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Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive review - uber long

21K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  U4TSAF2 
#1 ·
(photo courtesy BurgmanUSA forum)

The idea of owning a bike with built-in storage, easy-going ergonomics, and an automatic transmission (read scooter) has become entirely appealing to me as of late. After my recent switch from a very capable and rider-friendly Suzuki V Strom 650 to an adrenaline-releasing Yamaha FZ 1 I’ve been reminded of what’s more important to me about what I ride and the way in which I ride.

I’m the first to admit that I make bike-buying decisions on an almost exclusively emotional level. I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve spent dreaming about getting a Suzuki DRZ 400 supermotard so I can learn how to slide the back tire into corners, and snap the front tire into wheelies on demand. I’ve suffered the desire to acquire the latest and greatest hard-edged sport bikes so I can ride at the front of the pack on group rides. Then there are the nights where I’ve contemplated how to turn my SV650 into a miniature Goldwing by trying to figure out where to mount highway pegs, a backrest, extra milk crates, and from where I could order a barn door-of-a-windscreen, so that I can ride from here to wherever on a moment’s whim.

Among the thirteen or so bikes that have come and gone through my life there are three that I think most fondly of; my Suzuki SV650 because of its ease-of-use and torque motor, my Suzuki V-Strom 650 because it had a dirt bike-like riding position paired with a Russell Day Long seat which may have made the bike the most comfortable of all my thirteen, and my dearly-missed Suzuki GSX-1100G. I miss the “G” the most because it had the best wind protection I’ve ever experienced – more so than even the Goldwing 1800 I recently rode. We’re talking 140 mph with your face shield in the full-up position while you can hear yourself whistling a tune. That wonderful pocket of still air behind the fairing did so much to eliminate eighty percent of the fatigue I experience during a ride. The G had pretty good ergo’s too, despite a 30-minute seat and my left shoulder occasionally falling asleep.

Now that I write these words I find it strange that of the sport bikes, dirt bikes, cruisers, tourers and standards that I’ve owned, it’s those three that I miss the most. (Well, I don’t really miss the SV650 because I still own it – though she’s not as smooth as clean as she once was.) I think the three years I spent commuting to college on the SV650 has played a large part in what I find important in my motorcycles. I rode that SV650 rain or shine, hot or cold. I had to carry a heavy backpack laden with textbooks and binders. Then I had to leave my bulky armored jacket, pants and boots with the bike while in class. And I had to ride in horrendous Seattle-area Interstate 5 rush hour traffic.

So from riding on those 32 degree mornings having good wind protection became real important. I did install a headlight mounted windscreen that did a real good job of keeping the cold and strain off my chest, but it made wearing ear plugs mandatory from all the turbulent air aimed at the base of my helmet. And having to carry and store everything with the bike caused me to strap a milk crate onto the back seat. I’ve since come to realize how excellent a piece of luggage carrier a milk crate can be, with it having some benefits that even a locking trunk like a Givi doesn’t have. But then again, not being able to lock my gear up could have been a problem if anyone ever felt to take what I had in there. Unfortunately there was no modification to really help my clutch hand in stop-and-go traffic.

So for me today what I want in a bike is comfort, convenience and ease-of-use. I want to strafe a twisty road as much as most, but since I don’t live right next to a mountain or canyon I’ve got to get to those twisties first.

I would classify myself as a sport rider. I don’t commute to work because my employer supplies a take-home vehicle. I don’t bar hop and I’m not keen on riding speed limit on a beautiful, traffic-free rural road. And I just don’t have the cojones to venture off on fire roads and trails all by my onesies. But I do love apex-strafing a series of turns while riding at a good rhythm. And the more apexes the better.

So why not a sport bike for me then? We’ll I’ve owned a Suzuki GSXR 1100, a Honda CBR 600 F3 and a Honda RC-51. But those bikes have such a high performance envelope that I can’t really begin to push their limits on the street. And when I do try to push them I am running at a pace so fast that I’d really hate to suffer the consequences of a mistake. And I have seen a few consequences of mistakes made by other riders, with one being particularly gruesome; so gruesome that it has caused me and another rider to re-evaluate just how hard we want to ride on the street. And with small exception for the CBR 600 F3, the sport bikes I’ve come to know are really hard on the body. I could use the word “hate” liberally in describing some aspects of the ergonomics of these bikes.

But in my seven years of SV650 ownership, and much less time spent on a V-Strom 650, Yamaha FZ-1 and Suzuki GSX-1100G, I’ve learned that sport riding isn’t so much what you ride but how you ride. I wasn’t able to line up and tackle a series of turns as quickly on my V-Strom 650 as I did my CBR 600 F3, but I was pretty dang close. So close, in fact, that I had just as much fun. Perhaps I had even more fun because I wasn’t tired and cranky from an uncomfortable sixty minute freeway drone prior-to.

Some recent experience that has even swayed me even more to the side of “it is not what you ride but how you ride” was the recent opportunity to ride a Honda Goldwing 1800 and a BMW K1200 LT on a few good twisty roads. I wasn’t very impressed with the BMW, but the Goldwing flat-out rips – and it does so in cuddling comfort. On the Goldwing my speed through the corners was only limited by my unfounded fear of a lack of cornering clearance and an over-caution of stopping distance. But the Goldwing allowed me to make wonderfully smooth, arcing lines and shot me out of corner exits like it had a pulled-taut bungee cord strapped to the next corner entry. All that while listening to smooth jazz on the radio with my face shield up. Man, was I grinning!

So somewhere in all the alphabet jumble above is how I’ve come to take an interest in the Suzuki Burgman 650. The Burgman, with superior wind protection for the leg and torso to anything else I’ve owned shy of the GSX-1100G, also has a 56 liter lockable trunk underneath the easy-to-open seat; and don’t forget the three large glove boxes at the front of the bike. Then there’s the step-through design which means I no longer have to practice karate high-kicks to mount the bike. Floorboards mean I have many options to situate my feet, from almost directly under me to being stretched out like my legs were resting on an ottoman (no highway pegs needed).

And very appealing to me – no clutch and shifting required. I don’t know about you, but after about the tenth minute of stop and go traffic I wish I could just … wish my clutch away. Part of what draws me to big-displacement bikes like the FZ-1 and GSX-1100G is that there’s enough torque throughout the rev range that shifting in some scenarios becomes optional. Shifting on the Burgman 650 is always optional - you can choose to, at the push of one button, push another up/down button to select what gear you want to be in; or just leave the bike in its automatic mode.

Before I beat my wife to into submission by pining for a Burgman 650 of my own, I had to ride one to know if it would be as nice as I think it would be (from having sat on them so often at the dealerships). Enter Dan Cote, a member of the Burgman USA forum and all-around great guy. He replied to my begging on the forum by allowing me to ride his 2006 Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive and showing me some wonderful roads around the Puget Sound that I never knew existed.

I took our Yamaha FZ-6 onto the Seattle-to-Bremerton ferry to go meet Dan on an absolutely gorgeous sunny Seattle day. An hour later we were off – he on the FZ-6, I on the Burgman.

We started out on semi-suburban roads. I was almost overcome by awkwardness and confusion. It’s weird not having to slip a clutch to get into motion. How will I know when the bike will start moving? And how fast will it start moving when it does? Now that I’m moving should I pick my feet up or drag them along for a way? And where do I put them now that they are up?

Hey… this isn’t so bad. After about three turns and four stop-and-go’s I feel very comfortable on the bike. Once my brain has made the easy transition from riding a clutch and foot-control equipped bike to a scooter with only a throttle and two hand-mounted brake levers, everything feels very natural. This bike has the ease-of-use that so many people say about Honda motorcycles, where you can climb aboard and ride at 100% because they feel so familiar or “right”.

Dan leads me onto a freeway, and I find accelerating up to 60 mph an uneventful affair. No bogging, no loud *bbrraaappp*, no gear-shifting, no wondering where the power is – just twist the throttle a moderate amount and watch the digital speedo flip numbers. Once up to speed I start playing with the power windshield. Dan has mounted a Clearview extra-large windscreen with a vent in the middle, in place of the often complained-about OEM Burgman screen. The power windscreen moves the screen up or down but along the same angle; whereas on the BMW K1200 LT the windscreen moves up and down but also changes the angle of the windscreen in the process. The BMW may ultimately have a greater height range of windscreen adjustment, but I found the Burgman’s adjustability to be just fine.

I found the Burgman’s level of wind protection at head and chest levels to be comparable to the K 1200 LT’s. On the Burgman’s lowest position it was easy to see over the top of the screen without having to make the effort of sitting up straighter. There was a nice breeze on my face but without buffeting. With the screen in the highest position there was a very nice pocket of still-ish air, and it was very comfortable to ride with the face shield open. Again, no buffeting. But there was still a lot of air moving around my head and chest, similar to the K 1200 LT at its highest position. The Goldwing has superior wind protection to both of these bikes because its windscreen is wider both at the base and at the top, preventing as much wind from coming around the sides of the windscreen – which is where I suspect the increased air flow of the BMW and Burgman comes from.

Dan gets me off the freeway a short distance later and we’re headed on a rural two lane road towards Belfair. There are some moderate twists and turns now, and I’m finding the Burgman to be a very willing handler. Its long wheelbase and conservative rake and trail figures find a way to tell me that this isn’t the kind of bike that likes to be late-braked and dived into an apex with a late corner entry. Rather it’s the kind of bike where you pick a smooth continuous arc that can start at either the outside or inside of a turn, and gently graze the apex while you deftly roll on the throttle out of the corner. But because the center of gravity is so low, and everything except the rider seems to be aligned along the pitch-axis of the bike the Burgman tips into corners with barely any effort.

Not far down this rode does Dan tell me that he’s going to double-back and head home because the FZ-6’s ergonomics are hard on his joints. So he sends me off on my own with a simple hand-drawn map and some instructions on a loop that I should find interesting. I follow these instructions to the best of my ability – which to those who know me meant that I didn’t follow them very well at all.

At first I’m on track with Dan’s instructions, which puts me on this scenic two lane road that hugs the coastline of this peninsula and passes by many homes and a few townships along the way. There are some good 40 to 70 mph curves along here, many strung together in a series of ten or more. The types of curves where you start to get into a rhythm and feel the bike dancing from one side of the lane to the other. And I’m struck by how easy-going the ride is, while making good time. If I were on a sport bike I could ultimately go faster, but I’d have to push it. I find the Burgman almost perfectly suited for scratching corners. Its biggest weakness would be in the acceleration and braking departments compared to a sport bike; but when you’re riding at “the pace” you’re not really getting into the throttle or brakes very much. Riding the Burgman is as simple as rolling off the throttle, rolling into the corner, and rolling back on the throttle. Easy, but very effective at making good forward progress.

I apparently miss my turn and continue down this two lane coasty-rode until the road suddenly turns into a one-laner that runs up into the hills of a semi-rain forest. Most corners are blind and taken at 15 to 30 mph, and they’re close together. I’m still finding the Burgman very easy to ride because it transitions from side to side very easily. I begin to wonder if a supermotard bike would be able to take this tight road any quicker, and I decide that the bike itself probably would. But because of all the blind corners, narrowness, dark tree canopy, and unknown factors on this road I probably wouldn’t go any faster than I’m going now regardless of what bike I’m on. After about three miles of this I come upon a sign that says “No Pavement – 6 Miles”. Hmm… Dan didn’t mention anything about a gravel road, so I turn back. The one-laner is more fun now that I know what to expect. I’m wondering if I’ll drag the center stand around any of these tight corners; but it didn’t occur despite my elevated pace. Perhaps I should thank Dan’s aftermarket Ikon shocks and stiffened forks for the extra cornering clearance and stability.

I eventually find the road that I was supposed to turn onto. It’s a fast, two laner that has almost no traffic, few driveways, and even fewer turn-offs. A spirited sport bike rider would probably be riding at a 70 mph pace, with the occasional 130 mph sprint. But I decide to practice some emergency braking. I don’t think the Burgman is weak on the brakes, but that’s the perception I get. There is a lot of travel in both brake levers and they’re not as stiff as the three bikes my wife and I own. But more strangely is that because of the way the CVT transmission is programmed the engine RPM stays the same despite the massive reduction in wheel speed. So while the scenery stops passing by as quickly, and the speedometer is dropping digits rapidly, the sound of the engine stays the same until about the last 15 mph of speed. It’s a very strange sensation to actually be slowing down while sounding like you’re going the same speed.

But the bike stops just fine. In fact, I find another dead-end that has a gravel parking lot next to a boat launch, so I figure I’ll give the ABS brakes a try. First with the rear tire I squeeze the lever progressively harder until it’s past the point where the tire should have locked up. But it doesn’t. Unlike some ABS systems where the brake lever pulses or you hear a servo motor activating, there’s no discernable way that I could tell the ABS brakes have engaged. Next, I try locking the front brake – a very scary affair when you don’t own the bike you’re riding. But again, no drama, no different sensation. Just pull the lever as hard as you dare and the bike stops in short matter. Granted I tried this at 20 mph and less, so I don’t know how the system will react when I’m on the freeway in the rain going 70 mph; but I think I’ll be pretty confident in the system. [I’m a little leery of using the front brakes aggressively in the rain now that I’ve crashed on the track at 90 mph while locking the front wheel of my SV650.]

Back on the road I’m finding a 70 mph pace very comfortable, casual, and somehow exhilarating on these 35 and 45 mph marked roads. This is roughly the same pace that I’d be going if I were riding a more capable sportbike while maintaining a comfortable clip, but there’s no question that a sport bike ridden in anger would vanish from the Burgman within about three corners. Yet I haven’t even attempted to test the Burgman’s limits. There’s still more cornering clearance to be consumed, and it would be consumed in confidence because the bike feels very stable at all points around these smooth corners. There is also more potential speed in terms of braking into corners and accelerating strongly out of them – neither of which I did much of on this day.

Actually, the Burgman is almost an ideal bike if your riding style is that of “the pace”. Because the engine maintains the same RPM despite rear wheel speed, once you roll off the throttle there is a consistently strong amount of engine braking.. On a typical motorcycle depending on the number of cylinders you get a lot of engine braking while coming down from high rpm’s, and the braking tapers off as the revs fall. So simply letting off the throttle on the Burgman is a reliable and consistent way to shed speed when you don’t have to shed it RIGHT NOW.

Also, because letting off the throttle on the Burgman means there is a brake force being applied to the rear wheel, the effect is that of engaging the rear brake before you engage the front brake – which some people on normal motorcycles find stabilizes the chassis and reduces front-end dive. The ride, to me, felt very similar to the Goldwing with the Goldwing’s anti-dive forks, and the K 1200 LT whose forks are designed to eliminate brake dive. In other words, the Burgman is a confidence-inspiring handler, with the only real speed-block being a mental fear of grinding the centerstand and running out of ground clearance. Okay… when pushed enough I’ve read many claims that the centerstand decks pretty easily, but they must have been going many mph faster than I to do so.

One nit-pick about the Burgman mid-corner is that the throttle seems to work on a delayed response. Or at least I notice this feature the most while mid-corner when I’m cracking the throttle open for the corner exit. There seems to be about a one second delay between when I twist the throttle and when I feel noticeable acceleration. I eventually compensate for this by opening the throttle a lot more than I need to, and then backing off as the power comes on-line. (I don’t know if this actually improves the throttle’s response, but I kept doing it throughout the ride.)

Eventually I find myself back on roads I recognize from an hour earlier. I make a bee-line for the freeway hoping to get some interstate time in the saddle. Once on the appropriate on-ramp I give the throttle a full twist. The bike makes this turbo-diesel truck whir as the revs climb from idle to 4,800 rpm, and then they stay there – but the speedo is still increasing with worthy rapidity. The bike is a rocket by no means, but I’m up to speed in little time. The Burgman has a lot of real-world engine performance. It’s nothing I’ll ever brag about to my friends; but I’ll also rarely be left wanting for more on a day-to-day basis.

In some ways less is more. From a power-to-weight ratio perspective the Burgman is less powerful than three-quarters of the bikes I’ve owned. But I love cheering for an under-dog. The Burgman’s unintimidating power delivery makes full-throttle flings inviting – something that was almost never the case with my GSXR-1100 on a twisty road. The Burgman makes riding swiftly a skill that can be more safely practiced and honed without too much fear of over-shooting a corner. It’s a bike where you feel comfortable opening the throttle sooner and sooner in a corner to get a good drive coming out. Riding this bike above “the pace” will be both challenging and rewarding. I’ll feel like a racer coaxing more speed out of this machine, as opposed to feeling like a timid cat that’s too afraid to crack a late-model GSXR-1000 past 6,000. There’s a saying that goes along the lines of, “it’s more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slowly.” Indeed.

Out on the freeway, traffic is dense in my narrow two lanes of travel. Here is where I appreciate the Burgman’s car-like mirrors, which are mounted low and forward in such a way that elbows and shoulders do not obscure the view. I am able to see with crystal clarity who is behind me, and who is to my sides. This makes jockeying through traffic a lot easier than on a sportbike where I’m not always certain just how much room I have to make a rapid lane change. The upright riding position of the Burgman makes head-checks very effective and easy. The low center of gravity and nimble steering also makes rapid lane changes easy.

The Burgman loses out to faster bikes on the freeway when it comes to accelerating out of another car’s way, as is often the case when you change from a slow moving lane to a faster lane of travel – like when you merge onto the congested freeway and attempt to enter the fairly open carpool lane. But it’ll perform better than most cruisers and cars, and just requires more discretion with the maneuvers you attempt to make.

And that discretion part is a big deal to me. While riding a friend’s 2005 GSXR-1000 I found myself pulling all sorts of zany maneuvers and passes because … I could. It was rare to find a passing zone too short for the Gixxer to pull it off – as it would accelerate and brake so fiercely that little space was needed to make any pass. There have been too many times where I narrowly avoided being caught by the police just before or after making one of these rapid passes – but by doing it often enough it would be only a matter of time before I get nabbed (as evidenced by the two or three times that I have been nabbed in my years of riding). The Burgman mellows me out. It forces me to be more patient in some situations because I simply don’t have the performance to do otherwise. Though it does have enough performance to do most things, so normal traffic riding and even extra-normal traffic riding will be superb almost all of the time.

What I like most about the Burgman on the freeway is the lack of vibration in the seat, handlebars, and floorboards. Once up to speed the Burgman is very smooth. Vibration and wind noise/buffeting are two of the greatest factors in the onset of fatigue. More of either means the sooner I’ll start to get butt / wrist / leg sore, or just mentally tired and distracted from all the roaring sound input. Because the Burgman is so smooth I would only experience as much discomfort as I would in an average automobile. With the Clearview XL windscreen in the highest position there was no helmet buffeting, and ear plugs become optional.

The Burgman’s floorboards allow almost three linear feet of foot room, which means that you can have your feet in any position from almost directly under you to stretched out as if on highway pegs. Even the Goldwing, which affords as much freedom from vibration and superior wind protection, doesn’t give you the option of this much range of motion in your legs. Those of you with bad knees or joints will likely find the Burgman – from at least the torso down – the most comfortable bike you’ll ever ride.

After roughly a dozen miles on the freeway – some of it riding with traffic, some outmaneuvering traffic – I take my exit. And I can conclusively say that the Burgman 650 would be the ideal freeway commuter for me. It’s more nimble than the Goldwing, which is big deal on the crowded roads in Western Washington.

I return the bike to Dan a few minutes later. After two hours in the saddle and seventy-five miles covered, I am pain, discomfort and fatigue-free. I wish I had more time to ride the bike. I would have ridden it to California and back that day if I could. This is high compliment to the Burgman because I usually have a lot of nagging issues with every bike I ride. I thank Dan, and remount the FZ-6. Not knowing the ferry schedule, I decide to ride the fifty-odd freeway miles home to avoid missing the boat and having to wait an hour for another opportunity.

I really like the FZ-6. It’s a great all-around bike with more comfort than most and great fuel injection, which blesses the FZ-6 with a buttery-smooth power delivery. But it’s a pain in the ass to ride on the boring freeway after the Burgman. The seat, handlebar, and footpegs buzz. Turbulent wind spills off the windscreen and pours in under my helmet, making all sorts of rumbling despite my ear plugs being in. And the seat – oh the seat – a “weapon of ass destruction” compared to the Burgman’s broad plateau. The FZ-6 does allow me to make a couple spirited passes, but for the most part I play The Good Boy and stay close to the speed limit. Argh. By the time I arrive home I’m ready to get off, and stay off. It would take a lot of coaxing to get back on and do another fifty miles without some time to rest and regain some silence.

On a twisty road the FZ-6’s shortfalls are overshadowed and generally not-noticed by its performance – but where I live there are a lot of roads and traffic between here and Twisty.

Is the Burgman 650 the perfect bike? I think that depends on where you are in your phase of motorcycle ownership. I think I’ve come full-circle in mine, despite my rather short seven years and 60,000 miles. I started on a ’79 Kawasaki KZ650, a middle-of-the-road bike when I didn’t know any better. I owned a Honda VLX 600 cruiser shortly after, and while being a still-green rider I knew the VLX didn’t go, stop, or turn like a proper bike should. Not to mention that it’s riding position was uncomfortable for anything beyond a short jaunt. Then I owned the Suzuki GSX-1100G, and started riding with sport riders.

Here I was riding a touring bike while being a new rider, trying to keep up with experienced sportbike riders. I was never left behind, but felt that I had to get a proper sportbike if I wanted to keep up.

Now, many miles later, I’ve met and ridden with lots of other riders on all types of bikes. I even met an older, one-armed man riding a Honda ST 1100 touring bike who embarrassed me on my faster GSXR-1100 and other riders on their CBR / YZF / ABC / XYZ’s. I have come to realize that I don’t need a sportbike to ride well or have fun. Trading some comfort for some performance is well worth it – depending on who you ride with and where you ride. And I’ve come to accept that I am mortal, and that The Law is out to get me because I’m riding a motorcycle. I’ve come to pick my battles and relax more.

In my fantasy world there would be no traffic enforcement. I would wheelie my KTM SuperDuke 990 away from every stop sign, and stoppie towards every intersection. I would drag knee on freeway on ramps. And I would race against the clock in getting from my home to my parents home thirty-miles away – full-freaking-speed. But I live in the real world where I feel like I can’t get away with that stuff anymore. If I’m going to stay under the radar I’ve got to temper my riding. And if I have to temper my riding I may as well be comfortable. The Burgman is comfortable, practical, and has enough handling to make the twisty roads fun once I get there.

So for me, yeah, the Burgman 650 is as close the perfect bike considering what is available today.
 
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#2 ·
Have you considered a Yamaha T-Max? It's only a 500 Vs. the 650.... but it's much better looking... slightly more sporty handling, but just as comfy as the Burgman apart from the windscreen - and aftermarket can always step in there.

Versus all the other 'big' scooters, the T-Max also has the best aftermarket support.
 
#3 ·
YAMAHA T-MAX VS SUZUKI BURGMAN 650

There are similar comparison but for most, the low riding position of the T-Max and style of the T-Max which is a move away from it being a scooter while Burgman tells you straight to your face, "I'm a scooter" albeit a large one but not so large, probably because of the smaller wheels that permit people to acknowledge it to be a scooter.

By the way Yamaha spun off the V-Max to give it a more powerful sound since most people are aware what the V-Max Motorcycle itself has been for nearly 2 decades. Further they are producing a Yamaha is producing a 750cc 3-cylinder "scooter" also. Honda attempted something similar with the Pacific Coast and it didn't work. The most notable problem for Yamaha was putting standard wheels on the T-Max because no matter how big the Burgman series is, it has small "scooter" wheels.

I don't think if your looking at a Burgman you will be happy with a T-Max or at least the majority of people wont be. If you are looking at the T-Max and the style appeals to you then you wouldn't consider a Burgman.

I've seen 2 successful transitions with one being the Honda VFR series and Kawasaki Mean Streak, both of which give a good combination of the both Sport/Cruiser modes. The T-Max does not do this at all.

The Yamaha T-Max is a Sport Bike with an automatic transmission and a very low riding position that will appeal to those wanting to twisty and keep up with the pack on a Saturday night. I also see the engine mods for the T-Max no differently than all other high performance street racers while still laughed at because what it is; a sport bike or a scooter or a scooter bike? Or it resembles those 150-cc scooters that are attempting to look like the big bikes. :crackup

The Burgman is the most comfy of any scooter, a little bit sporty but not too much so that it isn't a scooter anymore and more than enough power than you'll need which you can ride 1000 miles. This bike can still go out on a saturday night and among those looking at it, wont be laughed at but instead told "wow, that thing can move for being a scooter.":thumb
 
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