Back in the lineup in 2018 after a hiatus the year prior, the Suzuki Burgman 400 emerged as an all-new, third-generation model available for the North American market. A new powerplant delivers over 30 horsepower, and it comes tucked away under a restyled body.

2022 Suzuki Burgman 400 Performance and Capability

The factory powers the Burgman 400 with a water-cooled, 399 cc powerplant. It keeps the 81 mm bore and 77.6 mm stroke of its predecessor but drops the compression from 12.6-to-1 on down to 10.6-to-1. This brings with it a loss in power to the tune of 1.5 ponies. As a result, the Burgman 400 produces 30.5 horsepower at 6,300 rpm with 26.5 pound-feet of torque at 4,800 rpm, but also allows it to conform to Euro emissions standards.

Suzuki claims a total of 65 mpg. The three-gallon fuel tank should give you enough range tofar outlast your ability to stay in the saddle.

Naturally, we aren't going to find a lot of top-shelf fandanglery in the engine control suite, but Suzuki did grace the new engine with its proprietary Idle Speed Control feature that aids with cold starts and stabilizes the engine at low rpm. To further clean up emissions, the Pulsed-secondary AIR-injection system and exhaust catalyst make the 400 good to go in the NA market.

New for 2022, the Burgman 400 has traction control. It is switchable, so you can get jiggy with it when the mood strikes you.

As ever, the engine comes married to the drive unit, all as a stressed member that forms the swingarm. The swing-mount drive contains a twist-and-ride CVT gearbox that provides effortless shifts with a centrifugal clutch to decouple engine power from the rear wheel. Easy peasy, but at the end of the day, just like almost every other scooter in the world in that respect and so nothing special.

Suzuki Burgman 400 Design

The Burgman range serves as Suzuki's modern-metro luxury scooter lineup. Contemporary and mature” are both words that I would use to describe the Burgman line, and to that I would add “edgy” in honor of the revised looks of the 400. The factory dropped the huge headlight array in favor of a smaller pair of recessed projectors with the turn signals located down on the points of the legguards for a much cleaner look than what we get from hangy-downy or sticky-outie type winkers.

Although the bodywork on the Burgman scooter is all-around slimmer than the previous gen, it seems to retain a sufficient leg pocket for most body types. The step-through remains mostly blocked by the tunnel so you can forget about stowing any cargo between your feet.

The updated instrument cluster has an analog speedometer and tachometer dials with LCD display for the rest of the metrics. Aside from the odometer, the display shows dual trip meters, a fuel gauge and consumption indicators, as well as an assortment of pertinent data.

Inside the fairing is the usual pair of glove boxes for your small possibles. The slimmer design comes with a concurrent reduction in under-seat storage capacity that nevertheless gives it 42 liters of storage.

That's more grocery-gettin' capacity than some of its close competitors and most would consider it worth the trade-off since the overall agility has marked improvement as a direct result. A sculpted saddle comes pared down at the tip. The narrowness avoids forcing your thighs apart and interfering with your stance when you put your feet down.

The rise to the pillion level serves as a sort of lumbar support for the pilot, and the P-pad itself comes with a scoop shape. That's sure to cup and support the passenger's fifth point of contact along with a set of J.C. handles and flip-out footpegs to complete the ensemble.

Out back, a color-matched subframe panel contains the recessed taillight. A plate holder/mudguard completes the rear-wheel-fling containment.

Suzuki Burgman 400 Chassis

Suzuki shuns the monocoque framing method on the Burgman 400. It runs on a frame made with large-diameter, thin-wall steel tubing for increased strength and reduced weight. This is another contributing factor in the increased handling performance as the extra stiffness makes the chassis more stable under cornering stresses.

The factory increased the diameter of the front wheel from 14 inches to 15 inches, but the 13-inch rear wheel remains. Almost as if to make up for that tiny rear wheel, Suzuki tossed on a pair of 260 mm front discs to supplement the 210 mm rear disc with ABS protection as part of the standard equipment package.

Suspension components are motorcycle-like with 41 mm stems up front that delivers 4.3 inches of travel. The rear shock comes with the obligatory spring preload adjustment, but that represents the only adjustment in the system. The rest is straight vanilla.

Center-to-center, the contact patches lie 53.1 inches apart with an overall length of 88 inches and a 29.7-inch seat height that should work for nearly all body types. If you're the last one to know that it's raining, you may have problems, but everyone else should be alright.

2022 Suzuki Burgman 400 Price

You can get the 2022 Burgman 400 in any color you like as long as you like Metallic Matte Sword Silver. The 2022 Suzuki Burgman 400 costs $8,499 with a 12-month, unlimited-mileage warranty.

Suzuki Burgman 400 Competitors

While the actual engine size may be off just a tad, the Yamaha XMAX looks almost like a brother from another mother with its aggressive angular entry and tall windshield' It seems that Yamaha didn't get the memo about stickey-outie turn signals, 'cause the XMAX bristles up front with a pair of turn signal standoffs. Not as clean as the Burgman at all.

Yamaha XMAX

The profiles are very similar from there on back, though the XMAX has a noticeably slimmer legshield that makes it seem a lot less substantial up front. Yamaha skimps on the stems with 33 mm tubes up front, and though it boosts the rear disc up to 245 mm, it only runs a single 267 mm front disc against the dual front anchors on the Burgman. Oh well, at least it comes with ABS, so you can use what brakes you have with confidence.

The XMAX is a tad short in the displacement department with only 292 cc, but that's big enough to qualify for the mid-size scooter-commuter market. There's a concurrent reduction of power metrics with the XMAX producing 27.6 ponies at 7,500 rpm and 21 pounds o’ grunt at 5,750 rpm, falling a bit short of the 30.5/26.5 on the Burgman.

Yamaha gets a win at the checkout with a $5,799 sticker. That may look mighty appealing to someone just looking for some inexpensive basic transportation.

He Said

My husband and fellow motorcycle writer, TJ Hinton, says “Looks as smart and businesslike as I would expect from a Burgman, but the slimming efforts also yielded a younger-looking machine. I'm sure that was part of the ongoing effort to appeal to the Millennial crowd and attract another generation of buyers. We'll soon see if it pays off.”

She Said

“I was a bit disappointed when the Burgman 400 dropped out of the lineup for 2017. It was, in my opinion and for my purposes, a better choice than the 200 or the 650. I was hoping it would be back, and my hopes were realized when the 400 reappeared better than ever. Europe saw this update in 2017, but we had to wait until 2018.”

“The engine has better performance and torque is available earlier in the range which makes getting off the line a better experience than with the previous 400. On the highway, though, it is still lacking. Roll-on, when you're up at highway speeds, is a bit weak, so if you spend a lot of time on the highway, the 650 might be more suited to your purposes if you can find a Burgman for sale.”

Further Reading

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