The biggest of the big ones

If you're thinking about purchasing a premium road machine, Suzuki has one suggestion for you: the Burgman 650 Executive. This big scooter offers comfort levels and riding dynamics that are similar to those of equally powerful touring motorcycles. It's a luxury model that comes standard with ABS brakes, a power-adjustable windshield and retractable side mirrors.

A successful cross between a scooter and a touring motorcycle.

55 horsepower
Boasting a 638-cc twin-cylinder design, the 55-hp engine propels the Burgman from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.85 or 7.75 seconds, depending on the transmission mode selected. This mill uses a double overhead camshaft, eight valves and electronic fuel injection to achieve a pretty outstanding efficiency.

The engineers managed to fit the engine horizontally and to position the transmission in front of the frame, which further lowers the bike's centre of gravity. The result is an excellent overall balance. The only weakness of the Burgman 650 Executive lies in its limited range: the 15-litre fuel tank empties fairly quickly, which means you have to stop regularly at the gas station. The average fuel economy is rated at 5.5 L/100 km.

Multimode transmission
The 650 Executive features a multimode transmission. Other than the standard, fully automatic mode, there is also a Power mode as well as an independent manual shift mode. In normal riding conditions, the automatic mode enhances fuel economy. In manual mode, five sensors monitor the position of the drive pulley and the crankshaft as well as the ratios of the pulley. Depending on the selected gear, a small, computer-controlled electric motor moves the axes of the belt to predetermined spots in order to ensure precise and convincing accelerations or quicker stops. The rider only has to push the "+" or "-" switches to shift gears. As for the Power mode, it boosts the engine speed by 1,000 RPMs, thus allowing stealthier sprints during passing maneuvers, for instance. In fact, you can go from 80 to 120 km/h a full second faster. On the road, these three modes offer totally different benefits in terms of riding dynamics.

Controls are well laid out except those of the manual mode.