Hi all. Glad to find such a resource which is part of what swayed me to the Savage/S40. My other consideration was the HD 883. I've always liked the Savage and applaud Suzuki for manufacturing them. Well, until 2019 anyway.

A brief history of my rides, for anyone interested. My first bike was a Honda 50 about age 7-8. I have a pic somewhere of me on it, grinning and perhaps shy a tooth or two, in a denim jacket and white open face helmet that looks huge. Maybe I can make that my avatar when available.

Around age 10 I stepped up to a used Suzuki TS75. Loved that bike.

Late teens saw me on a Kawa 440 LTD and Yamaha 400 Maxim. Early 20's I had a late model Honda Hurricane 600 (when they were actually called that). Scary fast.

I also had a 1984(?) Ironhead Sportster which was very much a love/hate relationship.

I sold both when I married and bought a 1985 Maxim X (700) which was a totally badass bike. However, I sold it when my younger son was coming.

Early 30's saw me on the Katana, which I also loved. Once again, hard to justify a scoot with kiddos coming.

My, how time flies. I turn 55 this year.

So, to present day. My older daughter turns 19 next month and has wanted a street bike since before she could drive. She finally got her wish and bought a CBR250 a few weeks ago and got her permit. I was glad I was able to help her pick it up (although I think she paid too much for it).  

So, I was tasked with teaching her to ride in advance of her MSF course (next weekend). The teaching part I'll save for perhaps another post, but in the process, I of course had to RIDE her bike to a nearby church parking lot. If you're on this forum, I probably don't need to say more.

So yeah, I started searching.

Initially, my #1 was the 883 Evo as I mentioned. No, Harley isn't "there" with the Big 4, but they've come light years from the Ironhead I had. Oddly, the most endearing thing to me about that bike WAS the vibration. It felt...rough...primitive...perhaps "savage"?

Perhaps it's a good thing my finances simply won't allow for such as I'd have missed out on the S40.

I rode and bought my first one today after weeks of searching, researching, messaging, and having a few bikes sold from under me. Bah.

The bike itself is a 2-owner and totally cherry, which is what I wanted. And with very low miles, always garage kept. The color was an added bonus.

Amazingly, the original tires are in decent shape. The front sidewall shows very light signs of dry rot but has plenty of tread. The rear is the opposite. I think I'll go with wide white wall replacements on both.

The tank showed no signs of rust and the PO always used non-ethanol gas. No oil leaks, fresh oil and plug. The drive belt looked in great shape. All bulbs etc. worked. So, we fired her up from cold.

She turned over somewhat slowly and required choke to catch. The owner included a charger and leaves a lead on the bike. However, he didn't keep it charged this past winter. Probably will need a battery.

The idle seemed low as she warmed. Another issue but free and easy to correct.

With my only recent riding experience being on my daughter's CBR, I was a bit nervous. This wasn't helped by the forward controls and drag type bar, nor the fast clutch. Of course, I stalled it.

Getting used to the forward controls was easier than I thought. I only really searched for the missing pegs once. Pretty much.

The Suzuki windscreen was nice although the windy day was distracting...and reminiscent of days gone by.

The couple of miles of back roads leading to the 4 lane were nice and I learned quickly. This odd seating position seemed normal. The bike felt...secure...as if saying, "I won't hurt you."

However, I noticed her surging, more pronounced at light, steady throttle. I thought perhaps this was a thumper thing, but more likely partly clogged jets, as if she needed to clear her throat, but couldn't.

The highway's speed limit is only 45 with fairly light but steady traffic. We accelerated nicely, even briskly, to top gear. She felt light, but solid. Safe. Secure. Maybe "natural" is the best word.

She stalled at the first stop light, not my fault this time. The battery hesitated to turn her over and actually stopped for a moment giving me some concern. But, it had enough to get through TDC and she caught, perhaps teasing me. From then on, I kept a little throttle open at stops.

I opened her up a few times hoping to clear the carb but with no luck. I returned her, dickered, and bought her. Sadly, I was alone and have to wait a few days to bring her home.

I'll close by saying I fell in love with bike. Again, "natural" seems to fit perfectly. And to those who call these bikes "buzzy," go try any pre Evo Harley, or even a solid mount Evo, to see what buzzy is. For this bike, I'd describe it as mere "faint vibration". And I love it! As it's natural!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/dCnN6n3bLmtT2naB6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/f4fjYxip8UGK8XjYA

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7MwguorKVqwGRass8

welcome SCS40.

With the utmost respect, if the rear tyre is still the IRC brand, get rid of it regardless of condition. I my not so humble opion, these things are useless in wet weather. I've had my S40 58000 miles, I brought new off the dealer. The handling terrified me in wet weather. When the horrible IRC thing wore out, I replaced it with a Continental and after that a Michelin. These transformed the bike and no more wet weather terror.

MMRanch wrote on 06/14/21 at 21:50:34:


Hi and great tips and nice to find similarities. If Seafoam doesn't work, I'll try a can of carb cleaner. I also suspect the petcock is contributing and plan to replace. (I wondered why there was no "off" position).

Hope to bring her home later this week. Now calling shops looking for wide white walls.

Nice looking bike with tons of storage. I also read briefly about a sprocket change. Great info.

If you decide to replace the petcock, with a Yamaha Raptor one, get the correct part number as there are several Raptor variants. People here will give you the correct number. Have you drained the float bowl on the carb?

Another small point. If you opt for the Kawasaki front pulley mod, you will have to have a lathe with very good cutting tools or access to a machine shop with such tooling. Dave can tell you how much to machine off to make the pulley fit.