At last, the truth about the Burgman subframe!... and off to Tassie.

You may recall that I had problems with my subframe snapping in Kazakhstan and later on in Europe.

I had it rewelded on my return to Ozzieland but unfortunately over the last couple of weeks the sag in the rear end has returned and it was clear that it had snapped again.

I decided to purchase a used replacement rather than attempt a third weld. The replacement subframe arrived last Friday and it is from a bike manufactured in 2005 - my Burgie was manufactured in 2002.

There are two primary differences between the two frames.

1. The hanger peg for the fuel filler is placed higher on the new frame - I had to cut this off and instead rely on the body plastics to support the fuel filler hose; and

2. More importantly,the new subframe is reinforced at the point where my old subframe snapped. You can see this in the photos below.

Original subframe

Later model reinforced subframe

It seems I may not have been alone in having a frame snap and that the Suzuki engineers have corrected this for current models. This is good news for owners of new Burgies and it shows that Suzuki, unlike some German brands which shall remain nameless has recognised this and incorporated running changes into the model run.

Anyways, the good news for me is that I have hopefully resolved this problem once and for all.

The even better news, however, is that as of this Saturday the Burgman hits the road yet again and sails off to foreign shores (apologies in advance to all Tasmanians for calling you foreigners :-) on the Spirit of Tasmania. Kimie and I will be spending a week touring the island a' la Burgie.