uh, can do 80 all day long, but it will wear you out due to vibes.  Don't expect much more then 80 w/o a good muffler and rejet... but that's easy.  A lot of folks think it's a beginner bike.  by today's standards, it more or less is... I bought  a V* 1100 after 1 year, still have and ride both.  Savage = my 1st bike.  Stock seat is garbage, too (well at least on older models, not sure on new ones...).

I've got an aftermarket muffler and carb (in my opinion both are upgrades) and though she easily has more power than she did at stock and I often do 70 keeping with traffic, I prefer to cruise at about 60-65 MPH.

I ride my Savage with the big Harleys all the time. No problem keeping up at all. The Savage with a few easy, inexpensive mods will cruise at 70 or 75 all day long. Acceleration is brisk. I would think you would have no worries at all.

magicfairy wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:09:

Good point! I always ride with a windshield. Any bike will be tiring at speed without a shield. My point is that the Savage is a very capable bike.

http://members.cox.net/sweetiesmaltese/savage1.jpg

Again, thanks.

Your replies are very helpful. My husband is not convinced that the bike will suit our needs and is encouraging me to get the S 50. I tried one and felt it was too heavy. All of your comments are showing me that the S 40/savage is what I want.

Dynobob, you mentioned a few adjustments that would help give more oomph to the bike. What exactly did you mean? And, are thse things that my mechanic can do relatively easily?(read: cheaply)   I am mechanically challenged but I have a great mechanic that works on metrics. I do intend to get a windshhield and i hope to find after-market foot boards for added comfort. From what i hear, the seat will be a comfort issue as well. This new biking thing can really add up to some serious bucks!! That's ok...I could buy a brand- spankin new S40 and outfit it with every doodad the market has and it would still be less than half the cost of hubby's Roadking

Again, thanks for reading and replying......

I am not comfortable with high speeds, but I'm a Great-Grandmother now so maybe that slows me down. I cruise at 55 to 65 when riding with others and unless there are high winds, don't have any trouble. My usual riding partners are, 1 Savage, 1 Honda Shadow 750, 1 Harley 883 & an Ironhorse. We have not found the Savage to be lacking in any way & in fact, the non-Savage riders will ask to trade, especially if there are curves to play on. In my opinion, you need to be comfortable with your ride, if that means a smaller bike, then ride smaller. The others can adjust, & if they feel the need to outdistance you, meet at the gas station, We usually talk about where we will stop & if they get ahead, okay, they get a longer potty break waiting for me. If you get a bigger bike and lose your confidence, you won't be riding anyway.

Ok, hopefully I won't draw any flack here...

I love the Savage.  I've been drawn to it since I first laid eyes on one.  However, it is not, first and foremost, a high speed Interstate type bike.  It will do it, but like some of the others have alluded to, it'll wear you out.  If I were looking for a bike in that general size category with the intent of taking high speed trips fairly often, I would look more at the Vulcan 500 or the Shadow VLX (at least, the older dual carb VLX's - I have no experience with the single carb models).

That being said, I wouldn't trade my Savage for either one of them.  It WILL handle high speeds.  I've ridden it at 65-70mph for several hours.  But in my opinion and experience, I wouldn't recommend it for constant high sped travel.

So I guess it's a long winded way of saying, if you're just making the occasional Interstate/highway trip, I'd say go for it!  If you're looking at constant high speed travel, I'd caution you, but certainly not disuade you from the Savage.  It's all in what you're comfortable with, and it's hard to find a bike that's more bang for the buck (or bang per pound, for that matter) than the Savage.