Majesty vs. Burgman

Yep, I agree. This has forced Suzuki to change the 400 a bit (at least overseas).

http://www.motorbox.com/Moto/Magazine/S ... tml?mmc=49

I'm sure this will make it to North America. I wonder if Yamaha will counter by upgrading the Majesty if and when this new AN 400 makes it stateside and to Canada? This could be the beginning of the 400 cc maxi scooter wars (or maybee I'm just dreaming) :shock: :lol: .

Suzuki does not need to do anything with their 650, because it is already the "top of the line" maxi scoot (are you listening Honda?). But, if another manufacturer comes out with a 650-900 cc scoot to challenge the mighty an 650, things will get interesting. Suzuki sits on top of the sports motorcycle world with their GSXR line. They have won more races and sold more GSXR bikes than any repli racers from Honda, Kawasaki or Yamaha. I wonder if they would take the same, aggresive "we gotta continue to be the best" attitude with their Maxi Scoots. I would love to see the outcome of that. :wink:

No question that spec for spec, the current Majesty wins out pretty much on every point versus the current Burgman 400. As pointed out in an earlier post, that will be more questionable with the next incarnation of the AN400 in 2007 for the U.S.

This fits past behavior by Suzuki with the Burgman 400. They were first off the line with the bigger than 250cc maxiscooter. Sat on their laurals through the introduction of the 500cc Aprilias and the Yamaha T-Max. When the Honda Silver Wing 600 came out in 2002, Suzuki had to do something. They did and followed within a year with an improved 400 and their new Burgman 650. A year after that, Yamaha bested the AN400 with their Majesty 400. Now we're seeing Suzuki coming back with a further improved Burgman 400 just around the corner.

Ultimately, it us maxiscooterists that will win this competition. We're the one's getting better and better choices of big scoots from which to choose.

And yes, based on prototypes, exposed secret testing, rumored design plans, it won't be long before my own Burgman 650 will fall in the middle of the range as 700, 800, even 900cc maxiscooters and automatic motorcycles hit the market. I can hardly wait.

Unfortunately oil changes and maintenance have little to do with changes in valve lash.
The #1 cause is valve seat recession.
In an engine with aluminum cylinder heads the valve seats are steel inserts. Likewise the valves are steel (hopefully stainless, I don't know if the Majesty uses stainless valves or not)
There is NO lubrication between the valves and their seats. In the old days of leaded gasoline tetraethyl lead used to apply a thin deposit of lead to the seats that did lubricate them. The seats, and the valve faces that contact them are gradually eroded by heat and friction - causing smaller valve lash. High quality metalurgy of the seats and valves is what determines how long they last.
Almost all sport bikes use the shim over bucker valve train now - the reason is it is the lightest, allowing the highest redline before valve float.
Since the Majesty is not a superbike I wonder why they didn't use an easy, owner adjustable screw-adjustable rocker arm valve train?
Adjusting shim over buckets is a nightmare - the cams do have to come out. Plus with the Majesty a lot of plastic has to come off adding up to dealer $$$.
It's true, just because a manufacturer specifies a certain time between valve lash check doesn't mean the valves will go out of adjustment before, at, or after that time. With the Majesty let's home it is way after the specified time! Checking the valve lash is something any owner with basic mechanical skill should be able to do - you just need a set of feeler gauges. Changing the shims is a whole 'nother ball game. My advice would be to check the lash yourself - if it is OK check it in another 5,000 miles. If it is out of spec have the dealer change the shims unless you are a REALLY experiences wrencher.

Well, some of your vavle train wear is the cam lobes, surface of the buckets that contacts the cams and valve tips that contact the shims under the buckets - but it's my understanding that this is usually minimal compared to valve face recession. On the other hand - Honda got ahold of some bad steel and producced a bunch of cams for their 750 & 700cc
Interceptor V-fours that literally disintegrated! The cam lobes were wiped flat (worn into a circle) at as little as 10,000 miles on some bikes - they were replaced under a secret warranty - just goes to show Japanese engines are marvels of reliability but are not foolproof.
Everything I have read about oil additives indicates they DON'T work - your best protection is a good oil. Good brand name oils already have a "protection package" of chemicals in them that is complete out of the bottle. Some of these chemicals are "sacrificial" - that means they are used up protecting then engine - for example all engines make acids as a byproduct of combustion and some of these acids get into the oil, mostly by blowby past the piston rings - oil has chemicals to neutralise the acids but once they are used up they are gone - then you engine has no further protection against the corrosive effects of the acids.

If - by top end lubricants you mean GASOLINE additives again I don't think they do much to protect the valve seats. They CAN clean the fuel injectors and combustion chambers (valve faces, combustion chamber of cylinder head and piston faces) - but valve seat recession is caused by hot gasses during the combusion and exhaust phases and by hot valves grinding against the valve seats - at which point your gasoline additives are burnt up.

So to end a really long winded answer - I wouldn't use any oil additives, I do use gasoline additives but only to keep the fuel injectors & combustion chamber clean - I like RedLine but Chevron's Techron has a very good reputation....