Suzuki Burgman Street Long Term Review 3: Wrap Up

What we like

Storage. The underseat storage is huge. It’s good enough to hold my riding jacket and gloves, or a pair of sneakers along with my laptop and travel coffee mug. It can’t hold a full-face helmet, though, in case you were wondering. 

There’s some more storage as part of the front apron, which can hold the wallet and the cellphone on the left. And then there’s one on the right that can hold a litre bottle. The floorboard is usable too, but it’s notexactly well shaped to hold large bags. 

Engine. It’s refined. It’s torquey. And, it’s efficient. One can barely hear it or feel it on the road when ridden under 60kmph. But, it’s at its best when cruising between 70-80kmph. In fact, even when ridden with the throttle to the stops, it doesn’t feel strained or sound coarse; it just keeps piling on the digits till you see three figures on the clock. The fuelling is spot on; the throttle response is light and precise; and the CVT doesn’t shudder or show any signs of lag, no matter how hard you twist the throttle.

Comfort. I like the seating ergos, and I like seat. The latter is large, cushy, and not too high off the ground. Ditto for the pillion. I spent over an hour and half on that seat everyday commuting from work to home, but not once did I crib about it after stepping inside the house. I like the low speed ride, the lack of vibrations, and the light twist of the throttle. 

Quality. It’s easily one of the best in the class. We haven’t heard a single squeak or rattle from the plastics. None of the buttons, hooks or levers have popped out of place. And, apart from having to adjust the rear brake a bit, we haven’t had to pay any attention to the scooter’s running whatsoever.

Fuel Efficiency. Again, it’s right up there with the best in class. When ridden with a gentle right wrist, the Burgman returned over 50kmpl. Otherwise, when ridden normally – you know when keeping up with fast moving traffic, overtaking slow moving one with an enthusiastic twist of the wrist, or even when cruising at 80kmph when the roads permitted – the Suzuki returned around 45kmpl. The worst we got, was 39kmpl.

What we didn’t like

Rear end styling. Okay, let me clarify that – the styling is fine; it’s just that the 10-inch rear wheel looks disproportionally small. Sure, it helps liberates more underseat storage, but it scores poorly in the aspect of looks.

Brakes. As with the rear end styling, we are nitpicking here. The feel and progression from the brakes is good, both front and back. And, the combined or linked braking system works well too – even on gravel. But, the brake bite, especially for the front disc setup, could be better. 

Finally – and we are clearly finding it hard to find faults here – the left apron storage could have been lockable. I use it on and off to throw in my wallet and cellphone while commuting to work. But, if I do make a coffee stop in between, I almost always have to walk back from the store to fetch them. 

To buy or not to buy

The Suzuki Burgman Street is a definite buy. As we mentioned earlier, it is refined, efficient, comfortable, usable, stylish, and practical. And particularly in my case, both my sons find the seat low, accessible and long when the three of us ride together. And they love the Suzuki for it.

 Bike Stats

Odometer: 2302km

Kilometres this month: 1394km

Fuel Efficiency: 47.7kmpl

Photography by Kaustubh Gandhi