with have Clearview. Which is better the Givi or the Clearview?
3. And how does the load carrying capacity compare between the SW and the B400? I have 530 lbs of load presently.
Thanks,
Al in Sunny Tampa Bay Fl

You know all the questions you're asking about screens and top boxes have already been answered many times before. As for the load carrying capacity that's probably been asked and answered on here before too.

"As I had said, the B400 is managing to carry us around 2 up very well so far. It is carrying 530 lbs of load around town and on the freeway with NO PROBLEMS with handling, braking, acceleration and high speeds all day long."

Glad it's working for you, but the laws of physics would indicate that the bike's performance in those areas is not as good as it would be if the bike were operated within manufacturer's specs.  There is undoubtedly some safety margin built into the specs but likely not 530 v. 366 pounds' (nearly 150%) worth.  Don't have the specs in front of me, but that's before calculating the weight of baggage, and possibly fluids.  Everybody has a different level of risk aversion, but I think safety margins are there for a [good] purpose.  If it were me, I'd be looking for a bike that would be a safer match.

http://www.soundrider.com/archive/safety-skills/motorcycle-gross-vehicle-weight.aspx

If I'm not mistaken the Silver Wing has about 360lb carrying capacity. The Burgman 400 has about 420lb carrying capacity and the Majesty has 425lb. I haven't figured it up but my guess is that the limiting factor of the weight is mainly the rear tire plus the Swing weighs a lot more.

Bash On! wrote:

hankster wrote:

Hey E.D. welcome. OUr local dealer in Fort Myers is advertising new factory direct 2013 Silverwings for $8000.

Yikes!  That's a lot!  My NOS 2013 SW was $5995, plus fees.  I've seen them as low as $5995 including all fees but tax and tags, at another dealer.

That is the price set from the factory. The dealer has none in stock and you have to order it direct from Honda through the dealer. I do suppose old stock sitting on a dealer's floor would come cheaper as they can hardly give them away now and they want to cut their loses.

Hmm.  Sounds like a sales gimmick.  Dealer probably just doesn't want to be bothered ordering one unless they get 8 grand for it.  They say its a factory direct price (i.e., "factory dictated") to avoid haggling.

From the BBB:
"The terms "factory to you," "factory direct," "wholesaler," "wholesale prices" and others of similar import have been the subject of great abuse in advertising. They imply a significant saving from the actual price at which identical merchandise is currently being offered by representative principal retailers in the market area, or where identical merchandise is not being offered, from comparable values in the market area."

There would be no "significant saving" here as it would be $2000 more than dealers have been charging in at least two market areas I've seen.

If the Fort Meyers dealer you're referring to is the one I was able to Google, my suspicions are confirmed.  The page with the "Factory Pricing" bikes has a header "NO HAGGLE ZONE."  Every model scooter Honda has available currently has a price with "NO HAGGLE FACTORY PRICING " in the description. Don't fall for that scheme, shop around.

Best,
Bash (worked through law school as a consumer protection investigator)

Meldrew wrote:

You know all the questions you're asking about screens and top boxes have already been answered many times before. As for the load carrying capacity that's probably been asked and answered on here before too.

Yes, I am sure you are quite right, but since I am new here, I have to learn my way around the Forum. I was hoping someone would post a few links to get me going in the right direction around here. I will be poking around from time to time to find my way around. This forum layout is a little different than what I was used to, but I will get it soon.
And since this is just an introduction thread, I have already made my introduction, so no use to run on in this thread.
Thanks,
Al in Sunny Tampa Bay Fl

Interesting subject,mate of mine is buying a 400 Burgman and I pick up my Silverwing a 2002 model today.We have both been riding Honda engined Piaggio Hexagon 250s last year and want a bit more room and power.Looks like I'll be fitting a Givi screen as the stock one is opaque.