The Suzuki Burgman is a legend in the maxi scooter market, originally appearing way back in 1998 (even I was young back then). The Burgman has cemented itself as a go-to large scooter all over the world, especially in Maxi-Scooter central, Europe.

Fast forward 24 years and the Burgman is still a popular machine. Currently, in the UK you can only get your hands on the Burgman 400 but it has been freshly revised in 2021 with some upgrades including bodywork and engine to make sure it is Euro 5 compliant. Designed for comfort, rideability, and being economical - does the Burgman still cut it as a great mid-sized maxi-scooter?

Let's find out, shall we...

Where many of the Burgman’s main competitors have drifted to adventure cross-over styled scooters or ultra-modern sporty options, Suzuki have kept the Burgman looking like… well a Burgman. It keeps its distinctive traditional Maxi Scooter looks, with just a few sharp aerodynamic lines and the addition of LED lighting in the mix for this year. It might have been updated, but these updates are still subtle.

The Burgman is definitely not a flamboyant or overly sporty offering from Suzuki, it is a mild mannered, traditional scooter built to do a job, and that is reflected in its sensible and professional styling.

When we get to the colourways there is nothing loud or bold here, with the options between silver, grey, or black, though we do have those blue wheels which are a nice touch. In my opinion, it would have been really good to get a Matte or Satin finish in say a blue or red, to really offer one colourway that stands out from the crowd.

Providing the Suzuki Burgman power is a 400cc single-cylinder, liquid-cooled, DOHC, 4v engine that puts out 28bhp at 6,300rpm and 35.2nm of torque at 4,900rpm. The engine itself is nice and smooth and builds up speed to around 60mph quite respectfully. When you start pushing past that 60mph is when the engine starts to struggle a little bit, the acceleration is noticeably slower, and you can hear the engine struggle that little bit more.

When it comes to top speed it will likely be in the region of 85-90mph, so nothing crazy but it allows for dual carriageway and motorway use. You’ll just have to bear in mind acceleration above 60mph is slow, so you just need to plan accordingly and be prepared to cruise around 60-70mph.

The brakes on the Burgman are decent. With twin 260mm discs at the front with two-piston calipers, and a single 210mm disc at the rear with a further 2-piston caliper, spec wise it is respectable.

When it actually comes to braking on the road the initial pull back on the levers is met with gentle braking, however, crank those brake levers back a bit more and there is this halfway point where you can really start to get some forceful braking. As required the Burgman’s brakes are backed up by 2-channel ABS.

Overall, the Burgman’s brakes did a good job and I had no concerns whatsoever, you’ll just get used to the fact for decent forceful braking you’ll have to apply a decent amount of pressure as the initial bite is a bit lacking.

Now onto suspension, the suspension is a similar story to the brakes, it does a decent job. Though the suspension setup is average for a maxi scooter with 41mm telescopic forks with 110mm of travel at the front, and mono shock to the rear, it does a good job of handling most average roads, and most people will likely be happy with this.

Yes, some moments can get a little bit rougher on the bumpier roads, but for everyday use, it’s not too soft, not too hard - it provides you with a nice comfortable ride you’d expect from a maxi. Matched in with the comfortable seat, the Burgman does give a nice and relaxing everyday ride to it.

OK, so the Burgman might have been revised in 2021, but it isn’t quite packed with the spec of some of its competitors. As standard, you’ll get a 12v charging port, traction control, and immobilizer. The version we were testing had optional extras in the way of heated grips, long windscreen, and knuckle protectors, but these do add an extra sum to the cost of the premium Burgman.

Noticeably absent was tech like a smart key, cruise control, and electric adjustable windscreen which can be spotted on some of its rivals.

The switch gear though basic and pretty standard looking, is good quality, well placed and felt nice and sturdy, no feeling that pressing too hard on the indicator could snap it off.

The dash is split, centre is a small digital dash, which is nice and clear with information neatly positioned. The digital dash displays all the vitals including a clock, fuel gauge, traction control, MPG and odometer as standard.

To the left of the digital dash is the speedometer analogue clock, and to the right is the tachometer analogue clock all looking nice and clean. The button to navigate the display options is just below the dash itself – it would have been good to have a button on the switchgear to change options, but this is no biggie.

While some of the Burgman 400’s competitors have gone with larger digital displays or even full negative LCD displays, the Burgmans though nice and clean is slightly more on the dated side, though I am sure those who favour analogue displays will be happy it remains this way!

On average, most maxi-scooters have around an 800mm seat height, which isn’t an intimidating seat height, however, coupled in with the fact that most maxi-scooter seats are quite wide, it is fair to say on most maxi-scooters my boots are more often in a tiptoe position to get my feet down.

Joyfully though with the Burgman, Suzuki has made things very accessible indeed with a seat height of 755mm meaning even my dinky little legs can get down with both feet nice and flat on the floor, so the Burgman really is a more comfortable and accessible option for shorter riders. Also, it is worth pointing out that there is plenty of leg room so I should imagine most taller riders should get on absolutely fine with the feet up in one of the two positions on the footboard.

I found the seat itself very comfortable, and the armchair-like seating position equally as pleasant, really confirming for me that comfort is really one the Burgman’s strongest qualities. I did a good few miles during my time with the Burgman over the best and worst the Norfolk and Suffolk roads had to offer and I have to say it stayed comfortable throughout.

Under that large comfy seat is 42-litres of storage space, which essentially means you should be able to fit a full-face helmet and with some luck an open face helmet too. So overall not too bad, the gold standard would always be two full face helmets, but this space is still pretty decent so I can’t complain too much, further still as standard storage, the Burgman has not one but two glove boxes!

The glovebox situated to the right is the biggest coming in at 3.5 litres in storage capacity and it also conveniently houses a 12v charging port. The smaller glove box to the left of the leg shield holds a further 2.8 litres of storage space, so again handy to hold a few items, but like most glove boxes on scooters is not lockable so don’t go leaving any valuables in there! As standard storage options go I’d say it is pretty decent on the Burgman 400, and lets face the facts if you want that little bit more, you’d just go for the top box.

Holding 13.5 litres of fuel, the tank capacity on the Burgman 400 is about what you’d expect on a scooter of this size. On our press bike, we were easily hitting 67mpg so I should expect hitting the Suzuki stated 70mpg is actually quite achievable.

On a full fuel tank, you should expect to get around 200 miles in range, which again sits it quite nicely in the mid-sized scooter market.

The Burgman itself weighs in at quite a hefty 218kg.

Moving the Burgman around by hand, it is noticeably heavy, though still easily moved with care. Frustratingly the pillion grab handle and handlebars are rather far apart so manually handling this way and side-stepping to move it backward is a bit of a pain, as you are stretching between the two points, so we ended up moving with both hands on the handlebars.

On the road, even at slow speeds, the Burgman doesn’t feel heavy at all, and even turning in tight spaces is done quite easily. Out on the open road, the Burgman 400 feels quite nimble and agile for such a large machine, allowing for an enjoyable and gentle ride, with no concerns about it feeling too heavy.

At the front is a 15” wheel and to the rear is a 13” wheel, now it is quite easy to tell when riding the Burgman it doesn’t have the biggest wheels in the world, but at the same time felt stable on national speed limit roads – so there weren’t any massive concerns here.

When you compare the Burgman against some of its biggest rivals such as the Honda Forza 350 (£5,799), Honda ADV 350 (£5,799), and Yamaha Xmax 300 (£6,300), you soon realise there are some aspects of the Burgman which are a little dated. The engine though a 400, actually only puts out very similar performance to that of the 300 and 330s from Yamaha and Honda, while the Burgman is quite a bit heavier.

Also on a tech front, we see larger LCD dashes, smart key, and even the likes of electric adjustable windscreens on rivals as standard which the Burgman doesn’t currently, so it would be good to see a further update from Suzuki with some of these additions. 

The Suzuki Burgman has been a popular model ever since it was released, and its success has been down to that tried and tested Burgman formula which ticks so many boxes. It seems Suzuki is content with continuing to offer that same familiar Burgman feeling, which is seemingly at a slightly different audience than some of their Japanese rivals.

The Suzuki Burgman 400 (2022-onwards) in the UK currently costs £6,999 which is a fairly premium price and noticeably more than some of the aforementioned rivals, throw on the heated grips (£325.69), Long windscreen (£200.44) and knuckle protectors (£223.03) and it brings the grand total quite a sizeable £7,747.

There are some aspects of the Burgman I’d love to see updated. A few more ponies from that 400cc engine, a bit of weight saving, maybe the addition of a smart key and an improved digital dash would be good, especially at this price point.

I did though really enjoy my time with the Burgman, it’s more of a leisurely cruiser and tourer than anything sporty – it is to be enjoyed for its comfort and more gentle nature.

Though yes for me there are clearly parts that could do with an upgrade, I can’t deny that the Burgman is still a pretty decent maxi-scooter. It might not excel in any one area, but it is consistently good across the board, and it ticks a lot of boxes – and I think it is this reason why the Burgman has been so popular for so long.

It’s frugal, nimble, comfortable, and stems from a history of dependency and reliability – it is there to be used and relied upon as a faithful maxi-scooter to get you from A to B. It might not be packed with thrills (and does come at a premium cost) but for many, the Burgman will still offer that typical Burgman experience so many people love.

If you like the Burgman 400, feel free to check our Top 10 Maxi Scooters and our 10 of the Best A2 Maxi Scooter articles!

• Smart styling and excellent road presence 
• Very comfortable and makes for a great ride 
• Reliable

• Wish it had a bit more tech
• Very heavy 
• Could be improved with a little more hp

With all the talk of shiny new bikes, it is important to remember to insure them!

If you have your own Suzuki Burgman or another maxi-scooter you need to insure, make sure to get a scooter and moped insurance quotation direct with Lexham!

Engine	400cc, Liquid-cooled, DOHC 4V single
Fuel tank	13.5L
Brakes	Front: 2 x 260mm discs with two-piston calipers (ABS) Rear: 210mm disc, two-piston caliper
Suspension	Front: Non-adjustable telescopic fork Rear: Preload-adjustable monoshock
Seat height	755mm
Weight	218kg
Price	£6,999