Riding the 2022 Suzuki Burgman 400 mid-sized scooter is about as taxing as remembering to breathe

It’s fair to say the Suzuki Burgman 400 is quite well established. There have been Burgman mid-size scooters bobbing around city streets, swanning along bypasses and supplying Sunday thrumming for almost a quarter of a century.

Originally available in AN250 and AN400 form, the range expanded over the years to also include 125, 200 and 650 models – and so it’s what pops into your mind’s eye when someone says, 'giant scooter'. However, since the end of 2020 only the 400 has been available in the UK. For 2023, the Suzuki Burgman 125 was reintroduced to the range, too.

And to ensure its continued existence faced with upstart rivals and ever-tightening emission regulations, this sole Burgman has been upgraded into the most modern model yet. It has an engine that’s more refined and kinder to baby seals, an improved display, and enhanced electronic widgets as well.

What Suzuki haven’t done is tamper with a tried and tested recipe. It’s still to the maxi-scoot template, and if you've ridden a big step-thru' at any point in the last 15 years – especially a Burgman – then this updated 400 will feel very familiar.

Its blend of large physical size with small-wheel agility, feet-forward riding stance and busy automatic drive are exactly how you’d expect. So is its grand practicality.

On the one hand this is a good thing. The Suzuki still delivers the simple operation, usability and friendliness that have endeared it to us since its 1998 introduction, only now with a little bit more tech and fewer nasties spilling out the whispering exhaust.

It’s still very much a Burgman. However, this also means the 400 looks to have extended incisors next to newer rivals. The crisp and modern Yamaha XMAX 300 – Europe’s best-selling big scoot – has larger underseat storage and is a grand cheaper (2022 prices).

And Honda’s new ADV350 features posher suspension, a superior power-to-weight ratio, an adjustable screen, voice-controlled dash and a striking look, all for £1300 less than the Suzuki.

If your mind’s set on a Burgman then fill yer boots – it’s the best 400 yet. But if you’re after the finest giant scooter, this probably isn’t it…

⏱️ Spend #60secondswith @MikeA_Bikes and the 2022 Suzuki Burgman 400 here. pic.twitter.com/m2HJa1IjiP

— Motor Cycle News (@MCNnews) January 10, 2022

Riding the 400 is about as taxing as remembering to breathe. The long, low chassis makes the Burgman’s portly 218kg easy to handle, low-speed balance is good, and with variable transmission there’s no faffy clutch or gears to worry about – just rev and rip. It’s fabulously breezy to pilot and a doddle to master.

Suspension isn’t anything special, mind. Though decent enough swinging around on smooth city streets, the simple set-up delivers an unsophisticated ride, the bike jiggling over mid-corner ripples and crashing over bumps.

Rather than the 'luxurious ride' that Suzuki promise, it’s all a bit… well, a bit scooter. The chassis feels a tad nervous in crosswinds at speed too, despite the extra stability from the new larger 15-inch front wheel.

Brakes are like a pushbike: front lever on the right-hand 'bar, rear on the left. The small discs and two-pot calipers have adequate power, if not a great sense of bite. ABS is updated for this model but is still quite basic – a good squeeze in the wet and the levers pulse slowly, especially the rear.

Suzuki’s 400cc twin-cam four-stroke single has been given a good shuffle for this version. There’s a twin-plug cylinder head, new camshafts and revised timing, different injectors and even a fresh piston.

These alterations were required to squeeze the motor through Euro5 and weren’t intended to boost output. In fact, this revised unit makes a bit less torque and almost two horsepower fewer than its predecessor, peaking at 28.6bhp at 6300rpm.

You’d think every horse counts when dealing with such a low output, but in the 218kg Burgman any difference isn’t obvious. It’s still a polite, whirring engine that shakes at standstill but is smooth on the move. It purrs on motorways.

Given the amount of metal and plastic it’s hauling along the modest single is quite frugal too – Suzuki’s 70.6mpg claim would require very controlled riding, but it’s easy to nudge 60mpg in normal use.

The 400’s finish is good. Paint looks deep, there are LED lights all over, the screen’s effective and I love the blue wheels. Unfortunately, some other elements of the 400 let it down.

The fake carbon pattern on the dash surround and exhaust shield is terribly 1990s, and the textured plastic handlebar cover is a bit Morris Marina.

Reliability should be top-notch. The Burgman’s a proven platform and you can expect the engine to be whirring away happily many, many years and umpteen-thousand miles from now.

But you’ll need to be proactive in stopping (or at least slowing) corrosion. Winter use will see it gnawing away at the running gear and engine covers, and it’s easy for the acres of bodywork to hide the full horror. Bulk-buying anti-corrosion gloop is wise.

Suzuki’s latest Burgman is an excellent £5000 bike. Unfortunately, it costs almost £7000 on the road. This means it doesn’t look the best value when compared to Yamaha’s more modern XMAX 300, which makes as much power but weighs 38kg less, has larger underseat storage, keyless ignition, adjustable bars and screen, and is over £1000 cheaper.

It’s a similar story with Honda’s ADV350. And for real urbanites the confidence-boosting, city-carving Piaggio MP3 Sport 300 leaning three-wheeler is only £350 more expensive than the Suzuki.

However. Buy a Burgman 400 and you do get a three-year warranty, plus the peace of mind from investing in a more than proven device.

We expect a lot for our money these days, and a seven-grand bike should be teasing us with a colour display with switchgear-controlled functions. Or phone connectivity. Or cruise control, self-cancelling indicators or heated grips. But you’ll find none of these peripheral niceties on the Suzuki.

The Burgman does slap big ticks in the scootering boxes, though. There are two fairing gloveboxes: a small one that’ll take a modest burger; and a large one (with 12v socket) that’s ample enough for a generous serving of fish and chips. Lift the seat on its hydraulic strut and you’ll find 42 litres of space, which is enough room for a suckling pig (or two crash helmets, so long as one is an open face).

Though you can’t adjust the screen or controls, the rider’s bum stop is adjustable back and forth. Running boards mean dry feet, and along with an immobiliser the Burgman retains the neat shield that covers the ignition to slow screwdriver-wielding yobs. There’s also a 'chain gate' to let you to slip a security chain around the frame, not just a wheel.

On this version of the 400 the anti-lock brake system is modernised. There’s now traction control too (turned on or off using the starter button). It’s not a whizzbang system – Suzuki say it 'reduces wheel slip taking off from stationary with the throttle fully open and lowers wheel spin on slippery or uneven surfaces'.

With under 30bhp and variable rev 'n' rip transmission you’d be hard pushed to lose grip accelerating out of a corner in the dry, though an eager wrist and 218kg of leaning Suzuki can be a test for the Dunlop ScootSmart rear tyre on cold, wet, winter roads.

There are tweaks to the display too, so that fuel information (range, consumption) is easier to read. There’s also a green light that tells you when you’re riding slowly – sorry, economically – and which makes you think you’ve left the indicators on whenever it pings into your peripheral vision.